Gillis and Broder (2012) Outlines That Global

¶ … Gillis and Broder (2012) outlines that global emissions of carbon dioxide were at a record high in 2011 and likely to achieve new highs again in 2012. The article is interesting because it points out how human societies have failed in their efforts to enforce the treaties that they put into place. While there have been negotiations to curtail the growth in global warming, there has been little appetite at the governmental level to implement the measure that would bring about any change in the level of emissions.

Human activity has been the cause of significant global warming, and there are serious side effects on the environment that are destructive to human activity. However, our societies and politicians have hesitated to take action. The use of coal, a major greenhouse gas contributor, is increasing. While human activity has caused significant damage to the environment, and this activity is mainly conducted at the individual level, there is little impetus for action at the collective level to address the problems. Governments in particular do not want to implement policies that could cause unrest, or even the lack of re-election. Our systems and structures therefor offer rewards for the consumption of fossil fuels but do not offer incentives to curb those emissions. Attempts to set up systems that deliver economic disincentive to this destructive failure have never been seriously implemented.

There are significant warning signs already that people are going to need, collectively and globally, to take action. At this point, however, there is little actionable plan to stem the growth of the world's temperature. These effects could bring about cataclysmic changes, but these changes are apparently insufficient incentive to begin to redesign our societies around outputs that are less destructive. One significant concern in the article is that while there has been a slight reduction in emissions in some developed countries like the U.S., the increases in the developing world have more than made up for that. Action on our part will still be beneficial but for the first time we are going to need to rely on all members of the human race to solve a problem and it simply is not happening, to significant detriment to all of us.