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Europe Slips on Kyoto Greenhouse Targets
covertlaw writes "Emissions of greenhouse gases from the European Union increased in 2001 for the second year running. According to the unratified Kyoto Treaty, the EU as a whole is committed to reducing emissions by 8% on their 1990 levels by between 2008 and 2012."
under the kyoto agreement what happens is that we'll pay financially for failing to reduce our emissions. so it's fine if we don't hit our targets - it's just expensive.
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According to the unratified Kyoto Treaty
Is this the same treaty that has been ratified by more than 100 countries?
True, but we're talking about greenhouse gas emissions here. Soot is not a greenhouse gas, but rather a smog agent. Being a particulate, its pretty bad for the lungs, too. But in terms of global warming, it has no effect, and therefore is not an issue with respect to Kyoto.
There are several different types of gaseous polutants, and these tend to get confused. The big ones that get talked about are CFCs, particulates, unburned hydrocarbons, and greenhouse gasses. CFCs are the culprits behind the ozone hole (CFCs are not an evil of the internal combustion engine, but rather from ACs, refrigerators, fire supresssion systems, and aerosol sprays). Particulates are bad for your lungs. Unburned hydrocarbons contribute to ozone polution (ozone is good high in the atmosphere, but bad to breath). And greenhouse gasses tend to absorb thermal IR, preventing the Earth from radiating heat back into space at night, thus causing the global warming. CO2 is the main greenhouse gas. This means that a car which has no particulate emissions, and no unburned hydrocarbons, is considered to be clean, but anything which burns hydrocarbons converts them to CO2 and water, and CO2 is a greenhouse gas. This happens regardless of how 'clean' the burning process is. Fuel cell cars will emmit as much C02 per gallon as a two stroke.
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