One Hot Topic

One Hot Topic

There is no doubt that global warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue facing the world, its people, and its leaders. On the one side we constantly hear warnings from the scientific community of the impending dangers of mass climate change. We are the main catalyst in this equation with our constant burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests. On the other side of the argument we have many politicians and scientist attempting to disprove the threat of global warming and writing it off as a myth, or hoax. The problem is that both sides make some valid points, and therefore the issue has become somewhat of a stalemate. One problem contributing to this stalemate is the fact that the international and intergovernmental issues that must be resolved before we can initiate a concentrated worldwide effort to reduce emissions have become quite complex, particularly in the midst of a global economic plunge.

Even though we, as a planet, are having trouble reacting to the threat of global warming we, as a nation, can begin to take smaller steps toward the resolution. One of the biggest steps in doing so is the identification of the source of the problem. Our means of transportation have proven to be one of the biggest contributors in both our consumption and emission of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas. Cars are held as the biggest culprit but another mode of transportation we are dependent on is flight. Planes only account for about 3% of our total emissions but their contribution to the greenhouse effect is thought to be two to four times stronger than that of automobiles (Michaels). You can imagine the impact these mechanical beasts have on the environment.

The article found in the Wall Street Journal is about the European Union's plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes. This is obviously an international debate, and one that holds a lot of potential for decreasing our future emissions. The European Union (EU) proposal has...