作者Leonie Haimson
1997年11月時，來自超過150國的協調代表群集在日本京都，決定是否要採行強制的措施，來解決這個時代最困難的環境問題，這是導因於人類對全球氣候粗心的操作試驗。大會中通過的協定是工業化國家於10到15年內，必須大幅減少導致全球暖化氣體的排放。為了達到此一目標，這些國家得減少化石燃料，例如煤和石油的使用﹔要開始堅定地過渡到使用新的能源系統，以有效率的能源和再生能源為主。在1998年11月，代表們再次在阿根廷首都布宜諾˙艾利斯集會，在眾多事務中，他們同意在2000年以前，將制定有關排放符合性的規定，以及排放權國際交易的體系。
科學推動了政治
地球上的大氣是透明的，使得陽光可以穿過，並溫暖了地球表面。一些大氣中的氣體，包括水分子、二氧化碳、甲烷、和氮氧化合物，被稱做溫室效應氣體，因為它們會抓住部分所產生的熱﹔假如沒有自然界的溫室效應現象，大部分太陽所產生的熱就會逸散在太空中，地球表面的溫度將會降低華氏61度(約攝氏15.95度)，這對大多數生命形式是太過嚴寒的。
然而，自從工業化了以後，許多在大氣中的溫室效應氣體已經上升到了高水平，主要是因為增加燃燒化石燃料(煤、石油、天然氣)，以便發電、驅動汽車、運轉工廠、和調節房子冷暖。溫室效應氣體也會因為砍伐森林和某些農業活動而產生。這些氣體的累積吸收了更多太陽的能量，所以正逐漸改變地球的氣候﹔自從十九世紀末以來，全球平均地表氣溫升高了華氏0.5到1度之間。從十九世紀起，海平面也上升了大約4到10英尺，幾本上是因為冰河的融化和海洋暖化的擴大，而這些現象歸因於全球暖化。
在1988年，世界各國認知了這個問題的重要性之後，共同指定了一個"氣候變遷跨政府小組(IPCC)"，包含了來自全球的2000名頂尖專家，以便評估氣候變遷對科學和經濟的影響。在1995年的，一份劃時代的報告中，IPCC的結論是：「以各方面證據均衡來看，人類活動對全球氣候有明確的影響。」
證據也在繼續的累積中﹔紀錄上地球最溫暖的12個年度都發生在1980年後，整個1980年代也是在估計的一千兩百年中是最熱的十年。根據世界氣象組織(WMO)資料，1998年的溫度以明顯的差距打破了1997年的前紀錄，而且比30年來的基準多整整一度。而且，在史無前例的成串趨勢下，自1997年四月到1998年十月，每個月都締造了新的溫度紀錄。
by Leonie HaimsonIn
December 1997, negotiators from more than 150 countries gathered in Kyoto, Japan, to decide whether to impose mandatory measures to address the most difficult environmental problem of our time: humanity's inadvertent experiment on the world's climate. An agreement was adopted to require industrialized countries to make significant reductions in their emissions of warming gases over the next 10 to 15 years. To achieve this, nations will have to reduce their use of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, and begin a steady transition toward a new energy system, based on efficiency and renewable energy. In November 1998, the parties met again in Buenos Aires and agreed, among other things, that they would set up rules for compliance and a system of international trading in emission rights by the year 2000.
The Science Driving the Politics
The Earth's atmosphere is transparent, allowing sunlight to enter and warm its surface. Some of the gases in the atmosphere, including water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, are called greenhouse gases, because they trap some of the resulting heat. Without the natural greenhouse effect, much of the sun's warmth would be lost to space, and the surface of the world would be about 61 degrees Fahrenheit colder, too frigid for most forms of life.
Since industrialization, however, the levels of many greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have risen substantially, due mainly to the increased combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) used to produce electricity, power cars, run factories, and heat and cool houses. Greenhouse gases have also been emitted as a result of deforestation and certain agricultural practices. The accumulation of these gases is changing the Earth's climate by trapping more of the sun's energy. The globally averaged temperature of the air at the Earth's surface has warmed between 0.5 and 1 degree Fahrenheit since the late 19th century. The sea level has also risen about four to 10 inches since the 19th century, due primarily to the melting of glaciers and the thermal expansion of the oceans, phenomena attributed to global warming.
In 1988, in recognition of the gravity of this problem, the nations of the world appointed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), consisting of more than 2000 leading experts from around the world, to assess the science and economics of climate change. In a landmark 1995 report, the IPCC concluded that "the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate."
The evidence continues to accumulate. The planet's 12 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1980, and the 1990s as a whole have been the warmest decade in an estimated 1200 years. 1998 broke the previous record set in 1997 by a substantial amount, and surpassed the 30-year norm by a full degree, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Moreover, in an unprecedented string, every month between April 1997 and October 1998 established a new temperature record.
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