Kyoto Protocol: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that aims to reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases that cause global warming: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and three fluorinated industrial gases: hydrofluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and perfluorocarbons. The goal was to reduce emissions by approximately 5% between 2008 and 2012, compared to 1990 emissions. For example, if the contamination of these gases in 1990 reached 100%, by the end of 2012, it should have been at least 95%. It is important to note that this does not mean that each country must reduce its emissions of gases covered by 5% or more. Instead, this is a global percentage, and each country is bound by its own Kyoto emission rates.

The instrument is within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), signed in 1992 at what became known as the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The Protocol gave binding force to what the UNFCCC could not achieve at the time.

Human Factors Affecting the Environment

• Greenhouse Gases:
  • Atmospheric pollution
  • Climate change
  • Greenhouse effect
  • Ozone layer destruction
  • Freshwater depletion
  • Water acidification
• Changes in land use
• Environmental problems:
  • Increased acidity of soils
  • Water and soil pollution
  • Use of pesticides and fertilizers
  • Large amounts of untreated industrial, urban, agricultural, and livestock waste
• Glacial melting
• Loss of biodiversity
• Deforestation and desertification

Greenhouse Effect

The greenhouse effect is a phenomenon whereby certain gases, which are components of a planetary atmosphere, retain some of the energy emitted by the soil after being heated by solar radiation. It affects all planetary bodies endowed with an atmosphere. This phenomenon prevents the constant solar energy received by the planet's surface from returning to outer space, producing an effect on a planetary scale similar to that observed in a greenhouse.

Acid Rain

Acid rain forms when moisture in the air combines with nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emitted by factories, power plants, and vehicles that burn coal or petroleum products. In interaction with water vapor, these gases form sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Finally, these chemicals fall to Earth, accompanying precipitation, forming acid rain.

Ozone Layer Hole

The ozone layer hole is an area of Earth's atmosphere where abnormal reductions in ozone occur. This phenomenon is observed annually during the spring in polar regions and is followed by a recovery during the summer. The image shows the largest ozone hole in Antarctica, recorded in September 2000. Data were obtained by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer instrument aboard a NASA satellite.