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Week 7 - Impact of Climate Conference

2/11/2016

45 Comments

 
Read this interview about and review the website for the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference. After reading and taking notes answer the prompts below.

In 2015 the world took on the task of addressing climate change. In Paris, the Climate Change Conference gathered thousands to discuss the roots causes of climate change and they discussed  solutions.
  • What "first world" countries participated? Name and describe the participation of two nations.
  • What "second or third world" countries participated. Name and describe the participation of two nations.
  • What nations or regions in the world are most impacted by climate change? Name and discuss how two nations or regions are impacted by climate change.
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Original Posts 250 words (minimum). Respond to three other students 50 words (minimum). Original post due Thursday @ midnight. Responses (3) due Sunday @ midnight.
45 Comments
Thu-Thao Ho
2/23/2016 02:28:31 am

The United States and China are among the first world nations to advocate to continue placing the limits upon greenhouse gas emissions. If this is successful, carbon gas pollution would not be prevalent in our atmosphere. This proposal, if held to its standard, would be a major step in preventing global warming which has become an immense health hazard for thousands around the globe. Japan is remaining loyal to the terms in the Kyoto Protocol which obligates to reduce greenhouse emissions on developed nations on the basis that they are historically responsible for the current green house gas emission in the atmosphere. Though the terms of the protocol does advocate for methods to limit the pollution, Japan itself still relies heavily upon nuclear power as a sustainable source of energy. Developed nations are not the only ones that should be accountable for climate change. Nations around the world should be accountable for climate change because this is a crisis that affects the whole human population and is unavoidable. The ozone layer is thinning due to pollution and as a result there has been a huge rise in cancer risks. Underdeveloped nations such as Vietnam, Laos, and Taiwan are close to the equator where increasing heat raising immense risks to human life. Vietnam has seen an increase in deaths of civilians working in fields to survive due to dehydration, strokes, and cancer. In Thailand and Laos the changes in weather patterns make it a huge challenge for people to adapt to the new environment.
France will implement a programme of action to minimize the consumption of natural resources and greenhouse gas emissions. This is a programme that the world needs, but what the world needs even more of is nations agreeing to adhere to the terms of the programme. Many nations still rely heavily upon earth's resources by means of having stable economy and may be reluctant to adhere to the terms. We must target this crisis with action, aid must be sent to people in need and more importantly we as people need to preserve the world's resources. There is more to climate change than just water and weather, it is a challenge that we have to overcome in order to continue living healthy lives in our environment.

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Christian Trinidad
2/28/2016 09:12:45 pm

Hi Tina!
You make some very great points but i would also like to add that there are a lot of animals displaced from there homes and disappearing altogether due to climate change, animals that are important to our eco system. People have been saying that when the bees go we will soon follow.

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Madalyn Hart
2/28/2016 11:37:45 pm

I've also heard that in regards to the bees. Its stressing me out to be honest. In regards to animals being displaced that is very true. Theres a city specifically in Brazil called Manaus where you can really see this. All the wildlife that would normally be in the trees are now roaming the busy streets and are going extinct.

Anteo Swenson
2/29/2016 12:18:05 pm

Nice post, I enjoyed reading your opinion. It is true that developed nations are held accounted for the majority of the pollution, which is true, since most of the carbon emissions come from these countries. However, it is imperatively important to expand an environmentally friendly culture around the world, since as small as a contribution can be, it is important. Small nations may not have the political or economic capability of influencing a change in other, but they certainly have a level of power to influence its population's culture. Small changes accumulate, and culture matters when we're talking about a global problem. A global environmental culture is necessary.

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Mark De Martini
2/24/2016 09:16:01 am

The U.S, China, and France participated in the 2015 COP 21 Paris Climate Conference as leaders. France served as an example since French electrical power generation is independent from fossil fuels. There was concern that the U.S. and China were unable to secure solid agreements on carbon emission reductions and a commitment of funding. India, Brazil, Indonesia, and Australia also participated. These are countries much impacted by pollution and deforestation. Australia's aggressive mining for minerals has done much to destroy its fragile ecosystem. It seems that countries affected by pollution is growing. The effects can be different from region to region, but collectively, the entire world is becoming affected. As countries develop and increase their carbon emissions the world climate is affected since the world shares one atmosphere. It is fact carbon pollution generated by China is now combined with pollution generated on the U.S. western seaboard. The destruction of rainforests south of the equator has a serious effect on oxygen generation globally, not to mention immediate local effects. The great tragedy of the South American rain forests is that what ground is clear cut for farming is only useful for one or two seasons. The soil will not sustain crops, so more forest is clear cut so more crops can be grown. This is an example of a circular problem that will continue until it exhausts itself. Then it's too late. India and China are challenged by a lack of clean water along with air quality. The great rivers in those continents are polluted as are many of their tributaries. Whole biospheres are destroyed when water cannot sustain life. The interview mentioned the collapse of fish populations. This is huge threat to human development since fish is a primary renewable resource for protein. Overfishing and destruction of the environment is to blame. In California salmon is devastated by loss of habitat. A recent Guardian news article painted a grim picture of the California salmon's future. Human overpopulation is a primary reason since habitat and water loss is attributed to human growth. The common thread in this Anthropocene Era is unsustainable growth and consumption. Vital, life giving resources are being overrun and used up before science, policy, and attitudes can save them. This is condition of time, and time is running out. I personally believe environment and climate change is one of man kind's most pressing problems. The warning signs are out there and small steps are being made to counter the threat. Unfortunately the worst case situation is when regional pollution problems join together to form a worldwide collapse of the biosphere. This will create a situation where much of the planet will become unsustainable for human life. Pockets of sustainability will be overrun by those attempting escape from collapsed areas. The recent immigration crisis on the U.S. southern border and in Western Europe will pale in comparison when climate change and habitat loss causes worldwide regional starvation. Historical precedent for what happens during civilization ending starvation exists, and it is highly unpleasant. There will be no safe place to live in a future collapse. Again, this is a grim, worst case scenario. It is hoped that mankind can work in the eleventh hour to do what it takes to restore and maintain the environment to a sustainable form.

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Mary Rasooli
2/25/2016 06:55:55 pm

Mark, Thank you for pointing out the severity of climate change and the loss of habitat within out ecosystems. When our ecosystems begin to fall apart, there will be increased challenged when it comes to food, water and shelter and most importantly countries that are already suffering from lack of resources and biodiversity will suffer that much more.

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Sharelle Smith
2/28/2016 08:35:43 pm

We are in the eleventh hour of trying to reduce carbon emissions. Thus will be difficult as some countries are still in wake of trying to grow there economies and looking forward to the new technological advances that are obsolete every year and adding to global stress. As we become open to more sustainable options it will be natural and automatic to think that way.

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Madalyn Hart
2/28/2016 11:41:08 pm

Thank you Mark for explaining in detail about the intensity of climate change. Its scary how fast the earths natural resources are being used up. Its even scary to know that not much is being done about it. I recently heard that they are dumping water in the damns out, which made me really mad. We are in a drought! Why arent they trying to conserve it/ use it somewhere else where it is needed?

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Misa Toyoura
2/29/2016 12:23:20 am

Mark, I really enjoyed reading yours and you are on point! I agree with you in so many levels, and it really sucks to see some countries not caring the issue, however like you said it's still possible to restore whats lost and sustain what remains, and I believe that too!

Anteo Swenson
2/25/2016 12:26:39 pm

First World countries that participated were: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands , Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA , Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland. Austria, for example, a small but first world nation stated its position during the summit. Werner Faymann, Federal Chancellor of Austria, stated that it is against the use of nuclear energy, as it is hugely damaging to the natural environment and it holds no economic advantages. He also mentioned the imperative necessity to decrease the use of fossil fuel as a primary source of energy; Austria has done so by 80%, and it is expecting it to decrease it to 100% by 2030. Germany, the neighbor to the north stated similar declarations. First it stated the importance of reducing the greenhouse emissions, and how all nations have to prevent global warming. Second, it declared its own goals for the next decades and how it will reduce its own carbon footprint. Germany, particularly, Angela Merkel addressed the summit as a leader, after all, Germany is the unintended leader of the European Union. In contrast with these developed nations, other developing ones addressed the summit differently. For example, Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto vaguely addressed the issues or how Mexico will address such environmental issues. He just stated that he is committed to the goal set by the summit. Chile, for example, did the same thing as Mexico, they started by sending their condolences to the French population since it just suffered a terrorist attack, and the followed to state the commitment to whatever is decided in the summit. However, both of these Latin American countries stated that they are being affected by climate change, but they still didn’t state any contributions to change that or what their plan is. It seems like the planning was left to the developed countries, as if they knew they were going to be listened, and as if the other nations knew they would not.

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Mary Rasooli
2/25/2016 06:54:05 pm

Hi! i like that you pointed out how some of the countries were very unresponsive and almost indifferent to the issues at hand. I also read that type of response from Croatia and a few other regions. it is frustrating because thses small countries people are suffering from environmental degradation and their leaders are doing nothing about it.

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Madalyn Hart
2/28/2016 11:43:49 pm

It is very frustrating seeing countries not care about helping solve this global issue. Its very much something we all need to be contributing to because in the end it effects all of us. We especially need to represent those who dont have a voice or say like all the wildlife and ecosystems that are being ruined.

Megan Fernandez
2/25/2016 05:09:16 pm

At the Paris Climate Summit, the “first world” countries that participated were Belgium, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, Turkey, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland.

As head of state, President Obama represented the United States. In his speech, Obama called for a joint effort to accelerate public and private clean energy innovation on a global scale. He also emphasized his desire for increased transparency, international cooperation, and cooperation with global businesses and investors in managing and providing energy and natural resources.

On behalf of Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the summit. Prime Minister Trudeau’s speech was clear and concise, stating, “My message is simple. Canada can and will do more to address the global challenge of climate change.” Trudeau said his country would do so moral reasons, the environment, and as their part of the global community. He gave five principles for Canada’s engagement in environmental action: 1) acting based on scientific evidence 2) implementing low-carbon policies 3) working with provinces, territories, cities, and indigenous leaders 4) assisting the developing world in dealing with climate change 5) acting on a historic opportunity for growth. Trudeau included that their government will develop a pan-Canadian climate change framework to assist in implementing the Paris agreement.

Of the “second world” countries, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine participated.

“Third world” countries that participated included Kenya, São Tomé and Príncipé, Pakistan, Angola, Cameroon, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Yemen, Senegal, Nigeria, Mauritania, Lesotho, Uganda, Togo, Comoros, Djibouti, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Mali, Guinea-BIssau, Eritrea, Guinea, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mozambique, Burundi, Niger, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

President Rosen Plevneliev spoke on behalf of Bulgaria, stating his support for an agreement to keep climate change below two degrees Celsius and one that would hopefully catalyze the transformation of the global economy. He spoke of progress made in his country, several plans that are in effect or have been implemented already to combat climate change in their country, as well as progress with their role in the EU. He stated that Bulgaria stands by the EU’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40%, having adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Plevneliev spoke for a need of common rules and procedures for regular reporting that would increase transparency and improve accountability systems.

Prime Minister of Czech Republic, Bohuslav Sobotka, expressed his desire to reach a comprehensive, legally binding agreement that would limit increases in global warming to below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and prompted that both developing and developed countries ought to be part of the agreement, insisting that universal participation would be necessary to bring out about real change in slowing climate change. He expressed that their primary responsibility for adopting and implementing climate change measures would lie at the national level, but has already pledged several million dollars to climate funds and further spoke of providing financial support for other developing countries in need of assistance with regard to this improving climate change. He also expressed their continued cooperation with the EU in reducing greenhouse gases in reaching their goals of reducing emissions by 2030.

Many countries in Africa, Southern Asia and the Pacific are susceptible to damage from climate change resulting from increased droughts, flooding, storms, hurricanes, typhoons and impact on agriculture. Two examples are Indonesia and Pakistan.

Pakistan in particular is highly vulnerable to both large floods and drought. The Global Climate Risk Index from 1993-2012 ranked Pakistan as the 12th most affected country by extreme weather events. Professor Dr Shaukat Ali of Karakoram International University in the nation’s capital, Gilgit, said that more than 40% of Pakistan’s population is at risk of natural disasters.

At the summit, President Joko Widodo spoke of Indonesia’s particular susceptibility to climate change, stating that 2/3 of Indonesia’s territory consisted of water with the country containing 17,000 islands, most of which are small islands. 60% of Indonesians live in coastal areas and 80% of natural disasters the country has experienced have been l

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Mary Rasooli
2/25/2016 06:52:20 pm

Megan, I really enjoyed your post! I especially liked reading about Indonesia's current crisis where so many of their people live on small islands. It is frightening to think about the amount of disaster they have and will have experienced due to environmental degradation.

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Thu-Thao Ho
2/27/2016 01:16:09 am

It is very interesting how you pointed out the parts of Southern Asia that are impacted agriculturally by climate change. I use to live in Vietnam before I came to the United States of America, and every time there is too much rain, roads are heavily flooded, and farmers had their crops ruined and as a result they could not make money to support their families.

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Sharelle Smith
2/28/2016 08:39:27 pm

We do need a grip on these natural disasters. They are ruining the environment with not very many options for affectively cleaning up and restoring the environment. We can't handle to many more accidents. They really can't be seen as accidents any more when companies are fined tremendously and it continues with out appropriate consequences. Transparency will definitely allow us to see what programs work best.

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Misa Toyoura
2/29/2016 12:20:48 am

Hi, Megan! I enjoyed your reading, and I totally agree with you especially the last part you said how those countries get affected by climate change and that needs to be addressed before its too late!

Abhisheak Sharma
3/2/2016 01:18:17 pm

Hey Megan,
That is a big problem in Pakistan. They are under risk of natural disaster which there people already living in poor conditions. With very less food and money there country has to cut down more than a first world country who can afford to cut down there emission, but instead a poor country like Pakistan has to.

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Michael Stevens
3/8/2016 02:19:39 pm

Hello Megan,
Such good and thorough research! It is definitely interesting that Pakistan, out of all the nations in the entire world, are the 12th biggest risk for global warming. Perhaps this may be due to drought, heat, and haboobs. Pakistan needs to step it up if they want to have a sustainable country in the next 50-100 years.

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Jessie Chen
2/25/2016 05:37:10 pm

Two of the first world countries which have participated in 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference are Austria and China. The chancellor of Austria, Werner Faymann, stated that Austria don’t support the use of atomic energy because it is not a way to help solving climate change. It thinks that atomic energy only creates a huge storage of nuclear waste, and humans still don’t have a good resolution to deal with these wastes. In addition, Austria is trying not to depend on fossil fuels. Nowadays, it “has a 80% share of renewables in electricity production.” It expects that “by 2030, [Austria] would not use fossil fuels for producing electricity anymore.” Another country from first world is China. It stated that China is trying to create a balance between humans and nature which is based on Chinese culture values. And it expects “by 2030, reduce CO2 per unit of GDP by 60-65% over the 2005 level.”

The examples of second world countries are Armenia and Bulgaria. Just like other countries, they both agreed that global emissions of greenhouse gases shall be limited, “which keep the temperature increase below the two degrees Celsius.” For my opinion, the countries who most impacted by climate changes are developing countries and undeveloped countries, which are located in the Pacific and Africa. Because of the climate changes, those countries have encountered more nature disasters such as typhoons, flooding, and droughts. And these disasters also result to having trouble in agriculture. Two examples are Maldives and Indonesia. Both countries have concerns about their territory will reduce due to the rise of sea levels.

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Mark De Martini
2/26/2016 02:46:33 pm

Jessie,
I like that you laid out what countries are doing what they can to reduce carbon emissions and attempt to halt warming. True, nuclear power is problematic because the waste products are difficult to safely dispose of, and accidents causing meltdowns (Chernobyl & Japan) can be catastrophic. I think your statement that climate change most impacts developing countries is mostly true. However, developed countries will not be able to keep its' distance forever. Critical shortages of food, pollution, and depleted resources will eventually reach all developed nations. Developed nations do a better job protecting the environment. California for example has relatively clean air because emissions were reduced. in the 1970s your eyes would burn from LA smog and the San Francisco Bay was a polluted, toxic pond. The Bay is now clean because of political will and technology. The developing countries lack these qualities and suffer for it. I think today the developed countries are finally seeing the need to assist developing nations protect their environment.

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Sharelle smith
2/28/2016 08:43:57 pm

It is very true that the more that we place more challenges on our environment the more the environment punishes us. As global warming increases the typhooons and hurricanes and weather etc do become more harsh and harder to deal with. The oceans and sky work together. When we create a more acidic environment the ocean obsorbs it and than the cycle begins again. Sustainable development is showing some hope. As long as its implemented and growing as a way of life, reverse of environment degradation becomes a reality.

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Christian Trinidad
2/28/2016 09:43:16 pm

Hi Jessie

I really enjoyed your posts i learned a lot from it. I agree with you about it being hard for the developing nations to deal with anything when climate change has brought natural disasters especially when most of them rely on the crops and things they grow as major part of the GDP.

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Misa Toyoura
2/29/2016 01:18:19 am

HI, Jessie! I enjoyed reading your post. I agree with you. especially, for those countries that affected by climate change, we all need to make some changes and make them able to sustain what remains and hopefully restore whats lost. I know it takes long time, hopefully we all can come up with better solutions.

Anteo Swenson
2/29/2016 05:45:04 pm

Nice post. Austria has an interesting position, since it does not really focus on what most of the other countries did, It focuses on the prevention of the use of nuclear energy, which, if used incorrectly, can be disastrous to the natural environment. I like this state's position because it is not the usual one. China is not a first world country, right? however, the position that they gave was quite common, and I find it ironic that they used Taoist values to support such claims; since, after all, they're one of the main polluters in the world. Hopefully they'll stick to their goal.

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Michael Stevens
3/8/2016 02:09:33 pm

Hello Jessie,
You do a good job of explaining what countries have done what in attempting to limit the impact of global warming. It is interesting how China's attitude toward climate change reflects its strong historical philosophy of balance: the balance of nature vs. man. It begs the question: what happens when there is an imbalance?

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Mary Rasooli
2/25/2016 06:50:17 pm

After searching through the archives, I found a document listing the targets that the first world countries intended on reaching in regards to climate change by 2020. Canada being one of the first world or (Annex I) parties reported that they had set the “ … target of a 17 per cent emission reduction by 2020 compared with 2005 levels, to be aligned with the final economy-wide emission reduction target of the United States of America in enacted legislation”.
The overall First world group consisted of Belgium, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, Turkey, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The United States, another Annex I country reported a “... target in the range of a 17 per cent emission reduction by 2020 compared with 2005 levels, in conformity with anticipated United States energy and climate legislation, recognizing that the final target will be reported to the secretariat in the light of the enacted legislation. In addition, the pathway set forth in pending legislation would entail a 30 per cent emission reduction by 2025 and a 42 per cent emission reduction by 2030, in line with the goal to reduce emissions by 83 per cent by 2050.”
Two Second world countries were Czech Republic which reported that they would be planning to further reduce their emissions by 40% by 2030. In addition they reported that they had pledged nearly 5.3 million USD through The Green Climate Fund and an additional 2 million to the German Climate Finance Readiness Program. Another second world country that reported was Croatia that claimed their goal was to create and provide “green jobs” to the people which would encourage and establish a more sustainable culture overall.
A nation that I have personal ties to that is being heavily affected by climate change is Iran. In Iran, the city air is unbreathable and over the years has gotten increasingly bad. They have experienced terrible dust storms and drought that the government has been working hard to fight as the health of the people in the most rural areas to the city dwellers have all been suffering substantially.
In addition, Pakistan has been faced with intense environmental threats such as extreme floods, water pollution, deforestation and the inaccessibility to potable, clean water.

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Gabriel Alcantara
2/28/2016 11:50:39 pm

Thank you for putting so much information into your original post! There sure is a lot to learn from it, specially Canada's goal towards climate change. It's incredible to think about that a number that sounds so small, such as 17%, can make such a huge deal if the whole world had the same goal. Imagine 17% less polution in the air that we breath in! If being in the country side before already felt amazing, imagine if we reduced the emissions by 17%!

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Yumi Okawara
2/25/2016 09:40:16 pm

First world countries participated: Belgium, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, Turkey, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland. Japan is faithful to the Kyoto Protocol, which means; decided to reduce the discharge of the greenhouse gas 5.2% in the whole developed countries from 2008 through 12 years. Even though Japan knows how powerful nuclear power is, the Japanese government still relies on nuclear power. For instance, Austria, the Chancellor mentioned the country does not have support using the automatic energy because the way is not solution to climate change. Further, Austria tries not to rely on fossil fuel. The second world countries participated are Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuanian, Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine. Especially, Bulgaria is like other countries; greenhouse gas is limited as globally. African countries are most impacted are by criminate change because these countries encountered natural disasters. In my opinion, because of that, they lost their house and had a food shortage. In addition, Indonesia had trouble in agriculture and fishing due to these disasters. I think many nations still our world is fine because most of countries’ economy is stable and depends on many resources in the earth. We should preserve recourses in the world. Then, it is necessary to leave those recourses in history.

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Christian Trinidad
2/25/2016 11:11:49 pm

In attendance at the Paris climate conference where notable names such as the United States, China and Germany. China in recent years has had a major problem with pollution one of the worst in the world. Since the 2008 Olympics they have set out to make a change and have cut there carbon foot print but there is still more that can be done, China being a developed nation must adhere to the Kyoto protocol which states that every developed country is responsible for the green house gasses it creates and must find ways to reduce and improve the amount they put out. Germany on the other hand is setting trends getting most of its national energy from renewable sources ,such as wind hydropower and solar. Countries like the United States and India rely heavily on coal and oil while countries like japan rely on Nuclear power. So if Germany can do it why cant we? Smaller and developing countries like Brazil and Haiti also joined in on the discussion to bring in a different point of view. Haiti is still recovering after the major earthquake a few years back but that has not stopped them from thinking globally. one region that is affected by climate change is the polar ice caps, they are melting! This is effecting wild life who are losing not only land but food sources. The oceans are rising and the possibility of a great flood becomes a greater threat. Another region well its just animals in general a lot of them are changing migration patterns or going in to new spaces because of a lack of food and hunting area. we are seeing more and more non native species in new places because of this.

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Anteo Swenson
2/29/2016 05:51:14 pm

It is true that China has been one of the major polluters in the past decades, and is trying to change it. But such mentality is fairly recent. China, as well as the United States, did not agree to all the terms stated in the Kyoto Protocol.
Also, you mentioned that we should also use renewable resources as Germany and other countries do. Well, the United States does. The difference is that we have a variety of energy sources, from renewable ones, to fossil fuel ones; I think it is important to remember that the United States is much bigger and requires a lot more energy and organization to make a drastic change like that.

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Misa Toyoura
2/25/2016 11:26:19 pm

The ozone treaty had divided the world into two blocs: high CFC users, like the United States, and low users, like Bangladesh. High users, who were largely responsible for the problem, were expected to act first, low users later. The same high-low distinction held for climate change; some countries had contributed a great deal to the problem, others very little. But almost immediately the blocs fractured into sub-blocs. Oil-producing states, like Saudi Arabia, split with low-lying, easily inundated nations, like Maldives. Rapidly industrializing countries, like India, saw their interests as very different from those of what are officially known as Least Developed Countries, like Ethiopia. The European Union wanted a treaty with strict targets and timetables for reducing carbon emissions.

Leaders of past climate summits tried to build top-down climate agreements in which countries would agree to broad guidelines to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Treaties borne out of that approach—like the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which required developed countries to commit to binding greenhouse gas reduction targets—gave governments little flexibility in addressing climate change.
The Paris conference will instead focus on reaching a bottom-up agreement. Governments around the world have already created their own plans— laying out how they plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions based on what they believe is politically and economically feasible for their own country. The Paris agreement would lay out a legal framework to verify that countries follow through on commitments to reduce emissions and provide for climate financing for poor countries, among other things.

Countries like the US, China, and Canada have shown newfound interest in addressing climate change. Even oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia, which could face unlivable temperatures in the coming century, have submitted plans to address global warming. Obama has instituted a slew of policies to push a decline in greenhouse gas emissions, which calls for reduction in carbon emissions from power plants by 2030. On the international front, Obama has signed up the U.S. for a number of bilateral climate agreements, including joint commitments with China.

China—the world’s largest emitter—actively sought to undermine negotiations in past climate conferences, but under the leadership of President Xi Jinping the country appears to have turned over a new leaf. The country has launched a national cap-and-trade program, gotten serious about tracking and reporting carbon emissions and, most importantly, committed to peaking carbon emissions by 2030. The ramped up committed is good news for a strong outcome in Paris. No climate deal would be meaningful without China’s full participation. The country generates more than a quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, and many countries would be reluctant to commit to cutting their own emissions with the world’s largest emitter on the sidelines.

Low-income countries will most likely remain on the frontline of human-induced climate change over the next century, experiencing gradual sea-level rises, stronger cyclones, warmer days and nights, more unpredictable rains, and larger and longer heat waves. Unlike people of wealthier developed countries, the people of the developing world do not have the means to fight global climate change. They will be the first and worst to be hit. A temperature rise of 2 to 4 degrees will cause a decreased yield in agriculture and increase rural-to-urban migration that will eventually lead to political unrest in already unstable governments.
Most of these groups are not even given a voice in the political landscape of climate negotiations, although it is clear that their lives are severely impacted by the outcome of these negotiations. It is important to remember that the people like us living in the first world are not the majority of the world. While we may not face problems with global warming on a daily basis, much of the world suffers without a voice in the global political sphere.



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Gabriel Alcantara
2/28/2016 11:40:40 pm

I love the amount of depth you put into this. The fact that there's an actual order that the countries are supposed to act on is very interesting to me, specially since I didn't notice it the first time I read through the links. It is a great thing that we are making the dirtiest start the clean up first.

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wenli zhou
3/1/2016 05:11:25 pm

Hi Misa, always enjoy to read your blog. I agree with you. It is hard to let third world countries to get aboard. Environment protection seems like to be the last one on their to do list. The limited resources will always go to industry and countries' development first. First world will have to put more effort to this.

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Sharelle Smith
2/25/2016 11:53:35 pm

The Paris climate change conference was an event for world leaders and scientist to get together and discuss possible solutions to better protect and secure the environment and future. Many countries attended like Pakistan, Germany United States, Zimbabwe,Vietnam, Switzerland and Kenya, just to name a few. There were goals such as creating a plan that would be safe and beneficial for all, setting up shirt and long term mile stones. Setting up a plan to measure said goals and progress, and to acknowledge that such plan is indeed urgent. A risk management and disaster prevention program to minimize any more global catastrophes. A plan to minimize co2 emissions was at the forefront of said needed changes piggy backing the the success and need for more sustainability programs. I remember reading in a peer review journal that the current co2 levels are allowing animals to travel to nonnative areas. This causes a problem because in most cases there aren't any natural predators creating havoc on the new environment. Along with the acid eating the reefs and making it near impossible for hard shell creatures to create new shells you have predators like the lion fish eating all of the coral reef fishes that help and protect it. This is a problem globally especially for areas that depend on these fish for consumption and economics. Tourists travel to certain locations across the world to see different type of species. Sting rays, sharks and other exotic creatures were being hunted almost to extinction until it was promoted as a tourist attraction by conservationists. With the fish and animals disappearing, it will cause problems for areas that depend o this for their main source of income. The global conference has provided proof global warming is not a myth and that it isn't impossible to make changes now.

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Gabriel Alcantara
2/28/2016 11:46:46 pm

I completely agree that our CO2 emission levels are outrageously high. What interested me the most in your response was the fact that the high levels of co2 were allowing animals to move to nonnative areas. I am just interested to know the relation between the emissions and the migration.

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Madalyn Hart
2/25/2016 11:57:51 pm

Some of the first world countries that participated in Paris Climate Summit were France, the US, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The US participated in stating that we need to form a group effort among all nations in order to adequately solve the global climate issues. Canada agreed that they would do everything in their power to help solve the issue and that they would even lend a helping hand to other developing countries if needed. A few of the second world and third world countries that participated were Russia, Croatia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, São Tome and Principe, Zimbabwe and Lesotho. Multiple countries like the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Armenia stated that the need to decrease green house gas emissions is a must, and that if they could cool temperatures by at least 2 degrees Celsius it would greatly reduce climate issues. Nations mostly affected by the impact of climate change are those closer to the equator. Not only is the UV and sun radiation increasing cancer levels, but the ever rising heat is leading to droughts, rising sea levels, hurricanes, typhoons and unpredictable extreme weather conditions in other parts of the part. Ex: prolonged winter and snowstorms on the east coast or the United Sates and polar opposite weather on the West coast. Indonesia, China, Brazil, and Vietnam are just a few other examples of countries that are in danger. Chinas air pollution in Beijing is so bad, that it is equivalent to smoking 40 cigarettes a day. Vietnam and Indonesia are experiencing serious heat and are being threatened by rising water levels.

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Abhisheak Sharma
2/29/2016 01:05:38 pm

Hey Madalyn,
Thank you for your post, I didn't know that Beijing air pollution was that harming to the people who live there. I know that profit and the country gaining money is important, but letting people die every second they breath is just wrong. Air pollution needs to be taken care of.

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Gabriel Alcantara link
2/25/2016 11:58:50 pm

As the negative signs of the climate changes start to appear, over 190 countries work together in order to create a brighter future for all of us. Nearly 200 countries adopted the Climate Agreement at the Paris Agreement. First World countries such as the United States of America, China, Austria, Germany, France, Spain, United Kingdom, New Zealand and many other attended the event. One of the points brought up by Austria was that the use of atomic energy will only further increase the drastic effects of such climate change. President Obama asked for a global cooperation towards the implantations of clean energy through all the countries present, following the examples of countries such as France (no fossil fuel). There were many second world countries present as well, such as Brazil, Australia, India, Hungary, Armenia, and many others. Brasil agreed to help stop the pollutant gases that are released into the atmosphere, and to try to limit the temperature increase to 2 degrees celsius. India also played a big role in the agreement. ”India's INDC targets tangible gains in low carbon growth while simultaneously endeavouring to meet developmental challenges that it faces” (First Post). Although we could all be affected by climate change, there are many countries that could be singled out as what could be coming to them as our environment's condition keeps getting worst. India for example could be looking at a increase in floods as the water levels keep rising, and countries such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Zimbabwe could also be looking at periods of increased drought.

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wenli zhou
3/1/2016 05:08:10 pm

Hi Gabriel, I agree with you. What we do have a strong impact on the third world, and yet, third world don't have the amount of money to deal with such disaster. For example in vietnam, The country has 42.8 percent of its population living in coastal areas at an altitude of 5 meters. If there is a rise of sealevel, these people will need to be relocated and it will also impact on the economic as well since they also rely on agriculture.

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Abhisheak Sharma
2/29/2016 10:00:33 am

These are some of the first world countries that participated in Paris climate conference were United States, Germany, France, China, Spain, Japan, Austria, United Kingdom and many other committed to the conference. The United States and China both committed to reducing its emission while making sure to cut down on carbon reduction. Austria Chancellor says they don’t use atomic energy because of its effect on the climate. The United States has to cut down by 26 to 28 percent by 2025. The US has made full efforts to fulfil its share of emission cuts. The second or third worlds that were present at the conference were Brazil, India, Australia, Poland, Russia and many others. India is a developing country where they have already started to cut down on their share of emission and pollution. African countries has been the most impacted by the climate change because of the natural disaster that occurs from the climate.

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wenli zhou
3/1/2016 05:02:15 pm

First World countries that participated in the Paris summit were: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands , Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland.
For example, Iceland Iceland’s Prime Minister is one of 140 heads of state attending COP21, the outcome is that Iceland agreed to participate in a joint target with the European Union (EU) and Norway of a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.
Another first world example would be the Canada, the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a detailed national climate strategy and agreement on climate issue. During his speech, he said: ““We will be asking Canadians to take an active part in this critical global effort using their remarkable ingenuity, innovation, and networks. Let’s show the world what a positive forward-looking Canada can do and let’s work together with all countries to find the solutions the planet needs.” I saw a very positive shift in how to dealing with climate change from his speech. It is very important that he noticed that bring the grassroots into the system is the major focus on the issue. It takes everyone’s effort to make a better world.
Second and third world countries who had participated are: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan,Tajikistan, Ukraine, Pakistan, Angola, Cameroon, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Yemen, Senegal, Nigeria, Mauritania, Lesotho, Uganda. It is surprised to see this many of developing countries also joined climate change summit.
Pairs summit given the Angola an opportunity to get involvement in its organisation. Angolan ambassador to Paris Miguel Costa went to the summit and According to Miguel Costa, the country has been doing all it can to contribute to the goals of the climate ideals which includes the mobilisation of the population.
There is a lot of argument around what Pakistan had submitted. Some people said What Pakistan submitted is beyond weak. At that time, the world ask for a commitment or a statement, however Pakistan did not offer any. People want to see some intention of changing from the government and yet they did not intent to give any. I understand that the unstable political situation in the middle east, but pakistan should be more serious on climate change. In the end, it is the third world that's gonna affect the most.
Many countries in the south Asia will be impacted by climate change from increased droughts, flooding, storms, hurricanes. The first example is Cambodia, Through my research I found out that Cambodia has 10.6 percent of its population living at an altitude of 5 meters (less than 17 feet) above sea level. Agriculture accounted for 35.6 percent of Cambodia's GDP. Climate change and any natural disaster will affect the country’s economic significantly. Another example could be Vietnam. Vietnam was second on S&P's vulnerability to climate change report. The country has 42.8 percent of its population living in coastal areas at an altitude of 5 meters. If there is a rise of sealevel, these people will need to be relocated and it will also impact on the economic as well since they also rely on agriculture.

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Michael Stevens
3/8/2016 02:14:45 pm

Hello Wenli,
Your research is interesting. It seems that Vietnam will be in big trouble if climate change continues to progress. With almost 43% of the population living near the coast, it is a recipe for disaster. I wonder what type of natural disasters are typical for Vietnam because if typhoons and hurricanes are historically common, then the damage will only be more significant. Great research.

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Michael Stevens
3/8/2016 02:06:00 pm

The United States and China both participated in the 2015 Climate Change Conference, and they both have the desire to limit greenhouse emissions. India and Brazil also participated: India is battling with heavy air and water pollution; Brazil is battling heavy deforestation. The nations in the world most impacted by climate change would be both arctic and island states. After visiting the arctic circle last year, I saw first-hand the devastating impact of climate change as habitats and populations are being directly affected year after year. The polar region is especially sensitive due to the melting of the ice and warmer temperatures which have a direct impact on the land. Another region of the world affected by climate change is island states. With the rising of sea levels and more severe tropical storms, islands will have less land and suffer more damage from natural disasters respectively. If global warming continues to escalate, which it appears to be doing, then the landscape of arctic and island regions will be the first to suffer the devastating impact of climate change. To illustrate this proposition, this year, Alaska had to import snow for its most famous dog-sledding race. There definitely seems to be an issue when in the middle of winter, Alaska has to import snow up north. Another illustration is the recent typhoon that hit the Philippines: Typhoon Yolanda. In 2013, the Philippines was hit with the most destructive typhoon in the history of the island. 6,300 people were killed. Researchers have found that the intensity of tropical storms have increased by about 10% from the 1970s, and storms will continue to grow in intensity if global warming will continue to take effect.

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Michelle Bounkousohn
3/27/2016 02:10:29 pm

During the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference, which was attended by the European Union and 185 nations, a coalition of hundreds of countries got together to speak about the goal of reducing the global temperature increase to pre-industrial levels. The US and China were key players during the conference as they are the two top nations who eclipse the rest of participants in carbon emissions, with the US emitting more carbon than the entirety of the EU, and China creating approximately twice as much. The US and China are visible and obvious perpetrators of environmental pollution in the name of capitalistic production, which directly affects hundreds of other countries, especially poorer folks as they are usually the biggest victims of pollution.

The US and France are two of the more developed nations that participated, with France hosting due to their environmental priorities like using decarbonized electricity and fossil fuel usage, obtaining 90% of its electricity from zero carbon sources. The US is unlikely to ratify the agreement, apparently, but their role in addressing climate change is paramount due to the vast quantities of carbon emitted from the US alone.

Mexico and India are two developing nations that participated in the conference, nations that have directly felt the effects of environmental pollution and environmental racism, especially as a result of capitalistic production. Mexico and India have communities that survive on the recycling of developing countries' trash and who survive on the low-wage assembly of electronics, all of which leave workers at risk of extreme health hazards and environmentally polluted communities.

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