CLIMATE CHANGE GETS A COMPUTER MODEL

Researchers Syukuro Manabe and Richard Wetherald create an accurate computer model of the planet ’ s changing climate . Their model allows them to adjust CO ² levels to see how that would affect global temperatures . They estimated that their contemporary CO ² levels would raise global temperatures by 2 ° C .

HOLE IN THE OZONE LAYER IS DISCOVERED

The hole in the ozone layer above the Antarctic became perhaps the most potent symbol of a warming world , as climate change rose in the public ’ s consciousness . The hole was pinned on the use of chlorofluorocarbons ( CFCs ), compounds found in aerosol cans and fridges . Use of these CFCs would be heavily reduced – and then banned – as a result .

THE KYOTO PROTOCOL

It may have taken a few decades , but the global community had awoken to the gravity of the situation at hand . In response , the United Nations began to have annual Conferences of the Parties ( COPs ), aiming to arrive at a global consensus with regards to climate change .

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at COP3 in 1997 and required signatories to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 6-8 % below 1990 levels by 2008-2012 .

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