U.S. and China Come together to Lower CO2
I am always curious to see what the president is doing in terms of environmental issues and find that the articles are far fewer than those about green buildings. I finally found an article.
President Obama has met with Chinese President Hu Jintao this month to discuss plans between the two countries to lower the CO2 emissions. The countries plan on investing in sustainable technology in order to also increase GDP. If you're interested, you can read the brief article by clicking the link above.
I, as a science teacher, like to examine the meaning of the article. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, meaning it helps to trap the suns infrared rays and warm the planet. There is a delicate balance that naturally exists and it is thought that human activity over the past two hundred years has disrupted that balance and led to global warming. When I was in school, I believe I heard that the globe has warmed as much as one degree Celsius in the past 50 years. This is a big change. There are other greenhouse gases, mind you, such as methane, that are more of a threat to the environment.
Since the United States and China are heavily populated and industrialized, it is a powerful statement to work toward lowering their carbon footprint. Hopefully other countries will follow the lead.
