2006: Year Of Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

The blogging break is over. Before posting on this week's topic, I would like to wish those readers going by the Gregorian Calendar a Happy New Year.

The end of the year is a time to reflect on the past. One major thing that came up this year was weather stories. Hurricane Katrina was obviously notable and was part of a record Atlantic hurricane season, but there are major weather stories happening now. Environment Canada released its top weather stories of 2005, and flooding in Manitoba was second from the top, behind flooding in Alberta. There are also current weather anomolies happening as I write. Brandon is basking in a heatwave lasting more than a week that has sent temperatures close to the freezing mark. Wildfires are causing problems in Oklahoma and Texas, and flooding is a problem in northern California.

These events point to a longstanding trend that has seen global temperatures rise dramatically as a result of increased greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol, drafted in 1997 in the Japanese city of Kyoto, came into effect this year when Russia ratified. The agreement calls for greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced to 5% below 1990 levels by the year 2012. Even though more is needed to be done than called for under Kyoto, Kyoto at least sets a benchmark against which to measure progress and from which to make future plans.

But there is something that any reader of this blog can also do. The link to the Hunger Site on the right hand side of the page provides links to other websites whereby a simple click goes towawrds such things as rainforest and habitat protection. What better way to start off a new year and make a difference by taking just a few seconds each day?