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Cap and Trade Paper 1

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Cap and Trade Paper 1
Alix Pena
Conner Holm
Justin Rayome

Cap-and-Trade: A Potential Solution to Global Warming

Global warming has become a heated topic over recent years as we notice more subtle changes in our environment. Some scientists even think it is a bigger problem than we can even imagine and there are many factors that play a part in global warming. So what exactly is global warming? This refers to the recent rise of Scientists are estimating a 2 to 11 degree increase of the Earth’s average surface temperature due to greenhouse gases over the next one hundred years. Most of those greenhouse gases are from human activity such as burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Even the smallest change in warming weather can have large and potentially dangerous effects on Earth. However, global warming is only one part of climate change. Climate change is any significant change in climate over periods of time. This refers to major changes in temperature, rainfall and wind patterns, over several decades. Thus we see global warming is not something that we should be worrying about for the future. It is an issue that needs to be addressed now because it actually predates every living person today.
Since the time of the Industrial Revolution, human activities have polluted the air with large amounts of greenhouses gasses. These gasses are thick covering the Earth in the atmosphere creating and trapping more heat on Earth’s surface; this is known as the greenhouse effect. While the greenhouse effect is needed to support life on Earth, a continuous buildup of these gasses becomes harmful. Greenhouses gasses come from burning fossil fuels, deforestation, industrial processes, and some agriculture practices. When the carbon dioxide is released by these activities it is trapped in the lower part of the troposphere heating the surface of the Earth thus creating global warming. The most significant greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide; it can cause the most substantial increase in temperature.



Cited: “Benefits of Renewable Energy Use.” Union of Concerned Scientists. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/public-benefits-of-renewable.html#bf-toc-3 (November 1, 2014) “Climate Change.” The Environmental Protection Agency “Economics of Global Warming.” people.uwec.edu/carrolwd/Classes/Econ268/GlobalWarming.ppt. (November 2, 2014) “Little to No Global Warming Emissions.” Union of Concerned Scientists “National Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” The Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/usinventoryreport.html (November 6, 2014) Peters, B “Price of Solar.” Clean Technica. http://cleantechnica.com/2014/02/01/real-cost-solar (November 5, 2014) Reynolds, Owen “Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC).” Solar Energy Industry Association. http://www.seia.org/policy/finance-tax/solar-investment-tax-credit (November 3, 2014) Stavins, Robert “The Post War Economy: 1945-1960.” Economics. About Education. http://economics.about.com/od/useconomichistory/a/post_war.htm (November 2, 2014) “U.S “When and How was the EPA Created?" United States Environmental Protection Agency. http://publicaccess.supportportal.com/link/portal/23002/23012/Article/23723/When-and-how-was-the-EPA-created (November 4, 2014)

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