Controlling the Greenhouse Effect: Five Global Regimes Compared
Dec 2010 · Brookings Institution Press
Ebook
40
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
Roughly 30 percent of the solar radiation directed toward the earth is reflected directly back into outer space. The remaining 70 percent is absorbed by earth and re-emitted outward as long-wave—or infra-red—radiation. While transparent to incoming solar radiation, certain gases--notably carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons—absorb, or "trap," this outgoing infra-red radiation near the earth's surface, producing an increase in temperature. This is the so-called greenhouse effect. The greater the concentration of these greenhouse gases, the more pronounced will be the effect. Despite uncertainties, the scientific consensus recorded at Villach, Austria, in 1985 was that "the understanding of the greenhouse question is sufficiently developed that scientists and policy-makers should begin an active collaboration to explore the effectiveness of alternatives and adjustments." The recent scientific assessment of climate change, conducted under the auspices of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has only strengthened the view that a concerted multilateral response is called for.
About the author
Joshua M. Epstein is senior fellow in the Brookings Foreign Policy Studies program and teaches at Princeton University. He is author of Strategy and Force Planning: The Case of the Persian Gulf (1987). The Calculus of Conventional War (1985), and The 1987 Defense Budget and The 1988 Defense Budget. Raj Gupta is a consultant to Brookings and works in risk arbitage at Goldman Sachs.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
