Global warming and the blame game Research Paper

Global warming and the blame game - Research Paper Example The major blaming debate is whether global warming is majorly accelerated by the developed countries or developing countries. It is for sure known that the problem comes from both sides of the world but determining the greatest accelerators still remains a debate in the global environment arena. To discuss this paper, the major objective is to determine whether the developed countries are the major accelerators of global warming. This leads to the discussion question, Is global warming mostly accelerated by the developed countries? The thesis that will help find the answer to this question will be: The developed nations majorly cause global warming. To support this claim, the paper discusses the various activities in developed countries that might cause global warming. One of the major causes of global warming is the emission of greenhouse gases especially Carbon dioxide (CO2) due to the huge coal burning power plants and many industries. The developed countries are the greatest emitters of these gases. The data collected from 1900 to 2004 indicates that the United States of America produced carbon dioxide that amounted to 314,772 million metric tons (The World Bank 3). Germany also produced three times as much as China that only produced 89,243 million metric tons. The World Bank report added that it is important to note that these gases stay in the atmosphere for centuries; it can take more than 30 years to remove 50% of the emissions (5). This led to increased global temperature from back in 1800s to date. The graph below shows the gradual increase in the global temperature between 1880 and 2010. Developed countries are also the greatest consumers of the environmental resources. U.S, Canada, Europe and many more nations being with less population compared to developing countries, are the greatest consumers of environmental resources such as trees, raw materials for manufacturing and in turn has led to increased