Global Warming and the Position of the US Government

Miriam Kiesler

Global Warming and the Position of the US Government – a terminology work on the causes and consequences of climate change

ISBN 978-3-86821-025-5, 269 S., 20 Abb., € 29,50 (CD-ROM, 2008)

(Lighthouse Unlimited, Bd. 117)

Global warming presents the most serious environmental problem nowadays because it impacts the Earth’s climate on a global scale. In 2007, the IPCC published its fourth assessment report, revealing the enormous temperature increase during the past decade and predicting the impacts of global warming for the 21st century. Immediate international action is, without any doubt, needed to reduce further greenhouse gas emissions and to mitigate the consequences of global warming. This thesis offers an overview of past climates, the impacts of and the difficulty to respond to climate changes, the political debate on global warming and especially the position of the United States’ government within this debate. The main section of this thesis focuses on the environmental and political development of global warming and gives an overview of the causes and consequences of climate changes and the measures taken so far to mitigate the impacts. The most important treaties are presented and the corresponding mechanisms are outlined. The bilingual terminology database in English and German (including 89 entries) was designed to enable the reader to easily access the most significant terms related to global warming.