UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 3 Q17: model answer
Discuss global warming and mention its effects on the global climate. Explain the control measures to bring down the level of greenhouse gases which cause global warming, in the light of the Kyoto Protocol, 1997.
What the question wants
Discuss global warming, its effects on global climate, and measures to cut greenhouse gases in light of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
How to structure it
Cause, effects, Kyoto measures, beyond Kyoto.
- What global warming is
- Effects on climate
- Kyoto Protocol
- Its control measures
- Limits and Paris
How to think it through
Greenhouse effect enhanced by CO2, CH4, N2O, F-gases; ~1.1–1.2°C above pre-industrial (IPCC AR6), 2024 first year above 1.5°C (WMO). Effects: heatwaves, sea level rise, glacier melt, extreme rainfall, droughts, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, monsoon shifts, Arctic sea ice loss. Kyoto 1997, in force 2005: binding targets for Annex I (average 5.2% below 1990 in 2008–12), CBDR, six gases; flexibility mechanisms: emissions trading, JI, CDM; Doha amendment 2012 second period. Limits: US never ratified, Canada withdrew, no developing country targets. Measures generally: renewable energy, efficiency, forests, methane, carbon pricing, CCUS. Paris 2015.
Model answer
In 2024, the world's average temperature was, for the first time in a calendar year, more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The number that scientists warned about had arrived.
What global warming is
- Gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide trap heat that the Earth would otherwise radiate to space.
- Since the industrial age, burning coal, oil and gas and clearing forests have thickened this blanket.
Effects on the global climate
- Hotter heatwaves and record temperatures.
- Melting ice: Arctic sea ice, Greenland and Himalayan glaciers.
- Sea level rise from melting ice and warming oceans.
- Extreme rainfall and floods, and longer droughts.
- Stronger cyclones and shifting monsoons.
- Ocean acidification and coral bleaching.
- Biodiversity loss as species fail to move fast enough.
The Kyoto Protocol (1997)
- Adopted in 1997, in force from 2005.
- Binding targets for developed (Annex I) countries: on average 5.2% below 1990 levels in 2008–12.
- Based on common but differentiated responsibilities: no binding targets for developing countries.
- Covered six greenhouse gases.
Control measures under Kyoto
- Domestic cuts through clean energy and efficiency.
- Emissions trading among developed countries.
- Joint Implementation: projects in other developed countries.
- Clean Development Mechanism: projects in developing countries such as India earned credits.
- Forest sinks counted towards targets.
- The Doha Amendment (2012) set a second period to 2020.
Limits and what followed
- The US never ratified; Canada withdrew; big emerging emitters had no targets.
- The Paris Agreement (2015) replaced it with nationally determined contributions for all countries.
- Credits under CDM lost value after 2012, and some projects were questioned for additionality.
- Today's measures go further: renewables, carbon pricing, methane cuts, CCUS and forests.
Kyoto proved that the world could agree on binding climate rules; Paris proved that everyone had to be inside them.
Draw: The greenhouse effect: sun's rays in, heat trapped by a GHG layer.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
greenhouse effect, CO2, CH4, N2O, 2024 above 1.5°C, Kyoto 1997, in force 2005, Annex I, 5.2% below 1990, CBDR, emissions trading, JI, CDM, Doha Amendment 2012, Paris 2015.
Where most answers lose marks
- Explaining warming but not the Kyoto measures.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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