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Global warming is a worldwide phenomenon that affects every single country, rich and poor. So it behooves all nations to "go green" because there will not be significant long-term environmental improvement change if only the industrialized nations do it. Global greening should be a universal and democratic process. If we are serious about saving our planet for future generations, there is no time to be wasted in political correctness. Global warming will not improve if, out of some misguided sympathy on the part of their richer neighbors, underdeveloped countries are encouraged to follow in the dirty footsteps of industrialized countries in order to advance themselves economically.

Almost three-quarters of global pollution comes from industrialized nations, with nearly one-quarter of that total from the United States. Industrialized countries use 60% of the planet's fossil fuels. Quite understandably, the poorer nations want their share of the economic pie, but it doesn't follow that the citizens of these countries should be encouraged, often by American-based corporations, to drive gas guzzlers, construct coal-fired power plants, chop down their forests for cattle grazing and human development, and work in polluting factories.

Another contributor to global warming is population growth. Underdeveloped countries are often massively overpopulated because of lack of knowledge about and access to family planning methods and the fact that poor women are not given the opportunity to empower themselves. The truth is that the more people that populate the planet, the more global warming will increase, because an increase in population translates to a greater demand for pollution-producing services and supplies. For this reason, citizens of poorer countries must be encouraged to limit their families to a sustainable number.

Meat eating is one of the biggest factors in global warming but is often overlooked. Livestock farming uses up to 70% of the planet's arable land and 30% of its total land surface, according to a 2007 United Nations report. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, it contributes 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all modes of transportation combined. Livestock production is responsible for 18% of the carbon dioxide, 37% of the methane, 65% of the nitrous oxide, and 64% of the total ammonia emissions on the planet. Clearly, underdeveloped nations should not be encouraged to adopt the unhealthy and polluting animal-based eating habits of the westernized nations.

Other significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions are the burning of fossil fuels in heating and cooking, landfills, leakage from pipelines, coal seams, and use of chemical fertilizers. These can all be successfully addressed by global warming-savvy industrialized countries, who should in turn give their poorer neighbors the benefit of their hard-earned environmental education by discouraging them from making the same polluting mistakes. No country, rich or poor, can claim to be a success unless it encourages its private and business sectors to pursue their economic interests without destroying their environment at the same time.

Learn more about this author, Ardeth Baxter.
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