The United States is the second largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world (15). As scientists monitor carbon dioxide levels and watch them rise, global climate change is potentially becoming a bigger problem. The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement signed in 1997 to reduce the amount of carbon emissions globally. This is an important achievement in the international community because it is the only international agreement that sets legally binding carbon limits for participating countries (2). Although the United States is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, it has never been ratified by the Senate. The United States has decided not to participate in the Kyoto Protocol, much to the disappointment of the global community. A Brazilian writer claims that the Kyoto Protocol is “nothing more than a piece of paper” without the United States taking the lead (3). Which shows how much the rest of the global community looks to the United States as a leader. major economic power, the United States should ratify the Kyoto Protocol to help remedy growing harmful carbon emissions, or at least to set an example for other countries. Global climate change is a natural cycle occurring on Earth over the last 650,000 years, there have been recorded seven cycles of glacier advance and retreat. The end of the last ice age approximately 7,000 years ago marked the beginning of the modern climate era (20). , but the human presence has accelerated the process. This is important today because this phenomenon will influence future generations. Global climate change is exacerbated by the use of fossil fuels, which are releasing carbon… mid-paper…countries have already ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The United States would also have to ratify it if there are plans in place to reduce carbon emissions anyway. As of early 2010, 83 countries had adopted some sort of policy to promote energy production from renewable sources, a notable increase from approximately forty-eight countries. in mid-2005 (2). More than 190 nations have committed to joining the Kyoto Protocol. This includes Germany, Great Britain, France, China and Russia, leaving the United States as the only major economic power not to have ratified it (9). Some countries that joined the first commitment period subsequently decided to withdraw from the second commitment period but to continue to reduce carbon emissions in their programs. In December 2011, Canada, Japan and Russia decided not to commit to the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2).