International aspects of the mitigation of the environmental effects of energy production

It is hard to draw a boundary between those impacts on the environment which are specifically related to energy and those which are a general consequence of the concentration of human activities. This survey of international activities on energy and the environment will be restricted to those effects which commonly operate across international boundaries and will not include such problems as the airborne chemical problems at Bhopal, the Rhine spill at Basel or the ozone depletion by chlorofluorocarbons. The major international energy-related concerns are: (1) carbon dioxide and the possible warming of the earth; (2) sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and photochemical oxidant effects on lakes, streams, forests, and structures; (3) nuclear radioactive releases from weapons testing and power plants as they affect human health; and (4) the disposal of radioactive waste as a possible threat for the future ground water supplies or oceans