Sleepy-eyed representatives from more than 160 countries worked straight through the night last Wednesday in Kyoto, Japan. By sunrise, they had hammered out a historic agreement to reduce earth's pollution and slow down global warming.
The plan, called the "Kyoto Protocol," is the first agreement among major nations like Japan and the U.S. to enforce limits on a kind of pollution called "greenhouse gases." Such gases, which include carbon dioxide, are produced by cars and factories. They trap the earth's heat.
Three big polluters--the U.S., Europe and Japan--agreed that by 2012 their output of these gases would be at least 6% lower than it was in 1990. But for the U.S. to take part, Congress must approve the treaty. Some Congress members are against it. They say it's too costly for companies to cut pollution so much and it's unfair that many small countries won't cut back.
"We still have a lot of work ahead," said Vice President Al Gore,who spoke at the conference. He hopes this treaty is a start.