by Fresh Conservative

A few facts to ponder, first a volcano will spew more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2 hours than all of the carbon dioxide producing machines people have used in 10 years ( i.e.. cars, power plants, etc.) and there has been a lot of volcanic activity in the last 100 years across the globe. Second BOVINE gas is the 2nd leading cause of carbon dioxide on the planet after volcanoes, yes that’s right, cow farts. Third there are under water volcanoes that superheat water while expelling carbon dioxide into the atmosphere on a daily basis. This effects the water temps around the globe depending on how many of these under water systems go at once. Heat the water and the weather changes and ice melts, science 101.

There are more trees on the earth today in better condition than there were 100 years ago. There is actually more ice covering the earth today than 200 years ago it has just melted in some places but frozen over in others.

Our cars and machines pollute less today in 2007 with more of each than with less of each in the 1950′s.

Don’t let people scare you into fearing changes in the weather remember 10,000 years ago there was ice 2 miles deep covering the planet. The whole continent of Africa used to be a tropical rain forest. If you want to conserve please do, I use energy efficient light bulbs (you know the curly florescent bulbs you can now use in regular light fixtures). Why do I use them? Because they use 75% less energy to run than regular light bulbs and I cut my electric bill from $ 75 a month to $ 20 a month. It was a financial decision; I save about $ 600 dollars a year by using them. They are also a lot brighter than regular light bulbs.

This is just an example of what I mean. If you want to conserve DO IT!! If you don’t want to that is OK. Most of the talking heads like the Kennedy’s and Gore don’t conserve energy at all but they are going to try to force us to. Gore even has the gumption to propose a GLOBAL WARMING TAX on us through the United Nations and our own American government.

Just remember this and you will understand what is happening… NOTHING STAYS THE SAME!!! We all live on a gigantic rock hurling at thousands of miles per hour through the ever expanding universe. We are kept in a planetary line by gravity created by a massive nuclear reactor THE SUN! Yes, that’s right! The SUN is the most magnificent nuclear reaction creation to sustain life and it can also destroy entire universes. We spin around this thing everyday and the SUN spews coronal mass ejections or waves of radioactive materials at us everyday. This would also help create global warming. Don’t you think? Scientist do….And don’t forget the axis of the earth. As we rotate different areas of the earth have different positions towards the SUN. How do we know what just 10 inches in any rotation direction of the earth will do to cause an environmental change on our planet?

If you want to fear something I will give you something to fear and here it is. At any time an asteroid 2 to 3 miles thick and 5 miles wide could hit the earth and all life as we know it would cease to exist in the blink of an eye. Laughing are you? There are only 20 to 25 people observing the skies, yet there are millions of huge rocks that are miles in diameter floating around (asteroids) in our little universe. They call them asteroids because they are the second cousin twice removed from a hemorrhoid or a pain in the ass (just kidding).

Global Warming on the other hand is a progression of earth that will happen no matter what people do. Fear mongers are trying to make it out to be us the human beings fault other than nature and in turn taking advantage of people for the gain of political power.

Related Global Warming Articles

Please Note... All links within articles are placed by their author-owners and not by this blog.Products with in those links may or may not be the best in the world.If it sounds too good to be true it could be a scam.Articles are posted for their info,ideas and or entertainment value only.

Powered By WP Footer

Introduction

This article is the first in a series of articles which will take the reader on an alphabetic journey on global warming, commencing with A for Amazon.

The phrase global warming is a term that has been in common usage for some time and usually refers to the warming of Earth’s atmosphere, and which also implies a manmade or human influence.

Earth’s atmosphere is comprised of many gases, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapour to name a few. These gases are collectively called greenhouse gases and they keep the Earth’s temperature at a comfortable 15 degrees Celsius, without them Earth would be a chilly – 18 degrees Celsius. Since pre-industrial times, usually taken to be around 1750 we know from ice core records that Co2 levels were around 280 ppm, that’s 280 parts of Co2 per million parts of air. As industrialisation got underway mankind started to farm the land more intensely than ever before, deforest for agriculture and settlements, and later since around 1850 or so, burn fossil fuels for energy and transport which have added considerably to greenhouse gas levels, particularly Co2.

This has resulted in Co2 levels increasing to around 385 ppm, an increase of around 37% over pre-industrial levels mainly as a result of burning fossil fuels.

How do we know this? Well, data from ice core records that go back at least 650,000 years now show us that Co2 levels have fluctuated naturally during this time between 280 and 300 ppm. Co2 levels have also been measured accurately from the top of Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii since 1958, and results show an increase in Co2 levels from 315 ppm to 385 ppm since that time. Therefore Co2 now stands at 85 ppm more than it has been for at least 650,000 years of Earth’s history. It is a known scientific fact that higher levels of greenhouse gases will lead to higher temperatures, and this appears to be occurring now. The world has warmed by an average of 0.74 degrees during the last 100 years or so.

As a result of this warming, polar ice has started to decrease and melt, and so are Earth’s land based glaciers. This in turn is causing sea levels to rise which is putting low lying islands at risk of flooding or total submersion. This will eventually threaten more and more of the worlds coastal cities and regions.

As Earth’s atmosphere starts to warm, the warming itself may cause further positive feedback mechanisms to kick in. A warmer atmosphere holds more water vapour, which is itself a powerful greenhouse gas. This will in turn cause further warming, and so on.

Melting ice means that more sunlight is absorbed by the surrounding “darker” water and land, meaning further warming, and more melting ice. Methane deposits currently held in a frozen but stable state under the sea and under the permafrost maybe released as the oceans warm and permafrost melts, which will cause further warming as methane is a potent greenhouse gas etc etc.

Where better place to start this A-Z journey on global warming than with The Amazon Rainforest, which has an incredibly important role to play in maintaining a balance in the Earth’s climate. The Amazon is inextricably linked to the issue of global warming and has a considerable influence on Earth’s climate.

Amazon Facts

The Amazon river basin contains the largest rainforest on Earth and covers approximately 40% of the South American continent. The Amazon Rainforest is located within eight countries, Brazil contains 60% of the forest, with Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana containing the rest.

The Amazon forest is a natural reservoir of genetic diversity, containing the largest and most species rich tract of tropical rainforest that exists. The Amazon contains an amazing thirty-percent of Earth’s species. One square kilometre of Amazon can contain about 90,000 tons of living plants! It’s also amazing to consider that one in five of all the birds in the world make the rainforest their home.

The Amazon basin is drained by the Amazon river, the worlds second longest after the Nile and the river acts as the lifeline of the forest. The river is the most voluminous on Earth.

A few hundred years ago tropical rainforests covered as much as 12% of the Earth’s land surface, but today the figure is less than 5%. The largest stretch of rainforest can be found in the Amazon river basin, over half of which lies in Brazil.

Why is the Amazon so important in the context of global warming?

The rainforest acts as a major store of Carbon and produces enormous amounts of oxygen. The Amazon has been referred to as “The lungs of the Earth” because of its affect on the climate. The way this is achieved is through photosynthesis, the process by which green plants/trees use the energy from sunlight to produce food by taking carbon dioxide (Co2) from the air and water and converting them to carbon. The by-product of this is oxygen.

The Amazon therefore helps recycle carbon dioxide by turning it into oxygen, and its estimated that the Amazon produces about 20% of this essential gas for Earth’s atmosphere.

Trees, plants and Co2

Levels of co2 in the atmosphere have been measured since 1958 from a monitoring station located on Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii and they show sharp annual increases and decreases in co2 levels, similar to the tooth on a saw. The readings seemingly mimic a breath of air being taken in and out; it’s almost as if the Earth is breathing. The readings correspond to the amount of vegetation on the planet (most of which is contained in the Northern Hemisphere, as the landmass there is greater), taking in co2, and giving out oxygen. During the Northern Hemisphere summer, when the Earth is tilted toward the sun, the Earth’s vegetation is able to photosynthesise resulting in an uptake of co2, causing worldwide co2 levels to drop. During winter, when Earth’s axis is tilted away from the sun, the opposite happens causing co2 levels to rise again.

When one becomes aware of the correlation between the Earth’s vegetation and co2 levels, it is easy to understand why the Amazon, and rainforests in general are such an important part of Earth’s ecosystem. If global warming is to be tackled, the Amazon, and other rainforests must be saved.

Copyright (c) 2008 Simon Rosser

A lawyer by trade,I felt inspired to write the A-Z of Global Warming, out in May 2008, following a viewing of Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth in Nov 2006. Sourced from up to date scientific information, and in unique A-Z format, the Amazon article gives a flavour of the books contents. To see the unique illustrations from the book in vibrant colour on various gift items, please visit the following link – http://www.cafepress.com/globalwarmin

Please Note... All links within articles are placed by their author-owners and not by this blog.Products with in those links may or may not be the best in the world.If it sounds too good to be true it could be a scam.Articles are posted for their info,ideas and or entertainment value only.

Powered By WP Footer