Tag Archives: Climate Change
What’s All the Rush?
I consider myself an American progressive and maybe even a liberal. But I can very well relate to why in some more American conservative in parts of my country may consider we out West far too progressive. I do believe … Continue reading
CARS, Cars, and more cars?
Cars have enabled most of what we enjoy today. They have given us far greater mobility than ever before and to do it in great comfort and convenience. But cars have created their on problems of traffic congestion, air pollution, and greenhouse gases. The drawbacks are starting to outweigh its benefits. Continue reading
Climate Change: Part 4 – How Storms & Hurricanes Form
The formation of storms and hurricanes are largely a mystery to most people. This post will attempt to explain how they are formed in light of the recent rash of hurricanes that have threatened and damaged this nation resulting in hundreds of billions of dollars in damages and loss of life to take some of the mystery out of it and how Climate Change may have played a role… Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Environment, Global Warming
Tagged atmospere, Climate Change, energy, hurricane, instability, moisture, storm, temperature, warm water
3 Comments
Climate Change: Is it Too Late?
There seems to be an increasing consensus among climate scientist that even if we were to cease all production of man made greenhouse gases it would take as much as a hundred thousand years to return to a more normal state…We have triggered nature to quickly release its own huge stores of greenhouse gases from the oceans, ice, and tundras which have been accumulating and lying dormant for millions of years. We can still make a difference if we act soon. Our influence on Climate Change is still significant. Continue reading
Climate Change: Part 3 – Runaway Climate Change
Positive Feedback Loops exists extensively in many aspects of engineering, science, everyday life, and nature. It occurs when a small part of the energy of something that starts gets siphoned off into something that makes what is happening get larger and larger… Let me explain very simplistically. Local Climate Change and Global Warming can trigger a positive feedback loop effect from a number of sources causing Global Warming to accelerate beyond just the greenhouse gases that man creates. When this happens more greenhouse gases continue to accelerate due to nature itself which may eventually be greater than man’s emissions… Continue reading
Climate Change: Part 2 – Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Currently CO2 is the most prevalent greenhouse gas in out atmosphere even though it is only 400 ppm (0.04%) of our atmosphere. One pound of gasoline produces about 7 pounds of CO2 put into our atmosphere. A gallon of gasoline weighs 6.3 pounds and puts about 20 pounds of CO2 into our atmosphere. The reason for the gain in weight is because during combustion the carbon atoms in gasoline combine with the oxygen atoms in the air to form CO2 . But as more CO2 is dumped into our atmosphere and absorbed by the seas the water starts to become saturated with it and absorbs less (see Part 1) resulting in more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and more Global Warming of our atmosphere… Continue reading
Why would Anyone Be Against More Bicycles
I have been a bicycle advocate for the last 3 years because I feel that there are far too many cars on the road and bicycles can play an important role in reducing those numbers. I am also for public transport but feel that it will not work for my city due to urban sprawl with its maze of meandering streets and cul-de-sacs intended to offer more privacy for residents… Bicycles do not have this problem and neither do cars. The problem with cars is that they cause traffic which as our city rapidly grows is becoming a major problem. Continue reading
From Dreaming Big to Thinking Small
I recently read a short article about how people used to think really big in this country and now think small and it struck me how true this was. We started with a great dream expressed in the Declaration of Independence which resulted in the Constitution of the United States and the first 12 Articles of the Bill of Rights. This was the impetus for the great move West, really bad news for native American Indians, but great opportunities for new settlers. This gave rise to the transcontinental railroad, one of the longest in the world up to that point and the industrial revolution and heavy industries such as steel. Continue reading
Posted in Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective
Tagged Climate Change, getting little accomplished, Global Warming, great dream, industrial revolution, no long-term vision, no will, opportunities, short-term chaos, slipped from dreaming big, think and dream big, transportation infrastructure
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Really Clean Nuclear Energy for the Near Future
After all the bad press nuclear power received after the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in March 2011 the world community has become paranoid about the use of nuclear power in spite of the rarity of nuclear accidents. But there are several old but newer technologies for generating nuclear power that are even safer. I have already written about breeder reactor technology. Another developing nuclear technology called Fusion emits a modest amount of radiation only while in operation and produces no radioactive byproducts. Two deuterium atoms, a heavier isotope of hydrogen having two neutrons instead of one, fuse together (Fusion) to produce ordinary helium gas releasing millions of times more energy than the most powerful conventional explosive. Lockheed Martin believes it can have an ultra-compact 100 megawatt Fusion reactor and generator that could be transported on a semi-trailer flatbed operating in ten years. This would generate enough electricity to run a very large aircraft carrier or thousands of homes. Continue reading
Is the Cost of Carbon Reduction Too High?
Early this week President Obama announced that the EPA will enforce a 30% reduction in carbon emissions for power plants by 2030. Republicans, conservatives, and climate change deniers claim that the cost to the public in loss jobs and increased cost of energy will be devastating to many. Climate deniers will say that these recent catastrophes are not the result of global warming by man but the result of normal cyclical changes in weather patterns. But what if they are wrong as the vast majority of climate scientist are saying? As storms become more frequent and increase in severity they cause more damage and loss of lives in the communities they hit. This results in the loss of jobs and cost of damage to affected residents. The government then declares these disaster relief areas and provides disaster relief money which comes from tax dollars we all pay. Continue reading
Global Warming still Much on my Mind
Global Warming remains daily on my mind as I wished it did in everyone’s mind because I believe it to be the single most important issue facing the United States and the world. It has to do with the survival … Continue reading
New Technology May Overshadow Global Warming
Fracking is a relatively new technology that threatens efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. This new technology can produce an abundant source of domestic fossil fuels that could provide us with greenhouse producing energy for many decades to come, increasing global warming and the threat of increasing super-storms and devastation. This article describes the Fracking process and many of its other dangers. Continue reading
Na-sayers and the Apathetic on Global Warming
The vast majority of na-sayers of global warming are political conservatives, typically Republicans, who don’t want to believe that global warming is a fact and/or that it is primarily caused by greenhouse gases produced from man. Most do not have … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Environment
Tagged Climate, Climate Change, climate scientist, conservatives, Global Warming
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A Republican Case for Climate Action
4 Republican EPA appointees who are political conservatives urge conservatives in an opinion article in the New York Times to believe in the preponderance of scientific evidence that global warming is real and to fully support efforts by President Obama to dramatically curb greenhouse gases emissions. They stressed the urgency for this “before warming becomes “locked in.”” Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Global Warming
Tagged climate action plan, Climate Change, conservative, EPA, Global Warming, melting ice, New York Times, Opinion, Republican, warming oceans
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Global Warming Getting a Power Boost from Methane Gas
There exist vast stores of a gas that is trapped under the Arctic ice sheets and permafrost which is more than 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide that is in danger of being liberated if our Arctic ice fields melt from the effects of global warming that could give an extremely potent boost to global warming. Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Environment, Global Warming
Tagged Antarctica, Arctic, carbon dioxide, Climate Change, CO2 greenhouse gas, glacier, Global Warming, ice, methane, tundra
2 Comments
Global Warming – A real threat to all Life on Earth
Global Warming and Climate Change are phrases that have been increasingly tossed around by the media for the last decade. But I do not believe that the true consequences of nature’s wrath are adequately understood. Its universal acceptance by the … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Environment, Global Warming
Tagged atmosphere, carbon dioxide, Climate Change, CO2, earth, glacier, Global Warming, greenhouse, ice, Infrared, moisture, storm
31 Comments
ouR Social Conscience 