This news item, raising more questions than it answers - on brown clouds over asia, has been incorporated into tracking
and measuring global warming is not as easy as cribbage.
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0707.php#brown_cloud_asia_030807
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benedict pope on enviroment and evolution
“The Pope, leader of some 1.1 billion Roman Catholics worldwide, said:
"We must respect the interior laws of creation, of this Earth, to
learn these laws and obey them if we want to survive."
“ "This obedience to the voice of the Earth is more important for our
future happiness ... than the desires of the moment. Our Earth is
talking to us and we must listen to it and decipher its message if we
want to survive," he said.
“Last April the Vatican sponsored a scientific conference on climate
change to underscore the role that religious leaders around the world
could play in reminding people that wilfully damaging the environment
is sinful.
“In his talk with the priests, the Pope spoke of the current debate
raging in some countries, particularly the United States and his
native Germany, between creationism and evolution.
“ "They are presented as alternatives that exclude each other," the Pope
said. "This clash is an absurdity because on one hand there is much
scientific proof in favour of evolution, which appears as a reality
that we must see and which enriches our understanding of life and
being as such."
“But he said evolution did not answer all the questions. "Above all it
does not answer the great philosophical question 'where does
everything come from?'" ”
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0707.php#pope_environment_270707
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urban myth: hummers versus prius - energy accounts, manufacture and running carbon costs
discussion/comment forum further down linked
page for interested parties.
“Using the GREET assumptions I will compare several vehicles,
a Hummer H2, a Toyota Prius, and the Toyota Highlander (standard and
hybrid). I will use the vehicle's published curb weight to determine
the energy used in manufacturing, based on the mmBTU/lb factors above
and I will use the average MPG (city and highway) to estimate fuel usage
over a 160,000 mile lifespan. The energy required to manufacture the
vehicles is:
- Hummer H2: 200.717 mmBTU
- Toyota Prius: 113.322 mmBTU
- Toyota Highlander: 107.133 mmBTU
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid: 155.18 mmBTU
“Gasoline contains 113,500 BTU (0.1134 mmBTU) per gallon. By
dividing the expected lifespan of a vehicle (160,000) by its average
MPG we can determine the gallons of gasoline used over that lifetime.
We can also multiply this by the energy content of the fuel to get the
total energy used. The gallons used during a 160,000 mile lifespan and
the energy contained therein is:
- Hummer H2: 13,913 gallons ($44,800 at today's prices!), 1579.13 mmBTU
- Toyota Prius: 2,883 gallons, 327.207 mmBTU
- Toyota Highlander: 6,400, 726.4 mmBTU
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid: 5,424, 615.593 mmBTU”
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0707.php#hummer_prius_180707
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china would “proactively participate” in global talks on climate change - meanwhile, the opression of free expression continues
“[Premier] Wen also said China would "proactively participate" in
global talks on climate change, a statement published on the
government Web site (www.gov.cn) said. He did not elaborate.”
—
“Detailing policy instructions for the second half of 2007, Wen said
local governments must curb excessive growth in energy-intensive and
polluting industries by measures such as keeping credit supply in
check.
“Inefficient facilities in thermal power, steel, alumina, iron alloy
and cement sectors were ordered to be shut.
“Wen said the government would focus on energy-saving projects and
environment protection in polluted areas, and the government would
also encourage energy saving by companies through price, tax, legal
and administrative measures.
“In addition, Wen hoped that "every company, every community, every
organisation, every household and every citizen" would take part in
programmes designed to reduce consumption of oil, gas and coal and to
rein in emissions causing global warming.
“Beijing has said that it aims to reduce emissions of major industrial
pollutants by 10 percent and cut the amount of energy used to generate
each dollar of national income by 20 percent between 2006 and 2010.” [Quoted from planetark.org]
China is a highly inefficient user of energy.
“[...] Officials say that such organizations can provide crucial
assistance in detecting and combating corruption, labor abuses and
violations of environmental laws.”
—
“ "I have spent the last decade telling foreigners that China is not as
repressive and totalitarian as the Western media often portray it to
be," Mr. Young said. "At the end of the day, I hoped that if we had an
open, intelligent conversation, we would be accepted.
“ "But I think we miscalculated, or they miscalculated." ” [Quoted from nytimes.com]
How much can the claims and assertions be trusted?
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0707.php#china_agw_130707
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consumption is a relative term
In response to a belligerent correspondent.
I regard anthropgenic global
warming [AGW] as sufficiently understood, that it takes a flat-earth moonbat to deny it.
We know fags cause cancer and dozens of other unpleasant, unnecessary things. We do not know how much,
but each time the data bank increases, the numbers get worse.
I expect the same with AGW - the word is expect.
Meanwhile, we understand the AGW mechanism. We do not understand enough of the fag mechanism yet.
The belligerent one also shows strong moonbat tendencies:
“[...] the corporates desire for increased consumption when the problem is
already over-consumption and pollution.”
Your socialist address is noted by the teeming, cheering multitudes.
Next lesson - go and do some work to understand ‘consumption’.
- Is breathing ‘consumption’?
- Is putting up a windmill ‘consumption’?
- Is recycling ‘consumption’ of electricity?
- Is eating for two ‘consumption’ for baybee?
- Is defecating ‘consumption’?
- Is defecating ‘consumption’?
- Is inspiring carbon by a marigold ‘consumption’?
- Is expiring oxygen by a marigold ‘consumption’?
- Is sitting in the sun ‘consuming’ the sun?
- What is a weed?
- What is pollution?
Now some questions appropriate for the puritan control freak that no doubt the belligerent one is.
- Is a factory the produces dinners a net consumer?
- What about those that eat the dinners?
- Is the field where with the dinners came of age a consumer?
- What of the dormouse that ate the seeds?
- how does profit relate to consumption?
- Is a factory that increases production while reducing use of fuel very sinful?
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0707.php#relative_consumption_130707
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it’s
the sun what done it - oh no it isn’t!
“It has been one of the central claims of those who challenge
the idea that human activities are to blame for global warming. The
planet's climate has long fluctuated, say the climate sceptics, and
current warming is just part of that natural cycle - the result of variation
in the sun's output and not carbon dioxide emissions.”
—
“The solar hypothesis was championed publicly in March by the
controversial Channel 4 documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle.
“The programme has been heavily criticised for distorting scientific
data to fit the sceptic argument and Carl Wunsch, a professor of physical
oceanography at MIT who featured in the programme, later said that he
was "totally misled" by the film makers and that his comments were "completely
misrepresented".”
[Image credit: Lockwood and Fröhlich, Rutherford
Laboratory]
legend for graphs:
a) sunspots - claimed by some to raise temperatures (f),
b) solar cycle,
c) magnetic field - claimed to counteract cosmic rays (d),
d) cosmic rays - claimed by some to reduce temperature (f)
by encouraging cloud formation,
e) solar irradiance - claimed to raise temperatures (f),
f) global temperatures
[Quoted from theregister.co.uk]
“Now, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory's Professor Mike Lockwood,
and the University of Southampton's Claus Fröhlich have analysed the
activity of the sun since 1985, to see if any of this "solar climate
forcing" is detectable in recent data. They found that although we have
witnessed a long period of intense activity, in the last 22 years solar
activity has been on the decline, and cannot be used to explain the
rapid rise of global temperatures.”
—
“ "That program [The Great Global Warming Swindle] was so bad
it was almost fraudulent," Lockwood says. "[The subjects raised] made
for a decent scientific debate 15 years ago, but the questions have
since been settled.”
Lockwood and Fröhlich mapped five variables which, when checked against
Earth temperatures, show no plausible collerations (see graphs above).
The original report by Mike Lockwood et al.
can be bought from the
Royal Society Publishing web site, cost £25 / $37.
[Quoted from economist.com]
“ "CLOUDY." As a metaphor, that is not a bad description of the
science of climate forecasting. The general trends are clear, but the
details are obscure. As it happens, however, the description is not
merely metaphorical—for of all the elements that make up the climate,
and have to be accounted for in models of it, it is clouds that are
the most obscure.
“Improving this understanding is the purpose of two new missions
by NASA, America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration. One
of these missions, a satellite called Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere,
or AIM, was launched in April to study so-called noctilucent clouds
(depicted above), the highest layer of clouds in the atmosphere. These
have been getting brighter and more common in recent years, and also
seem to be moving to lower altitudes. The other mission, the Tropical
Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) project, will begin on
July 16th. It will use radar, balloons and aircraft to look at the role
of another sort of high-altitude cloud: cirrus clouds, which get spun
off the tops of storms. Meanwhile, a paper published this week in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Sylvia Knight of
Oxford University and her colleagues has emphasised just how sensitive
climate modelling is to assumptions about clouds.
“The link Dr Knight is examining, between clouds and what researchers
call climate sensitivity (the degree to which a particular input is
likely to change the climate), has been apparent for nearly 20 years.
But because clouds take different forms at different scales—from microscopic
water droplets to weather fronts that span hundreds of kilometres—they
are devilishly hard to describe in models that work by manipulating
"virtual" chunks of the atmosphere that are 100km (62 miles) across
and 100km high.”
—
“The reason why clouds matter so much to the climate, and their
role is so tricky to determine, is because they play two contradictory
roles. At low altitudes they help to cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight
away from it. At the high altitudes studied by AIM and TC4, however,
they trap radiant heat from below, warming things up.
“At the moment, many researchers believe it is low-level clouds
that matter most.”
related material
Anthropogenic
global warming, and ocean acidity
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0707.php#solar_activity_110707
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saving the planet - americans have run out of water and can’t afford taps!
 Available
in the United States for over $26 a US gallon [that is about $30/£15 an
Imperial gallon]. And then there is the packaging and transport - now
let’s freeze it!
“A great step forward in the integration of fine water products at a
price that everyone can afford.
“Name: ICEROCKS
Country of Origin: FRANCE
TDS [total dissolved solids]: 300
pH: 7.8
Altitude: 490 feet
Discovery of Source: New
price $5:26
“Better water, better ice, for those who want to have their ice and
drink it too - with the same great level of quality. ICEROCKS® are
secured sealed ice cubes made from spring water drawn from the Vendée
Region of France in the Massif Central. Wow!
“These glorious cubes, ready to be frozen, are hermetically packaged in
disposable, recyclable containers, providing complete guarantee of
hygiene and safety. The ICEROCKS® light mineral water features 37
milligrams per liter of Calcium, 157 mg/liter of Bicarbonate, 42
mg/liter Silica, and Sulphates at 53 mg/liter. Nitrates are ZERO.”
Drink petrol! it's a whole lot cheaper.
related material
class="yel1">Pressure on water resources
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0707.php#mineral_water_100707
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on the deadly toll of fossil fuel filth - 700,000 deaths a year in china alone
“However, the report goes on to estimate the health costs from
premature deaths associated with outdoor air pollution at 394 billion
yuan (US$51.8 billion). With each life valued at 1 million yuan, that
works out at a death toll of 394,000.”
—
“ An economist in Beijing said the study's estimate of premature
deaths from airborne pollution, although shocking, was broadly in line
with earlier published World Bank research and with recent findings
by Chinese academics.
“The World Bank is also concerned by indoor air pollution, principally
breathing in fumes from coal-burning stoves and cooking oil. Its experts
estimate that as many as 300,000 Chinese a year die prematurely in this
way. ”
As studies progress, it is usual for such estimates
to rise and rise.
see also
bush and putin offer the world nuclear power
related material
fossil fuel disasters
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0707.php#china_air_pollution_050707
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