Sunday, December 06, 2009

Global Warming Is a Crock


I want you to close your eyes and picture yourself walking up a set of metal stairs. They are the cross-hatched type that you can see through to what is below you. They are pretty steep, and each step is just slightly higher than the ones you are used to back home. The handrail you hold is a large metal pipe that has been worn smooth by many a gloved hand. Rain is pelting you in the face....oh, did I forget to mention you were outside? Because you are. As you grip the handrail, you brave the elements and look up into the face of a 50 mph wind. All you see is black. Look up...blackness. Look to your right...blackness. On the left? Blackness. Now, you look DOWN, over the handrail. Guess what you are staring into? Well, yes, blackness...but if you look closely...yep, there it is...200 feet below you are the 40 foot waves of the North Sea, crashing with a mighty force against the seemingly puny metal frame holding up this contraption you are climbing even higher on.

Welcome to my world. Fun, isn't it?

But alas, I digress from the true point of this blog, which you should have gathered by the title. It seems that the topic of Global Warming and Climate Change are pretty hot on the media bandwagon these days. Do you ever feel like they are just trying to cram it down your throat?

That's because they are. Now I am not going to go off on a tirade about some conspiracy theory that the media is under the control of some secret organization set on taking over the world through a smoke-and-mirrors distraction to the public. However, I will tell you that somebody got on a wild hair back in 1989, and it caught fire. Why 1989? Same year the Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Don't believe me? Check it yourself. The first mention in public media of the danger of Global Warming came only a few months before the collapse of Communism. It seems that someone saw an end coming to this "Fear Factor Gravy Train" that the media had been able to use for years and years to boost ratings and sales, and decided it was time to start a new fear. So...we get Global Warming. They tried to scare us with the Ozone Layer falling apart thanks to all those 70's and 80's hairdos, but it didn't really catch on.

Global Warming is a crock. My premise by no means hinges on the fact that I am sitting in the North Sea in the middle of December. No one out here is convinced that there is any warmth left in this world. I've been meaning to Soap Box this one for some time. With the global summit coming up, I figured, now was as good a time as any.

The truth is that the earth is getting warmer. No really...I do believe that. However, it is NOT in any way, shape or form, coming about because of something that we humans have done. Humans have about as much influence on the climate as a one handed fan adding to the applause at a U2 Concert.

I am sure that some of you have found your ire raised by my comments, and that is fine. Every person is entitled to his or her own opinion. However, before you stop reading...unless you alread have...in which case, these are really wasted words, let me ask you a question:

Have YOU read the research on Global Warming? Or have you just jumped on the media bandwagon and regurgitate the same information they have been spoon feeding you? Personally, I am not a fan of anything being shoved down my throat. That's why I have been adamantly absorbing as much information as I can about Global Warming that I can get my hands on, from all sources...especially scientific researches. Here are some of the things that I have found:

Fact: 95% of Earth's Greenhouse Effect is from Water Vapor

Bet you didn't know that. I would even wager, if I were such a betting man, that you probably have never heard of Water Vapor being included in any media reports on Global Warming. That's because it is purposely left out. Most government studies have been done twice...once WITH Water Vapor as a factor, and once with Water Vapor effects removed. Guess which ones they publish.

Oh, and by the way...do you know what the biggest contributor to water vapor is? If you guessed humans, you are wrong. It's our leafy green friends, The Plants. Yep...you want to solve global warming? Fire up the chainsaws and take out the rain forests.


You think I am kidding? I'm not...plants are the reason that the Earth as a whole has warmed up half a degree over the last 30 years. And they claim to be "Green".

It's a NATURAL CYCLE of the planet people! You aren't going to stop it.

Fact: The atmosphere is made up of 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, (for those of you keeping score at home, that is 99% so far). The remaining 1% consists of what are called "Trace Gases", or "Trace Elements". Most of that 1% is Argon. Not to be confused with Aragon from such adventures as That Short Kid Who Threw Jewelry Away. CO2, or Carbon Dioxide, comes into play at exactly 370 parts per million, or 0.03% of 1%.

Do you want that in easy to understand terms? If you had $10,000 in one dollar bills, CO2 would make up $3.

Not really a big deal...is it? Neither is your Carbon Footprint.

If you look hard enough for studies that don't conflict with public opinion (because the public opinion is OH SO correct all the time), you will find this little morsel of truth...

Fact: 0.117% of Carbon Dioxide in the air comes from Human activity. You want the dollar equivilant of that? If all the Carbon Dioxide in the world were represented by $100. Humans would have tossed in 11.7 cents.

And yet the government is getting away with selling "Carbon Off Sets" to corporations. A more honest approach would be, "Hey Stupid, Give me your money."

Believe what you will. I know many of you will scoff at this and continue on to Facebook. However, if you really do care, please take the time to do the research for yourself. If you want, I can send you some of the studies that I read. But I don't want to be accused of leading anyone down the path that I believe. I want you to find it out for yourself. Just promise me you won't just take what the media gives you and accept it as truth. If you are going to be committed enough to have an opinion...be committed enough to get educated enough to hold that opinion.

Besides...God created this place. Do you really think that with a colossal slap to the forehead, He is saying to Himself, "Man...I never considered they might evolve to a point where they could control the fate of the Earth, and not Me"?

I didn't think so.

8 comments:

ML said...

Cite your sources: I'm interested.

WHL said...

Good writing, Zach! I'm impressed. Keep up the researching and writing. We need information that is not politically motivated.

whitney said...

I've long suspected that was the case. Thanks for the statistics to back up my suspicions. I'm now adding Global Warming Research to my to-do list...

ps-that little metal stairs over darkness and water scenario is like my worst nightmare. eek.

Jonathan said...

Amen, preach it!!!! It's all a cult and Al Gore is the Master of Cerimonies!

Rory said...

Yes, please reference your facts. I don't deny their legitimacy, just source them, so your argument is more of an argument.
It's funny, because we were talking about Climate Change in biology today.
It's known in the science community as Climate Change. Check it out. (http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/) If you don't like Al Gore, who cares; it's not about him. It's a Group of people, Al Gore just happens to be one. (and one of the many in the group that received a Nobel peace prize.)

You left out many points you could have touched on. For example: Deforestation, which can lead to a heavy impact on the CO2 cycle-- for example in 1850, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere was about 280 ppm, and today it's about 350 ppm on average. This is because of fossil fuel burning, plant removal and other CO2 to oxygen converters, (helpful to the 95% water vapor you mentioned) has caused the earth to raise about .6 ºC since the industrial revolution. That's about 33.08 ºF difference in 150 years. (Mader, "Essentials of Biology" 2006.)
It's interesting when you look at it from more a scientific aspect-- it is a legitimate argument.
I don't think it's all a ploy to get money, but taking care of your stewardship when you know you can is always a plus. Anything that can be done to conserve what we can is always a positive thing.

here are a few websites to check out.
http://www.unep.org/climatechange/

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/index.html

Julene said...

Well said, Zach. I have long since been of the opinion that global warming is a crock, it is interesting to know those facts you presented though.

It's not to say that we should not try and keep our environment clean, it is our stewardship that God has given us to take care of. But I do not think that we are capable of utterly destroying the earth.

The earth has gone through many stages of "climate change" long before we had automobiles and the great machines they use for deforestation.

Laura F said...

Love it, absolutely LOVE it.

Meredith said...

We're on the same page, I've been saying the same stuff for years!