Global Climate Change?

Original image source: Ripple, et al., 2022

What Role Do Humans Play in Climate Change?
 
Everyone says "look to the science" and I do too! Let's examine a bit of "science" first.
 
71% of the Earth is covered in water! That leaves just 29% to be occupied by humans (Williams, 2014). According to Science Daily, 95% of the world population lives on 10% of the land (JRC, 2008). So roughly 2.9% of the Earth's surface has people on it. Many preaching climate change are saying this 2.9% is affecting the worldwide climate.
 
NASA, one of the proponents of modern climate change being that humans are the principle cause of this round of change. However, in the same article they state that in the last 800,000 years there have been eight cycles of ice ages and warmer periods. The last ice age ended about 11,700 years ago. Climate change is NATURAL!
 
A fact we shall not overlook, also according to NASA (2022), in all of the history of the planet, the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere has never been as high as it is today, and that is causing what they call a "greenhouse effect." Where they say in the last 800,000 years the CO2 level has never reached over 300 parts per million (PPM), in 1950 it was about 310 PPM and today it is nearly 420 PPM.

Now, just looking at these facts, if the CO2 levels are causing global warming, and these numbers have more than doubled since the last ice age, and it has spiked dramatically since 1950 - one would think we would be seeing a much more drastic change, RIGHT NOW in global warming and climate change. See the graphic below, every time the CO2 PPM hit a peak, it is followed, rather quickly, by a cooling off period - another ice age.
 
In fact, in the 1970's the media was all a-buzz about an impending ice age! (Washingto Policy Center (WPC), 2009). The WPC cites several headlines from 1969-1976:

“The Earth’s Cooling Climate,” Science News, November 15, 1969.• “Colder Winters Held Dawn of New Ice Age,” Washington Post, January 11, 1970.• “Science:  Another Ice Age?”  Time Magazine, June 24, 1974.• “The Ice Age Cometh!”  Science News, March 1, 1975.• “The Cooling World,” Newsweek, April 28, 1975.• “Scientists Ask Why World Climate is Changing; Major Cooling May Be Ahead,” New York Times, May 21, 1975.• “In the Grip of a New Ice Age?” International Wildlife July-August, 1975.• “A Major Cooling Widely Considered to Be Inevitable,” New York Times, September 14, 1975.• “Variations in the Earth’s Orbit, Pacemaker of the Ice Ages,” Science magazine, December 10, 1976.

 
Granted, most of these are not "science" sources, but they were (and are) widely read and accepted media sources who assumably did their homework before reporting this "news." Today, these same outlets are preaching global warming!

I am not real sure (yet) how they are getting CO2 data prior to the 1950s, when CO2 levels started to be tracked, but take a look at the data from Climate Watch (Freidrich et al., 2014). While the United States is higher than several other countries, the U.S. output is about 50% of China's output and even less than the "others" in this graphic (not real sure who the "others" constitute).

So, from the perspective of this writer, unless the CO2 PPM continues to rise - I am more supportive of what they were saying in the '70s! We are due for a dramatic DROP in CO2 which will be followed by another ice age!

I would appreciate you sharing your thoughts and research.

References

 

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC). (2008). Urbanization: 95% Of The World's Population Lives On 10% Of The Land. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 11, 2022 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217192745.htm

NASA, (2022). How do we know climate change is real? Global Climate Change. https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/  

Ripple, W.J., Wolf, C. Gregg, J.W.,Levin, K., Rockstrom, J., Newsome, T.M, Betts, M.G., Huq, S., Law, B.E., Kemp, L., Kalmus, P. & Lenton, T.M. (2022). World scientists waring of a climate emergency 2022. BioScience. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac083  

Washington Policy Center, (2009). Today it's global warming; In the '70s it was the coming ice age. https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/today-its-global-warming-in-the-70s-it-was-the-coming-ice-age

Williams, M. (2014). What percent of the Earth is water? Universe Today. https://phys.org/news/2014-12-percent-earth.html

Friedrich, J. & Damassa, T. (2014). The history of carbon dioxide emissions. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/history-carbon-dioxide-emissions

 

Selina Bliss for AZ LD 1

 

Environment- George Carlin

George Carlin in 1992

The WAR on Ukraine - Open Letter to President Putin

Yes, President Putin, it is a WAR. There are no Nazis infiltrating Ukraine - the ONLY infiltration of Ukraine is by Russian soldiers and mercenaries hired to do your dirty work. You have labeled the West as fascist - yet it is Russia who has invaded a sovereign country, unprovoked, and THAT is why the West has come to the aid of the Ukrainian people. The only fascist action going on is the Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine. Then the Russian propaganda machine is running rampant in Russia in an attempt to convince the people of Russia that your presence there is another cleansing of Nazism - which is clearly a lie. If it were true, the Ukrainian people would not be fleeing their cities, no they would be welcoming the Russian troops as the German people did when Russian forces entered Berlin at the end of World War II. There are NO welcoming crowds - the Ukrainian people HATE what YOU are doing to their country.

You're Not From Around Here - Are You

Pet Peeve Time

OK, this is a local pet peeve of mine. I live in Arizona and we have a LOT of transplants from other states, primarily California. I don't know how many times per day I come to an intersection to turn left and there is someone waiting to turn left in front of me (and or in front of several others) and they are NOT IN THE INTERSECTION! 

OK, not a huge deal here - and perhaps an opportunity to learn the virtue of patience - but for informational purposes, and perhaps to reduce frustration and maybe some road-rage for other drivers, let me clarify - (unless otherwise posted) IT IS LEGAL IN ARIZONA TO ENTER THE INTERSECTION FOR A LEFT TURN! Well, provided the intersection is not controlled by a left-turn arrow - in which case, we are all stuck waiting for the red arrow to go away. Some intersections have a green arrow that goes away, and no red arrow follows - in which case, IT IS LEGAL IN ARIZONA TO ENTER THE INTERSECTION FOR A LEFT TURN!

Why the frustration? 

Because generally if that lead car enters the intersection, 1) they can make the turn quicker if they are already out there, and 2) usually more than one car can get into the intersection (beyond the crosswalk and/or line of demarkation) so when the light changes, those cars which have entered the intersection can now legally make their left turn - thus clearing the intersection of at least one to two cars - speeding up everyone's day by a couple minutes. If you have not entered the intersection before the light turns yellow - at this point you CANNOT enter (legally) and make your left turn - so you are stuck there and likely at least one other driver behind you.

I believe it is illegal in California to enter the intersection (going to look this one up to be sure) so it becomes rather obvious who the transplants are when they sit outside the intersection.

(A few minutes later) - OK, it appears I am wrong! It is LEGAL in California too! If you are IN the intersection before the light turns red, you are OK - just like in Arizona, it is illegal to enter the intersection after it turns red. https://www.nbccomedyplayground.com/can-you-be-in-the-intersection-when-the-light-turns-red-california/ 

This is LEGAL - car 1 is legally in the intersection, car 2 must wait for the intersection to clear enough to allow room, or wait for the next light:

AND - if the intersection is large enough, and cars are small enough, the following is LEGAL for the first two cars - the third needs to wait for the intersection to clear or for the next light:

OK, I have vented.