Global warming is reducing Arctic ice enough to open sea lanes for months, creating shorter shipping routes across the “polar shortcut” that can save a third of the cost and half the time sending goods from Russia to China through the Suez Canal. This northern route is only open a few months per year and requires large ice breakers, but it is pirate-free. Read the full Arctic ice melt lifts hopes for Russian maritime trade story at Reuters.
Category Archives: Environment
Global warming? Nine warmest years since 2000
According to NASA, global temperatures are rising and we have experienced nine of the highest average temperatures since 2000. See Full 2011 was ninth-warmest year since 1880: NASA story at Reuters.
I am all for the environment, but I studied a little math and know when someone is putting a spin on the numbers. Compare these charts:
The first chart is the change in temperature that NASA and other global warming groups show to prove the world is “dramatically” getting warmer, but on close look it says the globe has warmed by about 1 degree Celsius from 1880 to 2011.
The other two charts show the total temperature trend in Celsius and Fahrenheit. The world is getting a little warmer, but these charts do not look very “dramatic”. You decide.
Data Source: NASA Global Land-Ocean Temperature Index for the change data, though I had to use the 20th Century average temperature to estimate the total temperatures, since the actual numbers are not available.
At least 1,500 years until next ice age
Even though movies like The Day After Tomorrow scare us about a pending ice age that can strike in weeks, the scientist believe it will not happen for at least another 1,500 years and should take two to three years to set in. Learn more in the Next ice age not likely before 1,500 years: study at Reuters.
The big question is: how can global warming cause an ice age? It does not make sense – heat does not cause cold. But, the complexity of earth’s environment provides a way for it to happen. The theory is that global warming will melt Arctic ice and the resulting fresh water will disrupt the ocean’s Gulf Stream, which warms the northern Atlantic. Find out more at How Global Warming May Cause the Next Ice Age at Common Dreams.
Going green with Edison’s DC over AC
Thomas Edison, best known for inventing the light bulb, pushed for DC current for transmitting electricity, but we went with AC since it could transmit better across distance. AC has been used heavily for over 100 years, but now green requirements and data center demand are forcing people to look at DC again.
Edison told associates Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” Read the full Insight: How renewable energy may be Edison’s revenge story at Reuters.
Environment at Risk Pictures
These two Editor’s Choice pictures at Reuters are worth more than a thousand words:
- Trash along Lagos beach. Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria, the eighth most populous country in the world.
- Red polluted water in China. The Jianhe River in Luoyang in Henan province of China is bright red from chemical waste. I wonder if this is what the Nile looked like in Moses’ time.
We in the United States should not think we are any better with our trash mountains outside of each large city and a history of our own chemical river issues as seen in this Cuyahoga River Burning in Cleveland.
Global warming conversation timeline
The conversation about the effects of global warming dates back to 300 BC by Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle. In 1988, the United Nations set up an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to access the scientific evidence. The Timeline: How the world discovered global warming story at Reuters tells how the world has been squabbling about this issue for the last 23-years.
I think everyone agrees the world is getting warmer, but no one really knows what it means. People in cold parts of the world think it would be a great for things to warm up a little. Others fear more cataclysmic scenarios like drought induced famine, severe hurricanes, or even a new Ice Age as dramatized in The Day After Tomorrow film.
I believe we should be cautious. Per the old English proverb, “Better safe than sorry.”
NEWS: Congo Plants Many Trees
The Republic of Congo launched a 2.5 million acre tree planting project for US$2.5 billion over tens years that will help the African environment and add 50,000 jobs. Sounds like a great idea. See full Congo launches large-scale tree-planting programme story originally at Yahoo! News.
NEWS: Australia Helps Mexico with Emissions
An interesting twist to help the environment, an Australian company is supplying Mexico City millions of energy efficient light bulbs so the company can earn emission reduction credits to reduce their carbon tax in Australia which begins in 2012. See the full Mexico to earn royalty on light bulb carbon credits story at Reuters.