January 30, 2010
Osama Bin Laden calls for renewed action against the USA because of global warming
CAIRO – Osama bin Laden sought to draw a wider public into his fight against the United States in a new message Friday, dropping his usual talk of religion and holy war and focusing instead on an unexpected topic: global warming.
The al-Qaida leader blamed the United States and other industrialized nations for climate change and said the only way to prevent disaster was to break the American economy, calling on the world to boycott U.S. goods and stop using the dollar.
So, I think I will burn some stuff this weekend to increase my carbon footprint.
June 15, 2009
Two headlines that are both misleading in my opinion:
- Argentine Glacier Grows Despite Global Warming
- Crops Under Stress As Temperatures Fall
Both articles contain assumptions that I think are bogus. In the first article, they make the assumption that global warming is continuing. Based on various articles I have read, it appears that global temperatures are either leveling off or falling slowly. The second article makes the assumption that the farmers can not adjust to this. The fact is, temperatures have only fallen to the levels we saw in the late 1980s. Until we see winters in the Dallas area worse than the ones I saw in the early 1980s, I won’t be worried. I remember a week (the week before spring break) with a foot of snow on the ground. The winter of 1989 Dallas did not get above freezing for over 2 weeks. Global cooling is nothing to panic over, yet.
Overall, I think people need to realize how little power man has over global temperatures. The biggest factor in global temperatures is the sun. This does not mean pollute all we want and be as inefficient as we want. It means that we have to carefully analyze any energy and environmental problems to make sure that they do not cause harm.
April 22, 2009
Group advocates cisterns for Los Angeles.
As a means of increasing water supply, decreasing electricity usage, and providing jobs, TreePeople advocates building cisterns to collect rainwater throughout the Los Angeles area. This actually makes sense. As it is now, when it rains in LA, almost all of the water goes into the drains and out to sea. By building a massive rainwater retention system, they will be able to provide more water for the area and cut down on the electricity needed to pump the water from LA’s current sources. This system will also provide additional capacity for flood prevention.
I can actually see this being a great idea for homes in the hill country of Texas (especially rural ones). It will provide additional water that does not come from depleted aquifers. As an aside, I have part of my gutters set to drain into a rain barrel and then into a pond in my backyard. I like cisterns.
There is my obligatory Earth Day message. Remember, think Earth first! We’ll stripmine the other planets later.
February 8, 2009
Last week, our 20-month old gas range‘s oven stopped working. (I got it through my work.) The warranty was one year. My first thought was to have it repaired. The estimated repair cost was at least $300. Now I paid $400 for this range. To me, it was kind of ridiculous that the repairs were this high. I checked around for used gas ranges, and found that they all ran just about $300 or more. At the same time, I could get a similar range new for $300 at Lowe’s. So, I went with the new one from Lowe’s. I am hoping, since it has less electronics, that it will last longer.
I see some people complaining about people throwing away things rather than repairing them. Why should they when the cost to repair them is more than the cost to replace them. Part of the reason I bought this stove is the simpler controls. My hope is that, if it does need repairs, it will be cheaper to repair.
My first meal prepared with it will be steaks cooked in the broiler, mashed potatos, biscuits (from scratch), and a salad.
November 25, 2008
Problems Plague U.S. Flex-Fuel Fleet
Under a mandate from Congress, federal agencies have gradually increased their fleets of alternative-fuel vehicles, a majority of them “flex-fuel,” capable of running on either gasoline or ethanol-based E85 fuel. But many of the vehicles were sent to locations hundreds of miles from any alternative fueling sites, the analysis shows.
As a result, more than 92 percent of the fuel used in the government’s alternative-fuel fleet continues to be standard gasoline. A 2005 law — meant to align the vehicles with alternative-fuel stations — now requires agencies to seek waivers when a vehicle is more than five miles or 15 minutes from an ethanol pump.
The latest generations of alternative vehicles have compounded the problem. Often, the vehicles come only with larger engines than the ones they replaced in the fleet. Consequently, the federal program — known as EPAct — has sometimes increased gasoline consumption and emission rates, the opposite of what was intended.
The Postal Service illustrates the problem. It estimates that its 37,000 newer alternative-fuel delivery vans, which can run on high-grade ethanol, consumed 1.5 million additional gallons of gasoline last fiscal year because of the larger engines.
The vehicles that would allow the agency to meet federal mandates were available in six- and eight-cylinder models — not the four-cylinder variety it traditionally purchased. Alternative fuel was used less than 1 percent of the time in 2007-2008.
September 20, 2008
NASA announces news conference to discuss reduced solar activity
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — NASA will hold a media teleconference Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 12:30 p.m. EDT, to discuss data from the joint NASA and European Space Agency Ulysses mission that reveals the sun’s solar wind is at a 50-year low. The sun’s current state could result in changing conditions in the solar system.
I hope people are prepared for the possibility of a cold winter.
July 3, 2008
Charlotte, North Carolina experienced a record low of 56 yesterday. The previous record was 58 in 1885. For those who don’t know, that was at the tale end of a miniature ice age. For those who don’t know, the global average temperature has gone down almost a full degree since 2000. Also, sun spot activity is extremely low. Sun spot activity directly correlates with solar energy output. This means that the sun has not been putting out as much energy, and solar energy heats the Earth.
May 25, 2008
Below is an E-mail from John Ringo. For those who do not know, John Ringo has a degree in marine biology. This echos what I’ve been hearing other scientists (astronomers/physicists) and engineers. To sum it up, the sun is in a recessive condition. This means that solar output is down. Also, the two ocean currents that have the greatest effect on global weather are running cooler than normal. This has possibly caused this spring to have been cooler than normal. If solar activity does not pick up, we could be in for a very cold winter. read more »
April 30, 2008
Siphoning Off Corn to Fuel Our Cars
Some interesting facts from this article:
- About a quarter of this year’s corn crop will be used to produce 8 billion gallons of ethanol. There is a congressional mandate to increase corn based ethanol usage to 15 billion gallons. This means we will be seeing about 40-45% of all corn production going to ethanol.
- Due to corn being diverted from tables and feed for livestock, we are already seeing large increases in food prices. Eggs alone have gone up 40% in a year.
- Increased corn prices, mean increased prices for ethanol. This means fuel prices go up due to the mandated ethanol-gasoline blends.
- Ethanol, originally touted as producing fewer greenhouse gasses, actaully produces the same amount or more when used as fuel. If you are trying to sell ethanol as “environmentally friendly,” this should concren you.
April 22, 2008
Remember to sign the petitions asking Congress to ban dihydrogen-monoxide.
- Dihydrogen-monoxide is a very dangerous chemical that causes thousands of deaths per year.
- Dihydrogen-monoxide is very addictive. Once you are hooked on it, you will can die from the withdrawal symptoms.
- People have been known to die from as little as a teaspoon of dihydrogen monoxide entering their lungs.
- Dihydrogen-monoxide is a pollutant so common that is found in all of our water supplies and it is impossible to remove it from them.
