tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12647329038980247612024-03-12T23:05:13.339-04:00In Suspect TerraneDiscussions, questions and challenges to the received wisdom about the Earth, its systems, its history, and its uses.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-88311722445569381772015-03-23T14:20:00.002-04:002015-03-27T16:00:36.534-04:00Finally MovingUpdate:<br />
<br />
The new site is up and running: <a href="http://www.insuspectterrane.com/">www.insuspectterrane.com</a><br />
<br />
All new posts and updates are now going to be made at the new site. <br />
<br />
Please bookmark it come often to visit The Terrane<br />
<br />
Tom<br />
<br />
After a year of (part-time) development, I am about ready to make the move over to a dedicated URL for <u>In Suspect Terrane</u>: <a href="http://www.insuspecterrane.com/">www.insuspecterrane.com</a>. <br />
<br />
I will retain this BlogSpot page but will post all new material to the new address. <br />
<br />
Please bookmark it and Follow the site. <br />
<br />
Thanks to all my followers who have been checking in here at the Terrane routinely these past years. There are many new topics about which I will be blogging soon.<br />
<br />
Tom<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-88338019621632394872015-03-10T22:14:00.001-04:002015-03-10T22:14:06.474-04:00Who is John Galt?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR5H0NbDXf6a_ko9hH4kW2mzlHIIgux5wxyXNAsoPEodRAm31lU" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for atlas shrugged" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR5H0NbDXf6a_ko9hH4kW2mzlHIIgux5wxyXNAsoPEodRAm31lU" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="gMJ0SjgZNrr7KM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR5H0NbDXf6a_ko9hH4kW2mzlHIIgux5wxyXNAsoPEodRAm31lU" style="height: 197px; margin-top: -10px; width: 130px;" /></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“…if
you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that
he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but
still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the
greater his effort the heavier the world bore down on his shoulders – what would
you tell him to do?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The price at which natural gas operators are selling their commodity
in Pennsylvania is somewhere around $1.35 MMbtu<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">-1</span></sup>. At that rate,
most operators have laid down the drill rigs, halted completions and have either
choked back production, or shut in a portion of their wells altogether. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Despite the second consecutive brutally cold winter in the
northeast, natural gas reserves remain high enough that there is little hope
that the price paid to operators will increase at the same rate as oil has recently
enjoyed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the face of such dismal prospects, the new governor of
Pennsylvania is peddling a bill of goods to the uninformed in his attempt to
saddle the natural gas industry with a tax which would be crippling even in
good times. The details of the governor’s proposal can be found all over the
web so there is no need to flog that horse any further herein. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The purpose of this very brief polemic is to make a single
point:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The governor and his compatriots
in the state legislature actually stand to make virtually nothing in new tax revenue
from the natural gas industry. In fact, the state will likely lose tax money if
anything remotely like the governor’s proposal is adopted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What I really want to know is why there is no parallel proposal for a severance tax on all natural resource commodities: cement limestone, sand and gravel, crushed rock, road metal aggregate, coal, timber and WATER. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
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imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for pennsylvania water use" border="0" class="rg_i" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="C_mHcyy83gp_PM:" 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" style="height: 196px; margin-top: 0px; width: 233px;" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes! Water. It is a natural resource which is extracted and sold by the billions of gallons per day across Pennsylvania. A severance tax of one penny per five hundred gallons would yield $250,000,000 to the state coffers per year. A full quarter of what the governor HOPES he would get out of a natural gas severance tax.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even a paltry severance tax of $0.10 per ton on cement limestone would add an additional $10 to $20 Million to the state kitty for a cost below the notice of most consumers. </span></div>
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQrlZLeyJwux-k9aTsaNw2eOKOLzDZ6MF56PAyraG_dHk7QaHLS" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for pennsylvania agriculture" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQrlZLeyJwux-k9aTsaNw2eOKOLzDZ6MF56PAyraG_dHk7QaHLS" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="UWJ4L9kNWlGrEM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQrlZLeyJwux-k9aTsaNw2eOKOLzDZ6MF56PAyraG_dHk7QaHLS" style="height: 183px; margin-top: -2px; width: 275px;" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What about agriculture? If a severance tax of $0.10 per bushel were to be enacted on field crops and grain, another $15MM to $20MM could be heaped on the governor's gravy train. </span></span></div>
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Pennsylvania produces about five hundred million board feet of lumber per year. At $0.10 per board foot, we would get another $50 MM. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> <img alt="Image result for pennsylvania forestry" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSi9rTYLQ6p-vMVkoeTERS8rhs3Dj-wBLCf96vWpAfDLHQ7wd4jhw" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="i8oPePSXjKn9jM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSi9rTYLQ6p-vMVkoeTERS8rhs3Dj-wBLCf96vWpAfDLHQ7wd4jhw" style="height: 161px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: -1px; width: 269px;" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is true that these hypothetical alternative sums are orders of magnitude lower than the Big Brother wet dreams Governor Wolf is having over a natural gas severance tax, but if similar rates to the governor's were to be added to those examples, the totals would increase satisfactorily for even his income-redistributionist mind. . </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Those are all hypothetical, but we are faced with the sad reality that the singling out of one industry as a target to fund the ills of an entire state is on our immediate horizon. The salient point is that no other business which exploits natural resources as a commodity is targeted by the governor. </span></div>
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style="height: 164px; margin-top: 0px; width: 280px;" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To continue with the dialogue from above:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“I… don’t know. What… could he do? What would <u>you</u> tell him?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“To shrug.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you can put two and two together, you will already know the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>conversation was from Ayn Rand’s great capitalist epic, <u>Atlas Shrugged</u>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To go from laying down the drill rigs, sending the frac crews home and choking back wells, to shutting in all wells completely and going to produce from holdings in a different state is nothing more than a shrug to most operators. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A State natural gas severance tax on $0.00 would be $0.00 and the corporate income tax on $0.00 would not be much higher.</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-31223726721894892652015-02-12T00:04:00.003-05:002015-02-26T19:46:07.357-05:00Now, Concentrate!<br />
<br />
In seeming defiance of the second law of thermodynamics, living organisms on
Earth actually organize energy. More specifically, they concentrate
energy and leave it in a concentrated form after they have died. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, this is not an abrogation of the second law
or anything hyper-impossible like that because living things burn more energy
than they organize, so there is net disorder. The universe is a very orderly
bookkeeper of its disorder.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Nearly all life on Earth derives its energy from the Sun but exists in a
diurnal world in which there is a super abundance of radiant solar energy
during approximately half of each day, and an absence, even a net
loss, of energy for the other half. Because every single
organism must be alive for the entire day, each day of its journey
through its living existence on Earth, it is a pre-requisite that organisms
must husband some of the solar energy harvested during daylight
hours to keep themselves going overnight - even if only at a
reduced metabolic rate. Even plants don’t die overnight<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The solar energy harvested by living things is converted into chemical
energy through that most spectacular miracle of organic chemistry known as
photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, the sunlight is stored in a chemically
reducing environment in the form of a carbohydrate. Such organisms which
manufacture their own food using solar energy are known as autotrophs.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The fact that organisms must store energy for later use provides
for another strategy of being alive, known as heterotrophism, in which
some organisms live on the energy harvested by others by eating
them. Heterotrophs in turn store a portion of the same energy through chemical oxidation
of the carbohydrate made possible by respiration. And that energy, if not
used by the heterotroph for its own metabolism, is harvested still
later by a special type of heterotroph known as a carnivore (or a
scavenger). Heterotrophs need to concentrate the energy more than the
autotrophs; the heterotroph lifestyle requires more energy because
individual heterotrophs must roam around the world searching for the
energy stored in autotroph bodies. If the heterotrophs are to live at any
size below that of preposterously gigantic (dinosaurs had a different
strategy not dealt with here), the energy must be stored in a more concentrated
form than in plant tissues - tissues which are called muscle tissue which is a
concentrated form of energy - protein. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
So, in summary, radiant energy (Sunlight) is converted to chemical stored
energy (photosynthetic fabrication of chemically reduced carbohydrate), which
is consumed and oxidized to release energy, AND to store some in the form of
concentrated protein energy. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
This is the balance of nature viewed from a strictly energy consumption
perspective. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
As it happens, and fortunately for us, not all organisms are eaten or
scavenged when they die, so their energy is not passed on to a subsequent
heterotroph, whether the latter might be a wolf, a vulture, a hyena, a
maggot, or a bacterium. In fact, the whole food chain and balance of
nature thing is a bit of a sham from an energy perspective, because
nature tends to be extremely profligate in distributing its largess in the
form of available energy; there is a super-abundance.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The problem is that the excesses in energy availability are distributed
so unevenly across time and space, that the energy is not always available in
the form needed by a particular heterotroph, or it is simply not available at a
time when a heterotroph might need it most. So a lot of energy goes
unused – and a lot of heterotrophs perish from hunger. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
But nature, in its infinite wisdom, is not done with energy even if the
living world loses it. Much, if not most, of that concentrated energy which is
not consumed by heterotrophs continues to be concentrated further and
further after the plants which concentrated it the first time are
dead. Vegetation not consumed is washed with rains into lakes and
oceans, where the energy, in the form of the organic effluvia of vast land
areas, is concentrated further into relatively small volumes; natural
compost heaps, if you will. Those compost heaps are really accumulations
of organic matter in deep water where they become isolated from the
oxygenated surface world (reducing chemical conditions again – always necessary
so some collection of wee beasties doesn’t eat it). <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTk8quQyP-eQip_DVZBijikh6AccA89hUFORj0oTPTiX7NPMBnd" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for accumulation of oil" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTk8quQyP-eQip_DVZBijikh6AccA89hUFORj0oTPTiX7NPMBnd" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="rgVVfr6D_cK5OM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTk8quQyP-eQip_DVZBijikh6AccA89hUFORj0oTPTiX7NPMBnd" style="height: 171px; margin-top: 0px; width: 261px;" /></a>The zones become buried and are exposed to the heat of the Earth's
interior. Chemical reactions drive off oxygen bound in the structure of
lipids in the matter driving chemical conditions even more into the reducing.
Deep burial also compresses the matter into smaller and smaller volumes,
driving out water. The result is that, after plants have used sunlight to
concentrate energy for storage and later use, but the use was never realized,
the Earth takes that energy pool, moves it, concentrates it in one place - an
energy deposit account, so to speak - isolates it, buries it, heats it up and
concentrates it even more both chemically and physically. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
What I am discussing is, of course, fossil fuels, in their various
manifestations: peat, lignite, bituminous coal, anthracite coal, petroleum oils
and natural gas, the latter including natural gas liquids. It is the
doubly concentrating processes of plants-animals and the Earth itself which
make the modern world possible. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
With just a little thought, it is easy to see that any viable energy source,
in order to be useful at all, requires power generation from a concentrated
form of energy. What is not as evident is that that concentration can come in
two basic ways, and the amount of energy available, and consequently the amount
of work which can be done with it, is a direct function of the magnitude of the
concentration and it does not matter which form of concentration is in effect. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
With the exception of nuclear, and geothermal, all sources of energy
are ultimately solar-powered. That includes wind, water, solar (all
three being direct sources of solar power), wood and fossil fuels. Nuclear and
Geothermal are not solar power sources, but are viable only because they have
been concentrated by tectonic forces at work in the Earth over large periods of
time and gathered from large geographic areas). <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Living organisms concentrate sunlight over time and across
geographic space. In many instances, both types of
concentration work together, with the result that the most energy packed
fuels are those into which energy has been concentrated from a large
geographic area over a long period of time. The more concentrated the energy is
within a given mass of fuel, the more energy dense that fuel is. A given mass
of fuel with high energy density can deliver more power than the same mass of a
lower density fuel - its power to mass ratio is higher.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Human societies have naturally gravitated toward the more energy dense fuels
over time. That is, all human societies with the exception of the sub-set of modern
western societies who belong to the placard-wielding, slogan shouting, renewable
energy, social engineering, climate-change-fear-mongering, card-carrying, Green-Party
eco-terrorists who all pray at the Church of Environmentalism. This group of
retrogressive, anti-civilization zealots is fervently campaigning, with too
much success, for humans to revert to the power sources with the lowest
concentration of energy of all those available. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Energy Use<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a 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imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for caveman fire" border="0" class="rg_i" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="cJYuJoOuoPZ86M:" 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" style="height: 160px; margin-top: 0px; width: 315px;" /></a>The one thing which distinguishes humans from all other species is energy
use; in particular, the use of concentrated sources of energy. Other
species can and do use tools - many of them do. Therefore tool use is not a
distinguishing characteristic.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Civilization took its first halting steps from absolute uncivilized
existence when humans began using sources of concentrated energy
to improve their ability to survive. In particular, when humans first
harnessed the power of fire.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT1a8dLE-yxD-AdIOSq17Fs5Oodpua_td-ZOEe9mHMpBaWppUdx" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for tree canopy" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT1a8dLE-yxD-AdIOSq17Fs5Oodpua_td-ZOEe9mHMpBaWppUdx" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="hnOSCyk8dpRK0M:" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT1a8dLE-yxD-AdIOSq17Fs5Oodpua_td-ZOEe9mHMpBaWppUdx" style="height: 168px; margin-top: 0px; width: 248px;" /></a>At the root, firewood, no less than coal or petroleum, is a concentrated
form of solar energy. In the case of wood, the concentrating autotrophs,
trees, concentrated excess sunlight over a lifespan of a few decades, and the
sunlight was harvested within the areal space encompassed by the large
sunlight-gathering surface area presented by the trees' leaves within the
footprint of the tree's individual canopy; a large area compared with the
size of an average human.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQSoGxa087qD66xzXdksZ8JYoGFkbYX6lTqbxYtoaCyoad6eTaO3Q" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for firewood" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQSoGxa087qD66xzXdksZ8JYoGFkbYX6lTqbxYtoaCyoad6eTaO3Q" data-sz="f" height="299" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="4yn_tIsNeSTvtM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQSoGxa087qD66xzXdksZ8JYoGFkbYX6lTqbxYtoaCyoad6eTaO3Q" style="height: 187px; margin-top: -2px; width: 250px;" width="400" /></a></div>
Accordingly, firewood contains the concentrated excess solar energy from
a modest area of a few thousand square feet collected over
a period of decades and stored in the carbon-based cellulose wood fibres. The
amount of energy available from the wood can not be more than the excess energy
harvested and so stored. As a result wood produces heat sufficient
to warm small living spaces, to cook food, boil water and provide
similar domestic energy needs. Wood does not have the higher
concentrations of energy which would, in more recent time, provide the power
needed to accomplish more demanding tasks of traction, motive and
mechanical power.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a 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" /></a>The next big step in the harnessing of energy occurred probably very near in
time to the taming of fire, and that was the domestication of animals.
This one seems a little odd because the power is supplied by an organism
which is still alive. This is the use of draft animals for traction,
motive and mechanical power. Draft animals do, of course, concentrate energy,
which was the point of that bit, above, about heterotrophs. Draft animals
are herbivorous quadrupeds which harvest sunlight from large areas of land
through their grazing, or from the large land areas farmed to provide the food
for them. The energy concentrated in the muscle power of
draft animals provided much of the power of the world until the 18th
Century and well into the 19th Century. ~ From time
immemorial through the American Revolution, people, news and
goods traveled at the same rate of speed as they did in ancient Babylon - the speed of a horse cart; heat
was provided by low energy wood; and the construction of the edifices and
machines of civilization was completed with manual labor augmented by draft
animal power. Greater than human power by many times though draft animal power
is, it is still limited to the amount of solar energy which can be concentrated
by the plants which are consumed by an individual animal within any particular
period of work, with an ultimate limitation set by how much equivalent land
area that specific animal consumes within one growing season. That is the sum
total of available energy.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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<a 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UhJhWXqeLUp6ZjV4kgfq0k0pP8RY++EmTrNoCKJerUDeoXUQD2mD6Th/9mdNOjVqkxoRlHoB5v7OBvsdkpdqjC1KmEXu7Lf3gfXD7kr+ha4NIwCZcqvQ3O50kSfUkz" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for medieval crop rotation" border="0" class="rg_i" data-sz="f" height="320" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="ZaL3WP4gOOxVNM:" 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" width="320" /></a></div>
Even the relatively small concentration of energy from plant to animal
increased productivity enormously and the draft animals increased crop yields
far more than they depleted crops via their own consumption. The real
advantage of draft animal power was that the plants they consumed were NOT
the target plants of human agriculture, so there was less competition for the
human food supply to feed the draft animal. What was necessary was that
about one third of the arable land had to be set aside each year to provide the
grazing ground for the draft animal to concentrate its energy to produce the
work needed to make anything beyond subsistence farming possible. A huge
advance beyond former tilling and reaping methods but a full 33% of productive
land was, at any time, OUT of production. <br />
<br />
It is uncertain which was the next innovation in the struggle to
add more power to civilization's ability to do work: Wind or Water. These
two forms of solar power are deceptively complex in that they seem to be
relatively simple and straight-forward, but they are not. Of the
two, wind has the least potential as a meaningful energy source on
the scale of civilizations so it will be addressed first.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
For virtually all of human history wind power has been one of the
principle energy sources. It has been used in two fundamental ways.
First, and perhaps most ubiquitous, it has been used for motive power in the
form of sailing vessels and second, as a source of mechanical power in the form
of wind mills. The curious thing about wind power is that the presence of wind
is only a secondary manifestation of the actual energy input into the
Earth-Atmosphere system and is not a primary or direct effect of solar energy
transfer; i.e., solar energy does not directly generate wind but,
rather, produces wind as an effect of another phenomenon which IS caused
directly by the input of solar energy. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Wind is caused by the collective movement of air molecules from areas
dominated by high atmospheric pressure to areas dominated by low atmospheric
pressure. The relatively large areas of high and low pressure
result from the uneven heating of the Earth's surface by incoming solar energy:
areas of low pressure are caused where air near the land surface is heated and
rises through the atmosphere; areas of high pressure are caused where
cooler upper level air subsides to take the place of warmer rising
air. the globally distributed patterns of such rising and falling air
masses is the ultimate cause of our wind and weather and is the vehicle by
which the uneven heating of the Earth's surface by the Sun is distributed
around the globe. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
So, the wind itself is not the carrier of solar energy, but it is the
mechanism whereby warm and cool air masses are distributed around the
globe. Having made that fine distinction, there actually is a substantial
amount of solar energy tied up as kinetic energy in the winds and that very
real energy was the driving force for many uses in pre-industrial
civilizations. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The reason wind was not as important a source of energy as water over the
millennia is that it is not as concentrated, either in time or in space, as
water. Consequently, the energy density, the power to mass ratio of wind
power is not as great as that of water. Moreover, for even more obvious
reasons, wind energy is also much more sporadic than water energy and, even
when relied upon as the only available power source, was not reliable for
either motive power (sailing vessels which could be stilled for days or weeks)
or for mechanical energy (windmills which could not grind or turn the wheels of
equipment). <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a 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style="height: 187px; margin-top: 0px; width: 165px;" /></a>In essence, the amount of wind energy available to a wind mill is limited by the area of the circle described by the rotating blades of the fan - the longer the length of the blades, the larger the cross sectional area exposed to passing wind, the more energy can be harvested. So, at any time, the area of concentration of each individual wind mill is limited by the size of the fan structure. In addition to that limitation set by the area of energy concentration, there is also the limitation resulting from the time of concentration of the energy available in wind. Wind is very transient and the energy within any air mass has not been concentrated over a long time of solar radiation insolence. In consequence, solar energy is both concentrated and dissipated rapidly in air masses, which is the causative factor as to why it was, and is, a notoriously unreliable source of energy.<br />
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In the modern manifestation, the ability to harvest the wind using a
rotating fan to turn a mechanism is now used to turn an electricity generating
turbine rather than a cog to power a mechanical device such as a mill stone or
a fulling hammer attached to a rotating cam or a pump to lift water from a well
or out of a mine shaft. Modern wind turbines (the turbine is actually the
internal mechanism and not the fan blades themselves) are as limited as their
predecessors in the ability to harvest solar energy from the wind. The
utility in a modern wind farm lies only in the ability to site as many wind
turbines in close proximity as possible. This increases the area of
concentration from the size of a single fan structure to the collective size of
multiple turbines. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_YYIxCBEQoEfiRWUdMxXtTgYIqJd-6ZNqwlFmrfu9DbsDgQtD2_8ybV4r3pCWhEZovNN5D0hsH_SgdEha5jWt3uP2oDyXp1c0JvS5pM-PFHwjAIuWsMdx79_OnAJnIyNadj2uZJQf2-2/s1600/wind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_YYIxCBEQoEfiRWUdMxXtTgYIqJd-6ZNqwlFmrfu9DbsDgQtD2_8ybV4r3pCWhEZovNN5D0hsH_SgdEha5jWt3uP2oDyXp1c0JvS5pM-PFHwjAIuWsMdx79_OnAJnIyNadj2uZJQf2-2/s1600/wind.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a>Using statistics from the Energy Information Administration (US Federal
Government) a single modern wind turbine can provide the domestic energy needs
of approximately 330 residences, if operating at an above median capacity,
which rarely is the case. Using a spacing factor of ten times blade area
diameter for turbine spacing, each wind turbine in a farm requires
approximately 50 acres of dedicated land (these are the BIG turbines). So, for a population of about 100,000
people, around 100 wind turbines would be needed to provide
a portion of the energy needs (remember the intermittent and unreliable
portions of the generating curve of wind) by concentrating
wind energy over a land area of 5,000 acres or about 8 square miles - the
size of most small to medium townships. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
In more tangible terms, that same population of 100,000 would drive, at
a minimum, an average of 125,000 miles per day (one out of four people
making a round trip of only five miles). Using an efficient modern
electric American automobile the generating power capacity of FIVE
of those wind turbines would be completely consumed, so that would reduce the
number of people actually served in their homes by that wind farm by 5,000
or so. So when travel is included in the mix, the actual number of residences
served is decreased by about 5%. Travel consumes a lot of energy and
requires a concentrated source of energy, which wind is NOT. Add in municipal
infrastructure needs, commercial power demand and the number of homes served
decreases further and further. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
In terms of motive power, apart from the example above, wind was used for
millennia for sailing. This is no different than harnessing wind power in
stationary locations such as wind mills because the limiting factor for the
total energy available is the area of concentration. The more sails which can
be hoisted to catch the wind, the more energy is available for motive
power. The limitation being the size of the sail area, and, consequently,
the practical size of the sailing ship. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
And, of course, that other little, nagging problem that the wind can simply
abandon one. If you are on land and the lights go out it is damned
inconvenient. But if you are at sea, you are stranded. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Water contains a higher concentration of solar energy than wind does
and it provides a more reliable, more highly concentrated source of both
mechanical power (in the past) and electricity generation in the present. Water
was used for centuries to turn mechanisms to do a variety of tasks. Water
contains a higher concentration of energy because there is a longer
concentration time, a large concentration area, and the water itself is the
carrier of solar energy (rather than being a kinetic manifestation of the
storage of solar energy as temperature in air) so,
unlike wind, there actually is a concentration area for the energy
contained in water. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRbFet-NG0MEWsNu9uCXumUIaKAHmK6Rh7wbBy7Q-v0WbvyNhbU" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for hydrologic cycle" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRbFet-NG0MEWsNu9uCXumUIaKAHmK6Rh7wbBy7Q-v0WbvyNhbU" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="t_vOpILA1vAsbM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRbFet-NG0MEWsNu9uCXumUIaKAHmK6Rh7wbBy7Q-v0WbvyNhbU" style="height: 179px; margin-top: 0px; width: 253px;" /></a>The energy in water is potential energy which is imparted to each
molecule of water by the energy required to lift that molecule in the form
of water vapor from sea level to the elevation of the clouds in which it is
condensed and from which it ultimately rains. The energy is released during the
fall of each drop back to sea level. The difference between the ascent of water
vapor and the subsequent fall of rain is that the latter is not direct when
rainfall is over continental areas. The available energy contained in each
raindrop is released in small amounts with every millimeter of elevation loss
as the drop flows over and through the landscape on its vertical way back to
sea level. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="data:image/jpeg;base64,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imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for susquehanna watershed" border="0" class="rg_i" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="TrGNT96nEuAOuM:" 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" 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The power tapped by generations of humans derives from the
concentration of solar energy over time and space. It might seem as
though the time of concentration of the energy in water is similar to that
in wind, but in fact, it is much longer, typically on the order of years to
decades. Only a portion of the water which falls as rain either runs off
the land directly into streams and back to the oceans, or
evaporates shortly after rainfall or is taken up by plant roots for growth
and photosynthesis. The remaining water seeps into the ground and slowly
flows through pore spaces until it discharges into a stream channel
and then flows back to the ocean. From infiltration areas to discharges
into perennial streams, groundwater concentrates the collective energy of water
from decades’ worth of solar energy input. The energy contained in the
water at any point along its journey back to the ocean is inversely
proportional to the elevation above sea level at that point.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
What people have done for centuries is to dam up a reach of a perennial
stream to stop the flow - when the flow stops, the water ceases to lose energy.
So a dammed mill pond is an energy storage vessel, and that energy is released
at the mill race where it can turn a water wheel or a turbine. The mill
pond is a concentrator of energy because it stops the flow and, consequently the loss of energy, over some
distance, equivalent to a vertical drop in the steam bed. The storage in
the reservoir is of the energy which is collectively stored in every
particle of water concentrated from the entire area of the upstream
stream drainage area, and concentrated over the time it takes for the volume of
water in the reservoir to collect. That entire energy budget is released
onto a water wheel at a specific point. The amount of energy lost as the water
moves through the race and over a water wheel (turbine) is directly
proportional to the difference in elevation from the water surface of
the mill pond (reservoir) to the contact point with the water wheel at the
lower stream elevation, and is equal to the amount of energy each particle of
water would have lost over that same horizontal and vertical distance in the
absence of the dam and reservoir. It is not quite that amount but it can not be
more than that, because the particle of water is still above sea level and,
consequently, still contains some portion of the original energy to expend on the
remainder of the downstream journey. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSysEOMcivU4aio4M2xIgcAVxgfNRLnXh1gS9O2Xb0UfAY9Byz9" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for water wheel" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSysEOMcivU4aio4M2xIgcAVxgfNRLnXh1gS9O2Xb0UfAY9Byz9" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="yMPPrGZqt8DXxM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSysEOMcivU4aio4M2xIgcAVxgfNRLnXh1gS9O2Xb0UfAY9Byz9" style="height: 183px; margin-top: 0px; width: 275px;" /></a></div>
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<a 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imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for hydro-electric" border="0" class="rg_i" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="z7EToKtuXQordM:" 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RvXOv0fJDr0G60RE5DrWRtuO1oPVI96uNtHkmfNCydCsuhoq9J9TJQrGjyhDojDJSGltJFzjTujBtMzj9ITkomtUDqbiOjDzrZtw/XO+5Q/Cs25JO+5qrO1iNtFkvbfV/tadSwmSQ1vjEjLacNikn1x0lVBBxClqpFXaIWnJ2RqWakWtg5yVeQsxCsIWRsatpHJd913sXz9hJwAM7l9FqskEdBUXZdCMbUDnkvaMwTdLtwN3CFOhOqvwR5MTClKUdR23ONc6M/8AsLIxjjENOIkLtqtgbefca0U3iIdJLN5bs7VXwewUHUg1usJBFTIiCDG8DCMDtTwFfy7nlVHC9ZdjiKlJ7QC5jwHeKS1wDtuBIxwVjSTkCepdv+hu1ApFwcRETJAjKNuA2q6waJosJc9l84bbowG0DPzqVgK/VdyHRw1ubscJrVeJiYMLsqOi9W8vpluLXMF8XiGuIOWRIgYx5lnGjaeqDCwB94uNRuEyThdiAIOWWChYGu3y90NDDK959jg9au3+SF829/8AJ1f7lFbVWxsdSbRexrmtykcrbt85yUr8n+jG07U94z1D2t6Gl1MwewdilYOtCV2uC63Jp0aCeZS49FY+hIiLY9p8wfmesqiq/M9ZWSy0r7g3ZmeoLsSkoxcmcmMXJ2Ra2kTiLsFlOOUzY1kjPoKag4eL4lT6TMy14Az+0FPouLrytb75HW0o3v8AfMtptgAbgB2K5EWBqEREBYVYVeVYUBhfRac2j8+1a77G3ZI8/vW2VaVeNScdmVlCMt0aDrIdhHnwWN1Fw2dikCsZW8cZVXW5lLCU30sR5wzw60W8VgfSHV1L0Qx6/wCl8GE8F/F/JFE1NYQSbs4QGxHYpPhK1xqENmblPGYHiN6VbVZA84W1rtbVvxHJGGfigNleSVBVVOblK1/5fC9uO3E9arOnKEUo3t5d/cjqDSGgOMugSelVtBqCnUNKDUFNxYCJBcAS1sSM8s1I1LK0mcR1KraYAgLerioypZEvkwpYeUamdv4IS0W20DBtCYdBcb2IFVjZDQJMsc9+BwuxirHW60AT+jEnl4XsZDwGjAH6JmRuU6QsZC8Vz2GCoMD1FWLLUGB6isS6WA2l+jn47eP7CIsFtv3Dq/GwjxZiRei9heiYnCYnBe88BnRQ76truQ1gvQ+HHVk7NWHAOAvYm9GGGCu1trEjVsfBdBJa0uF6GnA4YEkiMm5kuhsZvQtlJZFFVv0rWNIi5q6d5oueOQ+/E4wDq8Z8xklt9Otai4A06YbAkzMG/DvpCeTj5/MlyLEkp3gd+0O/gu/ExQSneB37Q7+C78TFStyMvR50dmiIuUdQ+W16zWk3nNbicyB7VfoPSNGpWuU6rHuDHEhrg7AQJw6SF8bqDEnbJx2rr/kt/bH/AMtU/HTWtXFucXGxSGDUHmufVkRF4T0BERAEREBYVYVeVwulflDbTqup0qOsa1xaXl90EjA3RdOHShKR2hVpXDM+Uhv0rM4dTwfa0LO35RKBzo1h1as/+wU2JszrysZXNM4eWQ560dbB+RKz0+GNjd++I62VB67qCxOFWFaNLT1lf4topTuLgD2FbjXhwlpBG8EEepQDHWy84VLPUuuB2ZHqKyOWu4R1L3YWcXF0pdTx4qElJVI9CXzxCscFGNcRkSOokKjnTmZ68VbwEr83Ar41W2Nx9Zo2z1YrC6vuHate8FQ1OhWVDDw5pX++hGtXnyxt99TI5xOZVFj1vQqa/oXojWoRVotIwlQryd2jKiwfpA3K6nWBMRsV416cnZMpLD1Iq7RlREWxiEREAU7wO/aHfwXfiYoJTvA79od/Bd+JiyrcjNKPOjs0RFyjqHk1+Z6ys1ittSi6/SqOY4gtlpIMGCRO7ALC/M9ZVqxPSSvGS2c6rem5OMls51W9NyikUAleMls51W9NycZLZzqt6blFIgJXjJbOdVvTcnGS2c6rem5RSICV4yWznVb03KLJVEUgIiISEREAV9Cq5hvMc5p3tJae0KxEB9B0TwvoiiwV6jjVDeUbjzjJjEDExC2jwwsnlu9B/uXzRFFiLH0g8LbJ5Z7t/uVvGyyeWfQf7l85RBZH0U8LLL5bvQf7laeFVl8t3oP9y+eIlgfQTwpsvln0H+5WnhRZvLPoP9y4BEsSd6eE1m8s+g/3LnNJ8Iar6hNJ7mMGDQ0wSPKPSfUoVFK4cUQ1fgyd0bwqtFIm87WtOx5Mjqds9a3H8N616RSphu43yfSkexcsi1VeolZMyeHpt3cTvLDw0oub+ta5jujltPUc+0LIOGlnmLtWPKutjsvT6l8/RaeMqmXg6R9Lo8KLK797B+0149cQut4CW+lVtDhTqsedQ8w1zSQLzMSAZ2hfB19A+RD/AMk/+Qr/AN2zqzxc5LK0V8HCLzJn3RERZFzya/M9ZVq9KUOCGjy1pNgspJa0kmhRkkjE+KsnE3R3MLJ3FH4VnkNtRHmdF6Y4m6O5hZO4o/CnE3R3MLJ3FH4UyDUR5nRemOJujuYWTuKPwpxN0dzCydxR+FMg1EeZ0Xpjibo7mFk7ij8KcTdHcwsncUfhTINRHmdF6Y4m6O5hZO4o/CnE3R3MLJ3FH4UyDUR5nRemOJujuYWTuKPwpxN0dzCydxR+FMg1EeZ0Xpjibo7mFk7ij8KcTdHcwsncUfhTINRHmdF6Y4m6O5hZO4o/CnE3R3MLJ3FH4UyDUR5nRemOJujuYWTuKPwpxN0dzCydxR+FMg1EeZ0Xpjibo7mFk7ij8KcTdHcwsncUfhTINRHmdF6Y4m6O5hZO4o/CnE3R3MLJ3FH4UyDUR5nRemOJujuYWTuKPwpxN0dzCydxR+FMg1EeZ0Xpjibo7mFk7ij8KcTdHcwsncUfhTINRHmdF6Y4m6O5hZO4o/CnE3R3MLJ3FH4UyDUR5nRemOJujuYWTuKPwpxN0dzCydxR+FMg1EeZ13/yIf8Akn/yFf8Au2dfWeJujuYWTuKPwra0doCyWd5qULLQpPLS0up06bHFpIJbLQDEgGOgKVEhzTRJIiK5kYrL4jfuN9iyoiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiIAiIgCIiAIiID//2Q==" style="height: 181px; margin-top: 0px; width: 243px;" /></a>In the modern synthesis, water from a large
geographic area is impounded behind a dam in a reservoir many
hundreds of feet deep and many square miles in area, and which collects water
(and consequently concentrates energy) from a large sub-drainage area. The
vast energy reserved in the water is concentrated into a narrow feedstock
pipe and onto the blades of a turbine. This system works because the streams
which are impounded are perennial, which means they receive groundwater
discharge year-round. That in turn, means that the water feeding the
impoundment derives from years', or decades' worth of rainfall which is slowly
accumulated as groundwater and released into the stream. The concentration
period of the stored energy is years to decades and the concentration area is
the entire watershed land area upstream of the dam - typically many hundreds
of square miles. The amount of energy in each water molecule is small,
but collectively , the concentrated energy is enormous. In fact, in terms
of power to mass ratios, this is one of the most energy
dense systems of power generation and is probably the most efficient. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR1_1zFzBcdlJStxIKXC5kFSfOmpMViW1uLyYeIEUh_IACv-YxR" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for peat" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR1_1zFzBcdlJStxIKXC5kFSfOmpMViW1uLyYeIEUh_IACv-YxR" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="hEQbNYgDMQ8nfM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR1_1zFzBcdlJStxIKXC5kFSfOmpMViW1uLyYeIEUh_IACv-YxR" style="height: 175px; margin-top: 0px; width: 281px;" /></a>Following on the discussion of wood energy, the natural progression is to
Peat. Peat is compressed woody matter in which the concentration
of combustible matter is more densely packed than in wood. Peat is the
first step in the step-wise formation of coal from woody
plant detritus. Whereas wood is the plant tissue in its original,
unaltered form, peat is a compressed woody tissue alteration product in which
the energy concentration is higher than that of wood because the formation of peat
involves compression of wood and the concentration of carbon to
approximately 20% - 25%. Peat forms over time periods spanning hundreds
to thousands of years, so the concentrating effect is one to two orders of
magnitude greater than wood. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Because peat represents plant material deposited from multiple generations,
energy has been concentrated both over time and spatially. Peat has been used
effectively for domestic heating and cooking in a manner similar to wood for
centuries. However, it suffers the same limitations as wood, but has the
advantage that a smaller volume of peat produces the same energy value as a
much greater volume of wood, for the simple reason that the energy content of
wood has been concentrated in peat so the energy density, and hence the energy
value on a per-weight basis, is much higher in peat.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Left un-harvested and buried geologically, peat can be further
compressed into low-grade brown coal known as Lignite which has a carbon
concentration in the 25% to 30% range, slightly higher than peat.
Lignite, however, is essentially the first grade of coal and comprises a large
percentage of actual coal use in many countries.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSGw2whnNkis0VH9No2hbMMn1xYyw7_xxp2a2tMXHGrBJ5WrdBK" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for lignite" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSGw2whnNkis0VH9No2hbMMn1xYyw7_xxp2a2tMXHGrBJ5WrdBK" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="E_4na86XRSS-JM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSGw2whnNkis0VH9No2hbMMn1xYyw7_xxp2a2tMXHGrBJ5WrdBK" style="height: 187px; margin-top: 0px; width: 140px;" /></a>Energy concentration in Lignite is quite high because it is a
compact energy source which contains the carbon residues of plants which
accumulated over periods of time long enough that, for the first time in this
essay, can be referred to as 'geologically long' periods.
Again, and similar to peat, because the time periods are so long, the lignite at
any location consists of the accumulation of multiple forests' worth of
organic matter. Accordingly, the long time concentration is attended
by a large spatial concentration by default because it is the aggregated
area of the forest canopy many times over. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The large spatial and time concentration of energy into lignite makes it the
first of the fossil fuel category of concentrated energy with a high enough
energy density that it is adequate to power industrial societies - nearly half
of all Germany's electricity is provided by lignite-fired generating stations. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Following the progression from wood to peat to
lignite comes the various ranks of real coal: sub-bituminous,
bituminous and anthracite. In these, the formation mechanism is basically the
same as peat and lignite, but the percent carbon in each increases up to
anthracite in which the carbon comprises over 90%. The result is that in
each progressive stage the energy density increases. This is
because the energy concentration increases in each. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRZIKCFJGGWTqjrljubZTY6UnXaSBj-mKyPF9kE4TbN5B9HfHGO" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for bituminous coal" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRZIKCFJGGWTqjrljubZTY6UnXaSBj-mKyPF9kE4TbN5B9HfHGO" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="LUw_KZVgDtmI3M:" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRZIKCFJGGWTqjrljubZTY6UnXaSBj-mKyPF9kE4TbN5B9HfHGO" style="height: 173px; margin-top: 0px; width: 291px;" /></a>The real issue is that, in the cases of the upper ranks of coal the
energy concentration times are VAST - literally millions of years, so the
concentration areas, following the same rationale as for peat and lignite, are
similarly vast. Coal contains energy in such a concentrated
form that even small hand-sized lumps pack the energy equivalent of
decades worth of stored excess sunlight gathered over fairly large
areas. It is this kind of energy concentration which is needed to
generate gigawatts of electric power on a daily basis. The concentration
of energy is so great that, even after two hundred years of coal use, at
ever-increasing rates, and many decades of use at the gigawatt generating
capacities we see now, there is still enough coal to last many scores of years
at the current consumption rates. Because the energy density,
the power to mass ratio, is so high in coal and a lot of energy is packed into
small volumes, it is also transportable, so it is feasible to move the volumes
needed to run large industrial societies to the places where the power is
needed. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1BkyHMikJXd30SSjpo4HFbcBoEkOPAnVrVCu6s-Sv7YzdK7TASA" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for coal burning locomotive" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1BkyHMikJXd30SSjpo4HFbcBoEkOPAnVrVCu6s-Sv7YzdK7TASA" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="uoLytnzwYDZV8M:" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1BkyHMikJXd30SSjpo4HFbcBoEkOPAnVrVCu6s-Sv7YzdK7TASA" style="height: 179px; margin-top: 0px; width: 281px;" /></a>Until the time of coal, motive power was dependent on animals or the wind
and mechanical power was based almost wholly on water and wind
energy. Wood and peat were used to small degrees, but the power to mass
ratios are too low to make them portable, severely limiting things like
wood-fired locomotives to relatively short runs between re-fueling stations.
Coal, however, was portable enough to carry in locomotives and powerful
enough to move the trains, large trains, long distances - the distance
limitation was the water to put into the boilers more so than the coal.
Coal was also portable enough to load train cars, MANY train cars, and deliver
it to factories and electric generating stations all over the country. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQee4OtjX44Bh9h12W1joYk40A5gIgIDpw75I-RaN-txrtN_uPJ5g" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for coal products" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQee4OtjX44Bh9h12W1joYk40A5gIgIDpw75I-RaN-txrtN_uPJ5g" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="xUJpohMmtQELxM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQee4OtjX44Bh9h12W1joYk40A5gIgIDpw75I-RaN-txrtN_uPJ5g" style="height: 156px; margin-top: 0px; width: 324px;" /></a>But coal had more than that. Coal could be separated into component
parts to provide for lighting and the manufacture of a plethora of chemicals
and pharmaceuticals which made the modern world, beginning in the latter
18th Century, possible. And all of those myriad other products could be
made at will because coal contained enough concentrated energy to manufacture,
heat, generate and move the goods and services of the first truly industrial
societies on large scales. And all that was possible using resources
gathered from very small source areas; i.e., much as modern environmentalists
raise a hue and cry that coal mining wrecked the landscapes in some areas,
with some justification, the fact remains that industrial societies blossomed
around the entire world using the coal mined from a very
small aggregate footprint. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Whereas eight square miles of land are needed for wind power to provide
just the domestic electric use for a relatively small population of
100,000, the ENTIRE power needs of that same population and all of its
commercial, industrial and municipal infrastructure needs can be provided by
the coal from a single coal mine - with excess power to spare. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The discussion has been moving up the scale of power to mass ratios within
the spectrum of solar based fuels, so it is now time to move up to the heavy
hitters - petroleum. The term literally means "Rock Oil", but it
includes natural gas as well as liquid petroleum. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
It is not an exaggeration at all to state that modern civilization is a civilization
of petroleum. That is bold and it will likely anger some people who like to
think it would be a simple thing to shut off the pumps and close the pipelines
and live a 'renewables' lifestyle. This is not an essay about the many
ways in which we rely on petroleum - the bold statement at the head of this
paragraph is meant only to emphasize that civilization has naturally gravitated
to the fuels with the highest energy densities which are hydroelectric,
coal and petroleum. Petroleum has the advantage over the other two
sources of concentrated energy in two principle ways; 1). it is portable so it
is the best source for motive power because it can be transported compactly
within the transportation vehicle; 2). almost anything can be
synthesized from this versatile substance which has provided for the
democratization of affordable goods and services. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Petroleum is the fossil fuel power house because its energy was concentrated
from expansive geographic areas over colossal spans of geologic time.
Unlike peat, lignite and coal which form where the plants and trees fell,
the organic matter which is the source of petroleum is transported from its
areas of origin to the location which will become the source rock. The
source of much petroleum was the perennial leaf litter which is washed by
rains into ocean basins, breaking down into small fragments of
organic matter along the way. It is no coincidence that much of the world's petroleum reserves derived from the geologic time periods which also saw the evolution of deciduous plants. That type of continental organic detritus
combines with the countless microscopic, marine organisms, the corpses of
which create an unending rain of organic matter on sea floors. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTbEhrfHp8NZSrp2jYg1Q9BXkbL8oUVOC-X5Z623Kv78zg7gcWH_Q" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for marcellus shale" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTbEhrfHp8NZSrp2jYg1Q9BXkbL8oUVOC-X5Z623Kv78zg7gcWH_Q" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="hAaWTnrisZLYOM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTbEhrfHp8NZSrp2jYg1Q9BXkbL8oUVOC-X5Z623Kv78zg7gcWH_Q" style="height: 174px; margin-top: 0px; width: 222px;" /></a>The source areas of the organic matter which will someday become
petroleum are geographically immense; the excess sunlight is integrated
from continent-scale areas. The time over which accumulation occurred is
reckoned in millions of years. A lot of unused solar energy gathers
on the sea floors in the form of organic muck – even today.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTBTqlTIDRFU8kgGGZrM3THLR9VbVKnnjX5HBkKhwe2GMRUD0Xu" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for marcellus shale" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTBTqlTIDRFU8kgGGZrM3THLR9VbVKnnjX5HBkKhwe2GMRUD0Xu" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="tLnWKRq6cbIImM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTBTqlTIDRFU8kgGGZrM3THLR9VbVKnnjX5HBkKhwe2GMRUD0Xu" style="height: 185px; margin-top: 0px; width: 205px;" /></a>With continued sedimentation and burial, the organic matter is heated and
changed: first into kerogen, then into the varieties of oil and, at the highest
temperatures, natural gas. At each stage, the volume occupied by the
organic matter decreases and the energy content on a per mass basis increases -
it becomes more energy dense. Because petroleum is a liquid, it typically
moves and accumulates into zones from which it can be readily retrieved. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
On a scale greater by degrees of magnitude than any other solar energy fuel,
petroleum is the concentrated energy from the excess sunlight which fell
on millions of square miles of land integrated over millions of
years, accumulated and compacted into relatively small zones from
which it can be readily retrieved. The result of that spatial and temporal
concentration is a power to mass ratio which is astounding. Petroleum has
the added advantage that it can be put in containers to power vehicles and can
be delivered directly to homes and businesses, so it has become the fuel of
choice for transportation and heating<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
By simply considering the degree of concentration of energy, it
becomes patently obvious why our ancestors abandoned wind power for the
generation of mechanical energy and motive power. Apart from the fact that it
is as unreliable as... well, as the wind, it is not a viable power source
because of its low energy density. This can be gleaned by considering the
concept of energy concentration in the reverse: Energy distribution
density. Put simply, how many users can be served by any single unit of
generation? Considering that wind is capable of providing
electricity for normal domestic use with an unacceptably high land
consumption ratio and is not a concentrated enough source to
provide the full range of community power demands, its energy
distribution density is very low. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Similar to wind, the distribution density of solar is very low and it has an
unacceptable land use footprint. And solar is not a concentrated
enough, or a reliable enough source to provide power for all uses - only
domestic or minor commercial electricity needs. Moreover, like wind, solar
power is extremely variable and, consequently, unreliable. The reason solar is
not viewed as a leading contender in the energy market is..... the absence of
energy density. There is no energy concentration in direct solar
energy; the area covered by solar panels is
the area over which direct sunlight is gathered. Because the panels can not
capture all sunlight, the energy actually converted to electricity via the
photovoltaic effect represents only a portion of the available energy, so,
rather than a concentration of energy, solar represents a dilution of the
incoming radiant energy. Moreover, there is no concentration over time - solar energy is used within the time period over which it is collected.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSiRfrQ-dIeqOgEXYBltgTMMts930z7cWCGaVqtg7gO3BNKqIxvdw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for solar farms" border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSiRfrQ-dIeqOgEXYBltgTMMts930z7cWCGaVqtg7gO3BNKqIxvdw" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="dBmSK02fgKgqBM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSiRfrQ-dIeqOgEXYBltgTMMts930z7cWCGaVqtg7gO3BNKqIxvdw" style="height: 179px; margin-top: 0px; width: 224px;" /></a>Centralized solar farms are being built to serve
multiple residences - it takes about 32 acres of solar panels to run the
domestic electricity of 1,000 homes. Allowing for half-acre residential lots
and the additional area for sidewalks and streets, there is a land use loss of
approximately 3%; that much land is needed to power domestic energy needs. And additional power is still
needed to run cars, lawnmowers, street lights, water supplies and sewage treatment,
etc. So, the energy density is very low because there is no concentration in
either time or space and the energy distribution density is low because there is a large land use loss factor. <br />
<br />
Wood and peat are adequate sources of heat for individual dwelling
structures, but the energy concentrations are not high enough to make them
feasible as regional, multi-use power sources. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The only solar-powered fuels with any real capability for power production
on any meaningful scale are hydro-electric, coal and petroleum, including
natural gas. That might seem like the obvious to you and that this lengthy thought
exercise has resulted in nothing new under the Sun. And you would be correct to reach that conclusion. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
However, the real point is to look at energy from a different perspective so
we understand WHY the energy use practices of civilization have evolved as
they have and so we can actually answer the multi-part question: <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Can we abandon fossil fuels and mothball our hydro-electric projects in
favor of wind and solar, and will wind and solar ever be meaningful
components of an integrated energy strategy? <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The answer, for the foreseeable future is "No!"
Ultimately, in a long time, we will have to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels,
but wind and solar will never be a replacement. Unless we either develop a
tolerance to losing large areas of landscape and useable land to power
generation; or decrease our population and return to a life style on a par with
the 18th Century when the entire energy spectrum consisted of wind, wood,
animals, small water mills and that most detestable source of energy
concentration – human slavery. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
At best, wind and solar will fill the role they do now - a supplement to
more reliable sources of base load production, which will have to include
hydro-electric, geothermal and nuclear as the only sources, apart from
coal and petroleum, with energy concentrations high enough to provide for all
energy needs.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
However, I refuse to be a prognosticator of doom and gloom and end up being
a false prophet like everyone who asseverates that some thing will or will not
definitely happen. There is no limit to the resource of human intelligence
and creativity and it is a sure thing that at some time, perhaps just beyond
the foreseeable future, a new idea or development will change the entire
picture painted here. The only thing which is certain is that the
first and second laws of thermodynamics must be satisfied, so
whatever idea or innovation comes about to utilize energy in more efficient
ways, the ultimate source of the power itself must have a high enough
energy density to provide the absolute power needed to run an
industrial-commercial civilization. As Francis Bacon said: "Nature, to be
commanded, must be obeyed."<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Our greatest resource is our ability to think and adapt. So,
CONCENTRATE! <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-74124169538260968702014-02-18T17:05:00.000-05:002014-02-18T17:05:19.311-05:00It's ControversialAt what point does something become an actual, bona fide controversy. In the strictest sense of the word a controversy is essentially the opposite of a conversation. They are two words built on the same two roots: con and versa. When you discuss a topic WITH someone you converse with them; literally, to have a discussion about a topic in which both opinions turn (versa) the same way (con). If you are in an argument, your respective positions are turned (versa) against (contra) each other.<br />
<br />
The word controversy is defined in modern English as a disagreement which is usually heated and conducted in a public forum. But at what point does a disagreement, whether public or not, leave the realm of a difference of opinion and become universally accepted as an official controversy? By official, I mean a difference of opinion in which literally everyone accepts that both view points, which have 'turned against' each other, are equally valid, deserve equal hearing and consideration and must be resolved via some official evaluation or action. <br />
<br />
<br />
For example, there is a heated argument which is conducted in the public eye pertaining to the existence of Big Foot. I don't think, however, that any rational person thinks that this is a controversy worthy of the epithet and which needs to be resolved by some sort of official investigation, evaluation, resolution and/or declaration from an official government entity.
We can make similar arguments about the issues of UFOs, a flat Earth, ancient astronauts. We can say with assurity that, although people believe in such things, there is no real, public controversy about them. So the word 'controversy' has come to mean a bit more than Webster says. <br />
<br />
<br />
Let's go one step further. Many people do not believe in a deity. Many do. Many believe in other deities, or in multiple deities. All these people disagree. They argue. They call each other names like unbeliever, infidel, gullible, and many worse things. And they do so in public. But there is no controversy. It is a matter of one's personal world view. No-one expects that the matter will be resolved. No-one couches comments about their world view in terms of "this is controversial but my belief is..." And most importantly, no-one expects that some government entity, or a university study is ever going to answer the matter satisfactorily.
Religion is part of the fabric of a multitudinous and varied society and such things are simply NOT controversial. Would you really expect a Christian to preface her remarks by saying, "I know that the concept of Jesus is controversial, but what the Bible says he preached is that we should...." <br />
<br />
<br />
In that context it would be an implicit admission that the speaker holds her own beliefs to be not wholly correct. Similarly, with regard to any issue under debate, the insertion of a "controversy disclaimer" before one actually utters a claim is a tacit acknowledgement that whatever follows can be taken or left because it does not qualify as confirmed knowledge - it is subject to revision; temporary; suspect - or even worse in the truly post-modern way, just your point of view. And that is OK when the debatable points ARE interpretations such as the 'meaning' of a poem, or the purpose of foreshadowing in a play. It is acceptable when there are equally valid explanations for some phenomenon in the natural world for which the existing data to do not point to either explanation as being correct. It is NOT an acceptable tact when the topic is factual, there are hard data and well-developed theory to unify and explain the data.<br />
<br />
<br />
So, despite the dictionary definition, simply holding different opinions about something is really not a public or societal controversy. Even if there are many people sitting on opposite sides of an issue. Well then, at what point do we collectively determine that something is controversial and that all sides must be considered?<br />
<br />
<br />
On the other end of the spectrum are issues which are fact-based and should be real controversies but are not. An example of such a public non-controversy, a "non-troversy", is climate change. Until recently, this was exactly like religion. If someone did not agree with the main stream consensus of official climate science as espoused by the U.N. International Panel on Climate Change, they were simply labeled a "denier" in the same way an atheist might be labeled an unbeliever. After all, it has been touted since Al Gore made "An Inconvenient Truth" that the debate is over. The Science is Settled; i.e., no controversy. All this despite a huge disagreement which has taken place in the public eye for years - although you probably never heard much about the other side of this dispute because there was scant coverage in the media.<br />
<br />
<br />
The debate is over? Who said so? Only one side of the debate said it was over. More importantly, a debate actually never took place. In that instance, just as in religion, the climate establishment simply shut down any concept of debate and thereby pre-empted any controversy from ever being recognized. Until now. Now the "engineers have been hoist on their own petard" and the climate establishment is being bitten pretty hard on the ass by their own tiger.<br />
<br />
<br />
As for "The Science is Settled"? Let me give an example. I was in a public debate once and my opponent, a university professor who championed the position of catastrophic human induced global warming trotted out the "science is settled" canard. At that point I challenged him to relinquish his university position and to return the research funds he had received to study climate change. If the science is settled, I reasoned to the audience, we don't need to continue paying climate scientists such as him any longer. If the science were settled, their (his) jobs have been complete. They can be retired and we can hand the remaining money over to policy makers to decide how to address the absolute truth revealed by himself and his colleagues. <br />
<br />
<br />
His response was that climate scientists are now looking for ways to cope with climate change. I pointed out that that is engineering, but he dissented and stuck to his position that there is no room for debate - there is no controversy, and anyone who says there is, is unqualified to say so in the first place.<br />
<br />
<br />
So, it seems controversies are ONLY controversies if someone SAYS they are controversies. Until someone in a nebulous position of authority actually calls something a controversy, it is just a disagreement, or it is simply not an issue worth arguing about or the people making an argument are not qualified and are talking through their hats.<br />
<br />
<br />
There is a second aspect of the concept of controversy in modern parlance. By labeling something as controversial it gains a whole new air of importance which was not inherent previously. The meaning of the word controversy has evolved to include a connotation that the issues at hand are not only different, but also worthy of extra consideration or arbitration. Controversial arguments are special arguments now which no one actually expects to settle. Of course the two opposing factions in any "controversy" do not expect to settle - each expects to prevail and convince the other side, and thereby everyone, that they were correct all along. But there is no expectation on the part of the average sideliner to a controversy that it will ever be a resolved issue - something controversial is simply controversial and the auditor to the debate is allowed to take or leave whatever whichever of the combatants says; i.e., any outside listener is free to suspect the veracity of any or all of the positions espoused. It also means that constant vigilance must be exercised whenever and wherever the controversial thing appears or is applied.<br />
<br />
<br />
So, what is the current hot button controversy in terms of the Earth? <br />
<br />
<br />
Hydraulic Fracturing. The buzz word associated with hydraulic fracturing is "controversial." <br />
Absolutely NO QUESTION. There is impassioned, international debate about the potential environmental, health and societal impacts which could accrue from hydraulic fracturing. This is a real controversy for the simple reason that the U.S. EPA, an authoritative, government entity, says it is controversial.<br />
<br />
<br />
In fact, and I am going out on a limb here: the U.S. EPA <em>created</em> the hydraulic fracturing controversy where no controversy existed. <br />
<br />
<br />
Hydraulic fracturing is an old, tried and true technology. Oil and gas wells have been hydraulically fractured since 1949. Somewhere around one million wells have been hydraulically fractured in America alone and there has been not one single instance where the well stimulation has resulted in an impact to drinking water. There have been a few spill incidents over that time, but that is no different than any operations of any industry - I am not being cavalier about it or saying it is OK, but that has NOTHING to do with hydraulic fracturing. There have even been some mistakes made with well installations, but, again, those were not related to the hydraulic fracturing process. (Please refer to the post Frick and Frac(k) in this blog for an explanation of the hydraulic fracturing process). <br />
<br />
<br />
But the point is, it has been going on in many states for decades and there was no controversy about it - did you even know there was such a thing as hydraulic fracturing before about four to five years ago? The only thing new is the combination of horizontal drilling (also nothing new) with existing hydraulic fracturing technologies. <br />
<br />
<br />
After a million wells and no direct impacts, everyone suddenly decided that the frac'ing process has the potential to impact drinking water or other water resources and it is therefore controversial. <br />
Here we have reached the modern synthesis of the word controversial. When something such as hydraulic fracturing is described as a controversial practice it does not mean that people disagree with each other about aspects of it, or the safety of it. It means that the actual practice of hydraulic fracturing is rife with uncertainties which no-one comprehends - it is a process which is beyond the abilities of the natural gas companies to predict or control what will happen and beyond the control of the regulatory agencies to ensure protection of human health and the environment. In this newer, more sexy meaning, hydraulic fracturing is controversial because people seem to think that it is a dice roll as to what might happen. <br />
<br />
<br />
Without going into the technical details, because this post is about the controversy and not the actual technique, I can state that the concerns about the direct impact of hydraulic fracturing on water supplies are wholly without merit. I will be happy to post the technical basis for that conclusion in another post if anyone is interested (my graduate research was in hydraulic fracturing). But allow me to reiterate to provide the best support - proof in the pudding - that my asseveration is correct: <em>there have been over one million oil and gas wells which have been hydraulically stimulated without a single instance of an impact to drinking water aquifers or surface water as a direct result of the hydraulic fracturing process.</em><br />
<br />
<em>
</em>As you might have heard, the US EPA is not party to the hydraulic fracturing bonanza. But for a number of years it has been trying to insert itself into the arena and regulate it. Let's look at this and it will show how EPA created the controversy.
<br />
<br />
<br />
The EPA does not regulate the oil & gas industry, partly as a result of the Agency's own design. It does not regulate the operations of the industry at all. The only authority it would have is over wastes, air emissions and the potential impact to drinking water resources via the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Agency rightly delegated the regulatory authority it had to the various states where operations occur. That is the actual function of the EPA. To establish uniform standards and research, set appropriate protection goals and allow the states to administer their own programs under that knowledge-based umbrella. The purpose of EPA is patently NOT to directly regulate industries; it has no direct regulatory authority over the operations of the industry The waste and drinking water issues are the ones of interest for our current consideration. <br />
<br />
<br />
Apart from normal solid wastes, the industry, as many others, produces liquid wastes as well - mostly naturally occurring groundwater which comes out of the ground with the oil and gas. Because it is extremely hot down in the oil and gas zone, the hot groundwater reacts with the rocks and dissolves salts from them. So, the water which comes out is called an oil field brine. It is extremely salty, typically dark brown to black, contains dissolved metals - and is the natural condition of deep groundwater whether oil & gas wells were drilled or not. When it is brought to the surface in an oil or gas well, it is a by-product of operations - a waste.
As for most industries which produce liquid wastes, the oil industry has been allowed to dispose that brine in deep underground injection wells - putting it back where it came from, essentially.<br />
<br />
<br />
EPA defined five classes of injection wells for various wastes. Oil field brine wells are Class 2. And it is a relatively innocuous waste compared to the stuff other industries are allowed to inject within the other four classes of injection wells.
Well, along with most other functions developed by EPA, the authority to regulate deep underground injection was delegated to the states decades ago, so EPA does not regulate it at all. Throughout the 60 year history of hydraulic fracturing, EPA has maintained its hands-off stance regarding injection of oil field brines (EPA has actually only been around for forty of those years). The two issues, notice, are not related. Brines are produced from ANY oil or gas well so the injection of oil field brines into a Class 2 Injection Well is not something associated only with hydraulically stimulated wells.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Regardless of the absence of an exclusive relationship between deep well injection and hydraulic fracturing, an environmental watch-dog group in Alabama in the mid 1990s filed suit against EPA, insisting that the Agency should regulate hydraulic stimulation of a coal bed methane field under the premise that it constituted a Class 2 injection well. EPA argued that the regulation of injection wells is for the disposal of wastes and stimulation fluid is not a waste. EPA also concluded that its duplicative regulation would be an unnecessary and excessive financial burden on the US economy.
The battle raged for a few years until in 2004 the 4th US Circuit court in Alabama ruled that the regulations were not specific to wastes and that the Agency must regulate hydraulic fracturing, despite the fact that the state already regulated it. The ruling only applied to coal bed methane and to the 4th circuit, but the precedent was set.<br />
<br />
But, and here is the uncharacteristic part, EPA did not want to be involved in the hydraulic fracturing industry. Note the year and which administration was in Washington D.C. To circumvent the 2004 court ruling, Congress, in 2005, amended the law to exempt hydraulic stimulation fluids from the deep underground injection regulations and EPA was satisfied that it could continue to operate as it had for decades.<br />
<br />
Fast forward to 2008. The Marcellus Shale revolution had begun and was running up to mid-season form. Late in the year, the Obama campaign succeeded in the November elections. Obama was sworn into office in late January 2009 and he rapidly appointed Lisa Jackson as Administrator of the EPA. By summer of that same year, less than six months later, EPA announced that it suspected a link between hydraulic fracturing and contamination of drinking water and it moved into Pavillion Wyoming and Dimock Pennsylvania to prove its case. Just three years after EPA had struggled mightily to stay out of this issue and leave it to the states where the authority rightly was vested - just three years after the Agency's arguments in court were that there was no adverse impact of injecting oil field brines and the hydraulic stimulation fluids were even more innocuous than the naturally produced brines.<br />
<br />
Now, the important issue is that both of those two states had been delegated the authority to administer the environmental protection of their own water resources (those resources are not federal resources - they are state resources). Moreover, the industry which EPA alleged caused contamination was regulated by the states - not the federal government. EPA actually had no right to move in to either area to conduct an investigation.<br />
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The agency rapidly conducted investigations which its own sister agency, The United States Geological Survey, characterized as sloppy and a travesty of poor methodology and flawed, premature conclusions. By September of 2009 EPA published the following statements:<br />
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<li>methane is released during drilling and fracing and other gas well work;</li>
<li>methane is at significantly higher concentrations in aquifers after gas drilling and is perhaps a result of fracing;</li>
<li>the methane migrating in aquifers is both from shallower younger formations and the older Marcellus Shale;</li>
<li>methane and other gases released during drilling apparently cause significant damage to water quality;</li>
<li>in some case the aquifers recover in under a year but in other cases the damage is long term </li>
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Every single conclusion was without ANY foundation whatsoever and collectively they were, quite frankly, false. Also, if you have worked with EPA (I have for decades) this is not aberrant behavior. This is exactly how the Agency operates the Superfund program; identify an issue and make it a problem in which the Agency must be involved to protect everyone and to show the state how to 'do it right.'
As a result of those initial EPA missives and the positive conclusion about hydraulic fracturing's impacts on drinking water, a public furor and outcry arose which reverberated around the world - and continues to this day. But more to EPA's purpose, hard on the heels of the EPA announcements, the new Congress (2010) directed EPA to conduct an investigation into the possible impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water supplies. That is what the new EPA had been angling for. An official invitation to shove their oar into the fossil fuel industry.
Once the agency had a Congressional directive to interpose into the states' rights and to determine whether federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing was necessary, EPA announced that there were no real data to support the conclusions it had so positively posited previously and quietly dropped all further consideration of both Pavilion and Dimock. In other words, there WAS NO ISSUE, just as the USGS concluded.
In short, as soon as the Obama administration began its reign it muscled into two of the states where hydraulic fracturing was occurring, fabricated unsupported conclusions before proper data were even available, conducted a shoddy investigation and publicized bad data to support its pre-conceived position, whipped local residents into a frenzy of concern, hatred and distrust of the natural gas industry, CREATED a controversy by making positive conclusions of a causative effect between fracing and contaminated groundwater, spread that controversy nationwide and got itself inserted by Congress into the States' rights, and then backed away from its original 'controversial' stance. But it was now in and able to interfere in the fossil fuel industry. <br />
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In the time since, EPA has expanded the scope of its charge and is trying to regulate every facet of the hydraulic fracturing industry, with only 20% of its work now focused on its charge to determine if there is direct impact of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water. The remaining 80% of it current work statement is focused on taking control over the regulatory authority of the oil and gas industry. <br />
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I have already been more political in this post than is my wont, so I will not carry this farther except to say that currently, and for the foreseeable future, fossil fuels are the only reliable source of energy we have, and the current administration is as anti-fossil fuel as they come. Let me provide one quote from the 2014 state of the union address: Our energy supplies include "natural gas from hydraulic fracturing,<em> if conducted safely and in an environmentally friendly manner"</em> (emphasis added). What is that statement, other than feeding the fake controversy? What could be safer in this industrial society than an industry which has installed 1,000,000 hydraulically fractured wells without a discernible impact on water supplies? Obama makes it sound as if the practice is inherently unsafe, but HIS administration, the federal government, will make certain that the bad petroleum companies are only allowed to do this in a manner his EPA concludes is safe. There it is - "inherently unsafe." In other words, a controversial PRACTICE.<br />
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Hydraulic fracturing is NOT controversial. It is an extremely well proven technology which is inherently safe. Is there a chance for a spill. As in EVERY industry, yes there is. Such spills however, are generally related to operations above the ground and are not related to the deep hydraulic fracturing. The Obama administration has made hydro-fracturing a controversial issue where no controversy should exist. But then this administration has made the entire energy industry a controversial subject in a manner it was not previously.
What is NOT controversial about energy is that modern civilization is IMPOSSIBLE without it. Good health, longevity, proper nutrition for everyone is not possible without energy. The REAL controversy (in the Obama EPA sense) is that there are a large number of people who are using specious arguments to prevent the distribution of cheap, abundant, clean energy and its benefits to the world so all people can join the first world and live decent lives. <br />
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But that appears to be one of those non-troversies, because people wage their war on energy independence and prosperity under the guise of saving the Earth. They are "holier than thou" and, curiously, within the context of branding hydraulic fracturing as controversial, they brook no actual controversy, in the Websterian meaning of the word. They are self-contradictory because, while using the term 'controversial' in discourses about hydraulic fracturing as a means to imply the practice is inherently unsafe, they allow no controversy, <em>sensu stricto</em>, in the manner of the climate change example, above. "There is no controversy. It is a dangerous practice - period. And anyone who says otherwise is either a paid shill of 'Big Oil' or is simply unqualified to be discussing it with us." <br />
That attitude is the reason I have <em>versa'd contra</em> to the mainstream environmentalist movement in recent years. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-25189810601827879342013-11-19T00:24:00.002-05:002013-11-21T19:36:12.274-05:00Frick and Frac(k)Ah, Pennsylvania. My glorious home state. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Old Glory, the country's first oil well, birthplace of US Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Portland Cement, Harley Davidson, Martin Guitars, Easter Peeps, and home to that pre-eminent neo-climatologist, Punxatawny Phil. It is also the hub of what could be the world's most productive shale gas play in the form of the Marcellus and Utica Formations, as well as some other gas/oil bearing formations with lesser potential. Also one of the central locations for that modern day eco-terrorist, the 'fractivist' who would have you believe that everything bad in the world is caused by hydraulic fracturing. <br />
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So. How did hydraulic fracturing get such a bad rap? It bears none of the earmarks of despised innovations/technologies; it's neither a new technology nor is it difficult to understand. Yet the entire population of the world has been scared into a state of near immobility about this "new and mysterious" form of Earth rape. <br />
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Let me just digress a bit and take you through some background. <br />
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This all started quietly in Pennsylvania back in about 2004 or 2005 when Range Resources combined a couple existing technologies and drilled-stimulated a horizontal natural gas well in the Marcellus Shale in Mt. Pleasant, PA. The Marcellus is one of the many Devonian Age (416 to 359.2 m.a) black shales found around the world. A black shale is one in which there is a high organic carbon content, and one which was deposited in an anoxic environment (no free oxygen). Because the carbon (from dead but formerly living things) was not exposed to oxygen, it did not decompose, which is the process <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">whereby</span> </span>aerobic (air breathing) microbes 'decay' organic tissues. Compress the sediment and squeeze the water out and cook the organic matter with the heat of orogeny (mountain building event) in the absence of oxygen, and you get petroleum hydrocarbons in their myriad manifestations, including methane - natural gas.<br />
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Geologists have known for decades that the Marcellus Shale (and others like it) contained a LOT of natural gas, and possibly other petroleum related goodies. There was just no way to get it out of the ground. Shale is a very porous rock (many open pore spaces between the mineral grains) but it has a very low permeability (the pore spaces are not well connected at all, so even though it can hold a lot of gas or liquid, there are few, or no, open flow pathways by which anything can escape). So, here we are, 360 million years later, and all the gas from nearly 60 million years worth of dying marine life is still locked away in the shale.<br />
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In hydraulic fracturing we pump water under very high pressure into the Marcellus (or similar) Formation which opens existing micro-fractures in the rock along specific, non-horizontal orientations. The fracturing zone is between 4,500 and 9,500 below the ground surface and more than 4,000 to 9,000 feet below the deepest water supply aquifers. More on this later. The fracturing extends radially outward from the six-inch horizontal well bore to distances of 350 feet. So, for each linear foot of well bore we can fracture 385,000 cubic feet of methane-laden rock. With well bores of 6,000 linear feet within the Marcellus Formation, we can extract the natural gas from 2.3 billion cubic feet of rock - and we typically have between six and 12 wells at each well site. So you wil have a good picture of just how significant the Marcellus Shale is in the energy future of America, we recover about 1.5 - 1.7 billion cubic feet of methane from each 1,000 linear feet of well bore. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZWpdJuNhSLVqibcUmjWDCN_BcJ5dwFkqHR1i6M4fYUc469POp_XmiDji8dXcrDcsIdXYEJJsvgX14T4K2QfCiOs6WN493UTK1EccE7MMwgeKY4UJoH0EMJKBKc-Xn_rYu2DFrM0gX3kf/s1600/marcellus+outcrop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZWpdJuNhSLVqibcUmjWDCN_BcJ5dwFkqHR1i6M4fYUc469POp_XmiDji8dXcrDcsIdXYEJJsvgX14T4K2QfCiOs6WN493UTK1EccE7MMwgeKY4UJoH0EMJKBKc-Xn_rYu2DFrM0gX3kf/s200/marcellus+outcrop.jpg" width="200" /></a>My little, independent exploration and development company represents a fraction of a percent of the total Marcellus region and we will have approximately 550 wells with an average borehole length of 6,000 ft. with those volumes of methane flowing out of the each and every well pipe under its own pressure over a thirty to fifty year period. For scale, our operations area is in north central Pennsylvania and occupies a space on the image a little larger than the size of the dot on the letter 'i' in the word Pennsylvania.<br />
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Just to astound you even more about the staggering energy potential in the Marcellus Formation alone, despite fracturing that much rock, we only recover about 30% of the methane trapped in just the fracture zone. When we count all the areas which we can't reach because of the limits of technology and other factors, the latest estimate is that we will reclaim about 15% of the total gas volume contained in that one formation. When (not if) we improve our recovery technology we will have energy to spare. <br />
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The water we use to fracture the rock is combined with sand which keeps the newly opened fractures from closing again under the very high lithostatic pressure (weight of the rock above the fracture zone). The sand remains in place (it is called a proppant because it props the fractures open) and the water is squeezed out by the pressure and is recovered at the surface (called flowback). Because the sand has a high permeability, once the water is recovered there are pathways to the low atmospheric pressure at the Earth's surface and the natural gas will flow out and up where it is collected and sent to a kitchen near you where you ignite it and release the solar energy which fell on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. It's rather like a battery - you put energy in and forget about it until you need it, and there it is<br />
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Okay. With that little bit of background, let's get on with it. <br />
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So, what happened between 2005 when this all started with a whimper, and 2010 when it became the environmentalists' equivalent of the Big Bang? Well, if you examine the shale gas revolution from all angles, there was no choice for environmentalists but to demonize it in some way, shape or form. Environmentalists each have their own particular axe to grind, but they all have one thing in common; they all HATE the petroleum industry, and they can't wait for the fossil fuel age to end. They all, of course, do everything in their power to expedite the end of the hydrocarbon epoch. And they have been spurred in this, to no little extent, by people in the energy sector themselves. <br />
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For the past forty years or so, environmentalists have been reaching for the Holy Grail of hydrocarbon hatred: the ever-dangling carrot of the "decline curve" of proven petroleum reserves. Ever since M. King Hubbert predicted in the 1950s that there would be a petroleum production peak and an inevitable decline of oil and gas reserves, there has been a never-ending parade of prognosticators pronouncing the pending pratfall and ultimate collapse of the fossil fuel driven ecological disaster which was the 20th Century. Much to their collective chagrin, however, petroleum reserves have refused to heed King Hubbert's hypothesis and have grown. For example:<br />
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However, with the assurance that we were going to run out of the stuff anyway, and with such seemingly achievable targets as preventing drilling in "sensitive and pristine ecosystems" such as the Arctic, which would only prolong the inevitable, environmentalists planned to force the phase out fossil fuels one by one to ease the pain of withdrawal resulting from the ultimate death of dirty energy dependence incurred by a misdirected culture which had a gasoline pipeline taped to its nose and a toxic discharge pipe as a catheter at the other end. With the help of celebrities, perhaps this might happen even within their individual lifetimes. They had all but killed nuclear power in the 70s and 80s and they were chipping away at the edges of fossil fuels. <br />
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This is not ancient history. The current administration has systematically targeted coal as the first of the fossil fuels that must go. It would be followed by the rest - in good time. We were in the process of extricating ourselves from a couple very costly and messy wars which, it was claimed, had fossil fuels at their core. The country was disgusted with our dependence on foreign oil. The populace was ripe for the next big push to "renewable" energy sources, and might even be willing to make a few sacrifices to reduce our dependency on doubly nasty imported petroleum. <br />
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And then.... as if out of no-where... came SHALE GAS!!!!! What began in 2005 in Pennsylvania was assessed and it was determined that our natural gas reserves, and consequently our fossil fuel reserves, are HUGE. That cleanest of all fossil fuels, at a stroke, eliminated the decline and fall of the fossil fuel empire. It had every advantage to counter claims that fossil fuels were the bane of all life. It is, in fact, clean burning, it is cheap, it is home-grown, it WILL make the United States energy independent by the year 2021 and it even results in a smaller "carbon footprint" than all other fossil fuels and has the potential to allow the U.S. to achieve far lower CO2 emissions - in fact, with increased natural gas use, we will do better than the arbitrary and pointless CO2 reduction targets established by the U.N. IPCC. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWhjW4WfVp9rBnUVtZRkKeYsUlrxk0NXJYhXSNuAgp0CqLuGPFa__SX4Iy961-klMbbOio1ZB_XHX7CKECnTmKN6oQ2KMOHz8UGnCdt7F3yJnVYE5N8D0BK_sfrxgNeWFgboJDP5u9ZCz/s1600/WindPower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWhjW4WfVp9rBnUVtZRkKeYsUlrxk0NXJYhXSNuAgp0CqLuGPFa__SX4Iy961-klMbbOio1ZB_XHX7CKECnTmKN6oQ2KMOHz8UGnCdt7F3yJnVYE5N8D0BK_sfrxgNeWFgboJDP5u9ZCz/s320/WindPower.jpg" width="320" /></a>Contrary to King Hubbert's prediction, and to the utter dismay of environmentalists everywhere, the fossil fuel reserve estimates rose yet again! And the cost of energy in the U.S. fell - again. Suddenly, costly, taxpayer subsidized wind and solar projects were not very attractive - literally and figuratively. <br />
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The cult of anti-fossil fuel environmentalism was DEAD. With natural gas being the "White Knight" of energy there was no way to demonize it. Unless . . . the very process of Shale Gas extraction could be shown to be unsafe. <br />
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That would do it! This new method of extraction - hydraulic fracturing. It's bad. It must be bad. It uses water. There are, dare we say it, CHEMICALS, added to the water. The rock is broken so those CHEMICALS can get into our water wells. Those untrustworthy oil companies will spill it and it will ruin our streams.<br />
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Now, unlike last year, when the fossil fuel industry is discussed, the focus is NOT on climate change. It is not on oil spills. It is not on air pollution. It is on Frac'ing! After a recent Congressional public meeting the Congressmen said the word he heard most was "Fracing." Without coming out and admitting that what they really want is to eliminate the use of ALL fossil fuels, which would wreck civilization, environmentalists are simply unable to dismiss the widespread use of natural gas. As I said above, it is the cleanest and most environmentally friendly of all known energy supplies (if you think wind and solar are environmentally friendly you need to understand them a lot better). So, to achieve the un-admitted end point, a campaign was launched to demonize the extraction process itself. <br />
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So far it has worked in New York State where there is ABUNDANT Marcellus and Utica natural gas. A state where farmers sit poor and worried north of the state line while their neighbor farmers, literally feet over the line to the south, get rich. It has worked in the E.U. where large shale gas reserves lie dormant below countries which have no other energy resources and are completely dependent on imports. It has worked in Washington D.C. where the federal EPA is tying itself into knots trying to figure out how it can insert itself into what is, after all, a states' rights issue, so it can stop, or at least slow, the shale gas juggernaut. <br />
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"Anti-Fracking" [SIC] is the <em>mot jus. </em> NO! It is not 'fracking'. It is fracing, or if you must, frac'ing. Please don't argue. We invented the term. WE get to decide how to spell it. No-one argues with the computer or music industries that the correct spelling of the term 'disc' is d-i-s-k so please don't argue this point. <br />
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This reminds me of the 'anti' attitude toward one of the older reviled industries of Pennsylvania - the steel industry. U.S. Steel in particular. Andrew Carnegie's company. In that case, it was not only the industry, but the people who ran it who were hated. Not Carnegie himself as much as his second in command: Henry Sawyer Frick. You know - the man who ordered the Pinkerton guards to open fire on protesting steel workers. <br />
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We had the coal age Frick, and now the gas age 'Frac'. I like to think we are acting more in the public interest than Frick did - but we are Frac'ers. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-29897782253847749642012-10-25T22:54:00.000-04:002012-10-27T22:39:18.435-04:00"You Are Going To Die" Genetic engineers are going to have to figure out how we can all be born with a 'best by' birth mark dated for about 80 years following our nativities. Otherwise, they will be sent to prison for not telling us that we are going to die.<br />
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Idiotic? Too stupid to even be worth a chuckle?<br />
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Idiotic it might be, but alas! This silly little bit of science fiction is not too far off - at least not in the European Union where the principles of post-modernism have raised the lowest common denominator of human intellectual flotsam to positions of the highest authority. Hot off the press is the latest proof that the leaders of modern Italy could not have actually descended from Romans as most other Italians, but are the remnants of some enslaved group of inbred half-wits who, through sheer perseverance have out-waited everyone else and are now enjoying what will hopefully be a very brief stint in the seats of authority.<br />
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This past week six Italian scientists and a government official were sent to prison for six years for manslaughter. The crime? Failing to predict a magnitude 6.3 Earthquake in L'Aquila (the Eagle) in which 300 people died in 2009. Now, the rationale behind this shining example that the western psyche has turned the corner and confronted its moronic self is that those people were not convicted for failing to predict the fatal earthquake, but for failing to communicate the risks of living in an Earthquake-prone area.<br />
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People who live in Italy are as aware that they live in a seismically active area as the Japanese are aware that they live in tsumanis central (we use a Japanese word for that latter phenomenon for a good reason). From now on, seismologists in California and Japan, and of course all the other seismically active areas around the Mediterranean (all of it by the way) had better issue warnings that living inside buildings, or conducting business indoors, or going to hospitals, or taverns, or hotels, or restaurants.... carries with it a chance of death from Earthquake.<br />
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Oh, but of course, there are also active volcanos in Italy. Better include them to be safe. And landslides. And sinkholes, and avalanches and any number of phenomena in the natural world.<br />
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Insurance companies will now insist that scientists must issue the equivalent of the surgeon general's warning about tobacco during every press conference, and they must put rubber stamp warnings, disclaimers, caveats and probability estimates on every report. And what about other types of scientists? What about all the people who die every year from accidents caused by icy roads - or tree branches which fall into their cars because they are weighted down with ice and snow. Are meteorologists going to go to jail over a mis-predicted snowstorm? What about trees that blow over in tornados and hurricanes? What about..... Oh, you get the idea.<br />
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Of course, this little tongue-in-cheek game of mine is just that. The real effect of this travesty is that scientists are going to clam up and refuse to be part of anything that has to do with making informed statements about human society in the natural world. Except, of course, one particular flavor of climate scientists who seem to make patently false predictions about the consequences to society of our supposedly deteriorating climate and get rewarded for doing it. <br />
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What? Patently false? <br />
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According to the predictions of that group, by this current year (2012) the Ten Thousand Lakes district of Minnesota was going to be dry, snow would have stopped falling in Europe, the Arctic Sea would be ice free, India would already be suffering from drought and low water because of disappearing glaciers in the Himalaya, sea level would have risen to elevations which would have already drowned many island nations, and global average temperature would have risen to levels far above what they actually are. That none of these things has happened is too simple for anyone with eyes to ascertain with a minimum of effort, or intellect, so specific refutations are not worth even enumerating. And those are just the obvious ones. <br />
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But what is their punishment for convincing the world's governments to waste trillions in 'going green' and thereby usurping money which would be better spent on health care or food for the sick and starving? They get more research money and celebrity status, and they get to share in a Nobel Peace Prize. Meanwhile, people who try to be responsible scientists by not being overly alarmist about a very well known threat are jailed for not telling us to keep out of our own way.<br />
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Let's think about this one realistically. People in California know they live in Earthquake country. They know the risks. They know they could lose everything, or even die. If our government came and told them they should move out because of the risks.... I don;t even need to go on with that analogy. They stay because it is their home and the risks are small enough that its worth, well, risking it. No-one 'communicates' the risks to them. So, why would the people of L'Aquila Italy have done anything differently if they had been told the bleeding obvious - something they already knew - something every Italian knows. It is a country where Earthquakes happen. Italians know the risks. So do Greeks, and Turks and Armenians and ...... Actually, is there anywhere on Earth where there are no risks from some natural disaster? If there is, they had better start getting ready because a lot of scientists might want to move there.<br />
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And by the way, as a scientist, please let me state for the record that you are at risk of any and every catastrophe, natural or man-made, there is no safe place to go, no place with lower risks and no way to get to them without traveling though a risky area. Perhaps you might be safe in your grave, but it is awfully risky getting there - you might die or be killed trying. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-80406055013559797792012-05-22T14:29:00.003-04:002012-06-18T12:56:15.015-04:00Left is RightIt's no wonder I decided to study rocks! People are just so frustratingly inconstant. Despite a wide variety of inclusions and accessory minerals, I can be reasonably self-assured that a hand specimen of granite will most definitely contain quartz, muscovite mica and orthoclase feldspar, and that it looks and feel very different than a specimen of andesite, which will always consist of plagioclase feldspar, biotite and amphibole, among a few others. I mean.... am I right, or what?<br />
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But people. They are ever-changing. I mean individual people. You just never know where they are going to come down on any issue. There are some generalizations however, based on societal and political leanings, which <u>should</u> give you at least an indication of where you might stand with any individual. We have developed many names, though, for the various societal proclivities of our populace such that it is sometimes difficult to know which way is up - or left... or right... Democrats can also be liberals and leftists. Republicans are conservatives and ... rightists? (That last doesn't sound.... ummm... right). Oh well. Back to the Earth, which is what this blog is all about.<br />
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Those epithets would be all well and good and would prove an excellent guide to help us all tread the troubled waters of social intercourse - if people would only stick to their agendas. But they don't. Liberals, unlike good old constant granite, can be positively ultra-conservative on some issues and conservatives, rather than sticking to the uniform grey of unchanging andesite, can be exceedingly liberal. Not coincidentally in relation to this little narrative, the issue which spins these two staunch and opposing groups into each others' corners is... The Earth.<br />
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The liberal/leftist/democrat variety of our little conclave of fellow bipeds are all about being very liberal with other people's money - tax and spend is the mot juste. They are liberal in making generous allotments to increase the government's size and sway. They are liberal in their social views and very accepting of all the sorts it takes to make up a world. But I dare you to so much as whisper that someone is planning to change the land use somewhere - anywhere - not just where a particular liberal lives - or develop a natural resource, or build a factory, or dig a quarry, or drill for natural gas - and they will rally like an army under the banner of CONSERVATION. Liberal they most certainly are <b>not</b> when it comes to doling out natural resources to the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free." To them, conservation of the Earth, or any little part of it, comes above all else - societal needs, economies, even people's health needs. In other words, when it comes to the environment and Earth in general, Liberals are vehement Conservatives.<br />
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Not to be outdone, the conservative/right/republican members of our ilk are very conservative with their money, they don't want to tax or spend, they would like to starve the government into subservience by conserving their own money and they certainly advocate conserving their narrow way of life against anyone who falls outside their constricted definition of the RIGHT way to live. But they become exceedingly liberal with their money and are RIGHTeously willing to invest it in almost any plan which involves land use change (development) and natural resource exploitation. Their mantra with regard to the Earth is, "the Earth is here for us to take from it and use it, so that's what we should do." Conservatism wants no part of conservation. They are extremely liberal in the distribution of Earth resources and how they should be used. If there is some mineral resource which can be exploited to produce a medicine which will help people - even in other countries - or will increase crop yields and food supplies, then they will exploit it. Conservation be damned if it is a question of societal needs, economics and health. So, when it comes to the the environment and Earth in general, Conservatives are excessively Liberal.<br />
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I don't have much comment on this little observation. I just find it curious that liberals are unbelievably and unwaveringly conservative when it comes to 'saving the planet' and every little corner of it. And it is equally ironic that conservatives can be so generously liberal in ensuring that people come first and the Earth second. Of course there is a continuum of views between these two end-member conditions and I can not cover all f the permutations here. So, as in many issues, I will let Shakespeare have the say on this dichotomy:<br />
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"Those who are in the extremity of either are abominable." (Rosalind, As You Like It, Act IV)<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-73245519093491751202011-10-14T13:34:00.009-04:002011-10-14T23:57:12.805-04:00Anthrop-obsceneOOOOH! OOOOOOOOOOOH!!!! Look at ME!! Call on ME!!!!! Pick ME!!!!<br />
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<div></div>The collective bastion of anthropocentrism has pooled its brain power into a tiny puddle of an idea - and not a particularly good idea. In fact, a perfectly foul idea. This is it: We will commemorate humanity, in all our self-loathed glory, by establishing an official Geologic Epoch of the human endeavor - <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Anthropocene</span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span></div><br />
<div>I've already had occasion to comment on the validity of even the Holocene Epoch in an earlier post here in The Terrane. But this..,.,.</div><br />
<div></div>For those who don't know about such esoterica, there is an international commission within the geologic community which is charged with establishing official stratigraphic designations, including the naming and demarcation of the various subdivisions of geologic time, beginning with the longest chunks of time - the aeons - and working down successively through the eras, periods, epochs, ages, stages, all segmented into ever-thinner little slices of past time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLZ_aK1Nzn6_QZXukMaZYXvKqXYJ3Ie7cy-AZGZqc8JgW1Kek9VOXw90r2_S9-QGsAiKI2BEmyozM4Mq6hKBYO8HEKF-L18pCUlV64DH0vC3XlNLXDfa53RMHZdhbRvW_YgLCKe3pfyaP/s1600/aaa_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLZ_aK1Nzn6_QZXukMaZYXvKqXYJ3Ie7cy-AZGZqc8JgW1Kek9VOXw90r2_S9-QGsAiKI2BEmyozM4Mq6hKBYO8HEKF-L18pCUlV64DH0vC3XlNLXDfa53RMHZdhbRvW_YgLCKe3pfyaP/s200/aaa_01.jpg" width="200" /></a>Well, a number of years ago we who live and work in the here and now were slotted into a new little quantum packet of time: a nano-sliver known as The Holocene - translated as the "entirely recent" epoch. The miniscule little tick and tock of the Holocene encompasses the most recent 11,500 years of Earth history (as of the year 2000). Without too much cross-stepping into my earlier post, the beginning of the Holocene marks the ending of the Pleistocene (meaning "most recent"), which is also known as the epoch of the Ice Ages, of which there were four. The end of the Pleistocene also corresponds with the end of what paleoanthropologists refer to as the Paleolithic Age - the beginning of civilization.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3a4pkrhbjxnQ4wrCFfZ4bYZ9Kjx1eOFVv1xnT3PPnq7Gx6JNxjCIpTogLcqEOC6P_wXbYGCtQO0RBpD9CeAXWg3cteAuCxggU-r_H0fU47Os5FTeAHL0EVCuRXml1fKZt4a0utnh1jxry/s1600/aaa_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3a4pkrhbjxnQ4wrCFfZ4bYZ9Kjx1eOFVv1xnT3PPnq7Gx6JNxjCIpTogLcqEOC6P_wXbYGCtQO0RBpD9CeAXWg3cteAuCxggU-r_H0fU47Os5FTeAHL0EVCuRXml1fKZt4a0utnh1jxry/s200/aaa_02.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQ6qS-Gdwko-s-d3cSwAZ3LDdnv7IH9Ipe9TXxXlldSkjKaUSqY7bspVv-hoCKqxFw98SONvA_MFkcFEs1RJerLBUsN5bsnmiO6uR43VQnlVizxS2lGMgTxQuvSgZKXk0CGthDcRt3qAv/s1600/aaa_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQ6qS-Gdwko-s-d3cSwAZ3LDdnv7IH9Ipe9TXxXlldSkjKaUSqY7bspVv-hoCKqxFw98SONvA_MFkcFEs1RJerLBUsN5bsnmiO6uR43VQnlVizxS2lGMgTxQuvSgZKXk0CGthDcRt3qAv/s200/aaa_03.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Each of the four recent glacial maxima has been punctuated by an intervening inter-glacial stage during which continenetal glaciers have retreted to Greenland and Antarctica, and to the alpine (mountain) glaciers in our highest peaks and ranges. So presumably, the condition which prompted the establishment to call an <i>ex-post-facto</i> end to the Pleistocene at 11,500 yrs ago was the end of the ice ages and intervening stages.<br />
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So - are the conditions of the Holocene different than they were in the Pleistocene? What we have now are continental glaciers which have retreated to cover only Greenland and Antarctica and alpine glaciers on our highest peaks and ranges. As I have posted before, I am dubious of the need for the assignation of an "entirely recent" age (Holocene), when it is no different, geologically, from the "most recent" age (Pleistocene).<br />
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But now, at an asylum near you, enter this new spot of arcane nomenclatural chicanery - the Anthropocene in which we will have continental glaciers STILL on Greenland and Antarctica and alpine glaciers on our highest peaks and ranges. (Note: For those who want to argue that the continental glaciers are melting and that the Himalaya will be ice free in 35 years I will simple say: "<i>Do</i> try to keep up!").<br />
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So why is this even an issue you might ask, with more than a little justification? Because some resume-building poltroons think that we humans have made a mark so indelible on the Earth's epidermis that it will have a lasting geologic signature. The would-be Anthropocene is a self aggrandizing proposal to elevate humanity to the scale of a geologic agent. You know the kind of stuff I mean: continental erosion by running water and glaciers, the stick-slip movement of entire land masses along faults, mountain building (aka orogenies) the movement of continents around the globe. <br />
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Let's air this out so we can all think about it fairly. Has the creation of our modern civilization resulted in a geologically indelible difference to the Earth? <br />
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The first thing to consider are the bases for the demarcations of time which have been applied for all the previous geologic time intervals. All previous designations of time slots of the Epoch level and above were based on:<br />
<ul><li> the presence of geologic formations deposited or emplaced on such a large scale that the need for a global correlation warrants a unique time-stratigraphic designation;</li>
<li>the evolutionary inception and/or extinction of a taxonomically significant group (e.g., the Devonian Period is the time of the very first amphibians - not a single toad species, but all amphibians). The evolution of a new genera is not even significant enough. New epochs are defined on complete ecological shifts, which are caused by complete geological shifts.</li>
</ul>Although it is doubtless true that there are sedimentary rocks being deposited as I write this, there is no way to predict that they will be of such unique characteristics that future geologists (and I am talking a million years from now - give or take a hundred thousand) could distinguish them from rocks of the Holocene - or for that matter, the Pleistocene. But in this case it must be even more than that. In order to qualify as Anthropocene, the supposedly unique rocks which might some day be recognizable as having been deposited in the past 200 years must be possessed of characteristics which result from OUR activities. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkmwc4CaRf6Ov9pySdxPaQ_V2-HblOoLQKbvDMRXRMc-wWo0Q7h8pYNoG1rnStj_Aaq7MQ8e49mSO0dUVIBkotzkLkm4cNnbNMLGSpWXYBWdew-syZlW_Hvs8JQwMLccIh6T8JCo7cldV/s1600/aaa_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkmwc4CaRf6Ov9pySdxPaQ_V2-HblOoLQKbvDMRXRMc-wWo0Q7h8pYNoG1rnStj_Aaq7MQ8e49mSO0dUVIBkotzkLkm4cNnbNMLGSpWXYBWdew-syZlW_Hvs8JQwMLccIh6T8JCo7cldV/s200/aaa_05.jpg" width="157" /></a>For example, the distinction between the Pliocene and Pleistocene is based on the inception of a series of four glacial epochs punctuated by interglacial stages which lasted for more than two million years.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ujGCo_kkaPJmqdaCIMA2tGZpoSFIO3gfzar_JQuzprAjSwKSLe6OolqWaywmWQohJWqUSuUB8Yod0Bs5vrrmVA0J3iNMSKSSTtXRoj7-B-CM-VQxSs2HM1NFB1rUNttqk7jPWdWiIFw6/s1600/aaa_06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ujGCo_kkaPJmqdaCIMA2tGZpoSFIO3gfzar_JQuzprAjSwKSLe6OolqWaywmWQohJWqUSuUB8Yod0Bs5vrrmVA0J3iNMSKSSTtXRoj7-B-CM-VQxSs2HM1NFB1rUNttqk7jPWdWiIFw6/s200/aaa_06.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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The continental glaciers during those times not only eroded the picturesque alpine montane views we all love, but they also deposited all the eroded sediment from those vast sculptural episodes in huge geologic deposits which are unique, readily identifiable and traceable on a global scale; e.g., the entire coastal plain of the eastern U.S. from Massachusetts to Texas, inland as far as St Louis and extending well over a hundred kilometers under the Atlantic Ocean, is veneered with Pleistocene glacial outwash derived from the millions of years of glacial bulldozing followed by rinsing the sedimentary residues out of the mountains during each of the interglacials. THAT, is a geologic event of global proportion - and that is just the eastern U.S.<br />
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As far as I can discern, we are not <em>causing</em> the deposition of new geologic formations. Nor is increased erosion as a result of poor agricultural practices resulting in the deposition of sediments of a unique enough character that they could be distinguished by future geologists. So we are not really the root cause of the deposition of geologically unique, or even distinct, formations. The Anthropocene fails on count 1.<br />
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What about new species. Well - about 50% of the Anthros who inhabit the would-be Anthropocene will almost kill you if you so much as suggest that evolution occurs at all - even on the species level. But a whole new taxonomic group? OK. Let's ignore that fringe (can 50% be considered a fringe group?).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwaavj4J6Ie8Yuv9_pzz8ekVDVz2YUgn-SC7W03ntpBFFzt5zXjcQNainGVrBt8uPSyZlTqFnlkDVD-5pGVbSkO-1JBBVtOkG3S_7jMvpekUddElWsVuSUKAOANvXSXrr_mGpioUmtZ3v/s1600/aaa_07.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwaavj4J6Ie8Yuv9_pzz8ekVDVz2YUgn-SC7W03ntpBFFzt5zXjcQNainGVrBt8uPSyZlTqFnlkDVD-5pGVbSkO-1JBBVtOkG3S_7jMvpekUddElWsVuSUKAOANvXSXrr_mGpioUmtZ3v/s200/aaa_07.bmp" width="200" /></a>There have been new species within the time proposed as the Anthropocene. The newly identified, recently evolved Spanish Sparrow for instance, or the LLanos A strain of the Orinocan Fruit Fly of the <i>Drosophila paulistorum</i> complex, among others.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVIkfQKBi906629oo_0ygisDHKcgueiMgHUtKwqL2GYMq8kEegziDSKbhi570ZZ_LYzKg0hSgRhd0anLdUgMHvtm0GMbB81KsefxzX1TOZSOC6CE4b2k54WYO3iooh6WmDluF7WcFjgeA7/s1600/aaa_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVIkfQKBi906629oo_0ygisDHKcgueiMgHUtKwqL2GYMq8kEegziDSKbhi570ZZ_LYzKg0hSgRhd0anLdUgMHvtm0GMbB81KsefxzX1TOZSOC6CE4b2k54WYO3iooh6WmDluF7WcFjgeA7/s200/aaa_10.jpg" width="200" /></a>But not a whole new order, which is usually required for a new time designation. Consider, for example, the change in fauna from the Oligocene to the Miocene. HUGE changes across marine taxa. In particular, we find petroleum by exploring and tracking the fossilized evolutionary changes from Oligocene to Miocene plantonic foraminferra - the ecological/evolutionary shift was THAT pronounced across the entire class of organisms that it is a recognizable marker horizon.<br />
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So, nothing new recently on the faunal succession front. What about extinction??? Ahhhhhh!!!!! Haven't we been exhorted incessantly that we are causing a mass extinction of truly geologic proportion? That will qualify won't it?<br />
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Well, the key in other instances when the end of one period (or era) is marked by a mass extinction is that the ensuing period is distinguished from the former by the inception of new lineages on a taxonomically significant scale. It is not enough to say that a "mass" extinction should qualify to designate a new period. We also have to have the ability to look back to see if there was indeed a succession into a new ecological norm. So, for example, the end-Permian extinction was followed by new adaptive radiations and the commencement of entire new taxa - or at least a shift in the global distribution of life. The average geologic duration of any species is about four million years - most epochs are longer than that, so there are MANY extinctions within the time boundaries of virtually all epochs.<br />
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Another examples would be the demise of the dinosaurs at the end of the Mesozoic Era after which mammals became the ecologically dominant taxa in the Cenozoic Era. That is significant even though mammals had been around for a long time already. But that was the extinction of an entire Sub-Order with many hundreds of Super-Families, Families, Genera and species - all related - and all disappearing at around the same time and opening new niches for other taxa to occupy and radiate; <a href="http://www.palaeos.org/Dinosauria_taxonomy">http://www.palaeos.org/Dinosauria_taxonomy</a><br />
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The magnitude of the geological shift is related to the magnitude of the ecological response (that's what I mean by the heading of this entire blog). The larger the change, the greater the ecological shift and greater ecological shifts have warranted more significant sub-divisions of the geologic time scale. So, the evolution of land insects, or the first reptiles were events significant enough to be awarded a new geologic period. The complete loss of dinosaurian lineages, along with about 70% of other taxa and the replacement with new taxa heralded the change from one Era to another. Changes in continental positions which resulted in changes in global circulation which led to adaptations of existing taxa into new forms to adapt to changed, but somewhat similar conditions, warrant a new epoch. <br />
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The important point is that it has only been possible to recognize and identify a different geologic time by a change from one set of dominant conditions to another set. The loss of even 1,000 species does not mark the end of a geologic age and the beginning of another unless by losing those 1,000 species the entire balance of the global ecology is upset to the point that there is a new and recognizable ecosystem based on the successor populations.<br />
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The extinctions we see now are nowhere near so extensive or so concentrated into single taxonomic groups and certainly not global. In fact, what we see is the loss of a relatively few species in disparte groups. Of those, most of the macro-species live exclusively on a single island or within an isolated archipeligo. The astounding numbers of species which are touted as being proof that we are causing a mass extinction are estimates based on some questionable extrapolation.<br />
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In some trees in tropical rain forests there are entire communities of beetles which, in some instances, are unique to an individual tree. It is estimated that there are some large trees in which up to a thousand unique species of beetles live - and do not live anywhere else. And each of those beetle species can have a unique suite of species-specific parasites, which makes for many species which could become extinct if that tree were to be cut down for logging purposes. Cut down 100 trees and the possible number of species which might have lost their habitat and become extinct is potentially large.<br />
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Somewhere in this spectrum of loss, from a few island species to thousands of beetles and germs, lies the number of species which we are told we are causing to become extinct. <br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Along this line, we are also told that the Anthropocene designation is justifiable because of the loss of forests and the changes we are inducing to the atmosphere. What????? Forests?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRRvrx4SyRwPSyEpUua-UgYm3jDWQmnaRUOwewwBxTmrPxvDAVu_rZxaReYyRME668QGL7pHf45i6mcoaGQSpgkwuppKiuTg8JwrHqigAh2BgHDJs9mNz14ZdVh6DoXeDHM72SaCKKtREe/s1600/Carboniferous.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRRvrx4SyRwPSyEpUua-UgYm3jDWQmnaRUOwewwBxTmrPxvDAVu_rZxaReYyRME668QGL7pHf45i6mcoaGQSpgkwuppKiuTg8JwrHqigAh2BgHDJs9mNz14ZdVh6DoXeDHM72SaCKKtREe/s200/Carboniferous.jpg" width="200" /></a>Forests are significant geologically when the collective remains of millions of years worth of dead trees in forests in a tropical, near-coastal environment were caught up in a mountain building event in which they are buried DEEPLY and heated up to drive off impurities and leave the carbon behind as a residue. That very specific set of circumstances was SO prevalent around the world in the geologic past that the aggregate carbon from the boles of those trees has been powering our world for the past two centuries with decades and decades to go. That is geologically significant and warranted the designation of the<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHvZp6nJ18IXH2oL2M63ZakCVesDE-QvJuA_QXKKI6qJRBtpp3D8WeriHvHkk0xpeFTxYYqjocKKM18xOhqxc7dWhSLfXjeLH8puo6b7abzHz6ZikFcZS0gGkoQZGmE00zLYZHGg7ollU/s1600/aaa_08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHvZp6nJ18IXH2oL2M63ZakCVesDE-QvJuA_QXKKI6qJRBtpp3D8WeriHvHkk0xpeFTxYYqjocKKM18xOhqxc7dWhSLfXjeLH8puo6b7abzHz6ZikFcZS0gGkoQZGmE00zLYZHGg7ollU/s1600/aaa_08.jpg" /></a>Carboniferrous Period. Carboniferrous coal is found everywhere around the world in vast quantities.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>So, in terms of changes in evolution/extinction, we are not causing the loss of a cosmopolitan community of fauna on a global scale, and we are not seeing human-induced spurts in new taxa. The Anthropocene fails on Count 2.<br />
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So, what IS the basis of this proposal which has spawned entire symposia and cost millions of dollars? Some make the claim that the land use changes which we cause via urbanization will be visible in the rock record. In other words, if a future geologist goes exploring and discovers a concrete roadway buried beneath 8 meters of sediment, then she will be able to state definitively that that horizon is positively identifiable as Anthropocene and deposits below and above can be dated as before and after, respectively.<br />
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Although the above logic is true on a general concept, it is not true that the materials of our civilization will last through geologic ages. Just look at those concrete bridge rails which date from the WPA in the 1930s<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHKm4GNrRAm_YD5pZTgA_fcO33P5hOLFGr937UfQdf04C4xwTalRQ-N_UAuWlEY3SZITgVr1SxUthCAU2YiOjRFE5gvW2KK-8DzutbPB-iQw6fnmXH-MOARtDxxr03beMWCMicUKDZl8xp/s1600/aaa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHKm4GNrRAm_YD5pZTgA_fcO33P5hOLFGr937UfQdf04C4xwTalRQ-N_UAuWlEY3SZITgVr1SxUthCAU2YiOjRFE5gvW2KK-8DzutbPB-iQw6fnmXH-MOARtDxxr03beMWCMicUKDZl8xp/s200/aaa.jpg" width="186" /></a></div><br />
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They are crumbling and decomposing back into the sand, limestone and aggregate from which they were derived. A mere 80 years. Asphalt degrades and ultimately will be consumed by soil bacteria. Steel and iron rust to scale and are leached away in no time. Geologic time is soooo mind-mangelingly vast that our materials don't stand a chance.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpw7kVIhBOVg2C_GR7uDqn8oUktTkyxjSq0AeFbnACjhAQ2ItaxDeKQNNLsErlxqCa6-gM5ER8d5w7Psa0iMUYRCM9Kn-GV2ekTbHUHV8tIs8ZLp83SV_pg-PhXEqXLXS8DnjPKraQMcF/s1600/aaa_09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpw7kVIhBOVg2C_GR7uDqn8oUktTkyxjSq0AeFbnACjhAQ2ItaxDeKQNNLsErlxqCa6-gM5ER8d5w7Psa0iMUYRCM9Kn-GV2ekTbHUHV8tIs8ZLp83SV_pg-PhXEqXLXS8DnjPKraQMcF/s200/aaa_09.jpg" width="200" /></a>Look, the Pleistocene is the briefest epoch of the Neogene Period (click pic for a larger view), which is the briefest period of the Cenozoic Era, which is the briefest era of the Phanerozoic Aeon, which is the briefest of the aeons. The scant 2,500,000 years of the Pleistocene would be enough time to render almost invisible that scourge of materials of our devising, radioactive nuclear power plant waste. With a radioactive half life of 50,000 years, during the short time of the Pleistocene, ONE MILLION <u>kilograms</u> of radioactive waste would be reduced to a mass of 0.0000008 <u>gram</u>. (I know that is a simplification and there is more to this little exercise than that particular reaction, but the point is still valid).<br />
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Someone who is a specialist in the future might be able to discern the subtle geochemical clues to identify iron concentration residues as being "Anthropocene" but it's a real stretcher to designate a time period on the assumption that you know what future conditions will be like. Even if such a future specialist could identify the signature, the problem is that, within the limits of already-designated epochs there are literally thousands of similar markers which positively and uniquely identify when in time a geologist is looking when inspecting a formation. Those unique conditions are used to designate ages or stages which are smaller subdivisions within the scheme - not entire epochs.<br />
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This silly exercise in academic abstraction reminds me of the ongoing wars over the term "Renaissance".<br />
That epithet is now considered invalid by many post-modern scholars for the simple reason that it was coined by the people who were alive at the time. It is looked on as arrogant and self-aggrandizing., Many modern scholars prefer the term "early modern period" to Renaissance to distinguish the difference between Medieval times and now.<br />
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A group of modern geologists is attempting to elevate our own time interval to a geologically significant status. What I find really offensive is that by selecting the name they have, they denigrate all previous generations of our lineage. What they are proposing is that anyone who lived before about 1800 is excluded from the "epoch of the human". Everything in our past has aggregated over time to result in what we are and what we are doing now. If one wants to designate a geologic time which is based on human endeavor and impact to the planet, it should begin with civilization -about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Oh... wait a minute. That's already been done. It's the<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">HOLOCENE</span></span></b></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-68082657491229543692010-04-26T00:31:00.031-04:002012-06-18T12:21:01.822-04:00Neanderthal"OMG!!!! I'd NEVER date THAT guy? He's positively Neanderthal!"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtdoeEL9HCfMdqfiy8UZ85Ecfo-qMtyMOGxphtYvVpH0wz8wIS-iMPkkayyPy0E4ys6fR3AWJlcFazoK5waX_-SZSYqFPIxlpN3hnSrqgPvXLwh28ah3moQQ04VIHpjJSl2ZLUuXy4GZSz/s1600/neanderthalers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtdoeEL9HCfMdqfiy8UZ85Ecfo-qMtyMOGxphtYvVpH0wz8wIS-iMPkkayyPy0E4ys6fR3AWJlcFazoK5waX_-SZSYqFPIxlpN3hnSrqgPvXLwh28ah3moQQ04VIHpjJSl2ZLUuXy4GZSz/s200/neanderthalers.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Meaning, I always presumed, oafish, low IQ, bestial, low-brow, crude, illiterate, ill-spoken, boring, cloddish, unmannered, unskilled, unteachable, a loser.... in a word, a dodo.<br />
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So who were the Neanderthals anyway? Do (did) they fit the caricature? What do we know about them? Why did they become extinct? What does their existence mean to us - as a species?<br />
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There are some scientists (palaeoanthropologists) who conclude that Neanderthals were just like the summary above - some even doubt that Neanderthals could speak, despite being undoubtedly human (homo) and being alive within the last 28,000 years (yesterday in geologic time). Then there are others who argue that Neanderthals were not much different than you and me - a variety of mostly modern humans. These factions amongst scientists are not unique to this single issue. This is going on currently in many disciplines of science:<br />
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<ul>
<li>there's the "mechanisms of evolution" arguments. Adherents of the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis think that the punctuated equilibrium crowd is off its gourd, and vise versa;</li>
<li>the climate change crowd has demonized any scientist who questions the "CO2 only" mechanism of climate change, and the scientists who have been labeled skeptics treat the AGW crowd as cretins;</li>
<li>there are the majority of geologists who think that an asteroid or some other bolide is what done in the dinosaurs (see "Asteroid Smasteroid," below), and then there are the other geologists who hold that, although an asteroid did indeed strike the Earth round about the time that the dinos met their demise, it was not the root cause - probably a contributor, but not the prime causation.</li>
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In each, the debates can become polarized, then acrimonious, then intolerant, then back-stabbing and ultimately, exclusive of the other point of view and the other pointers of view.<br />
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Anyway, back to the point; The same type of in-fighting exists amongst palaeoanthropologists, but it goes a little deeper than just the relationship between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (amh). That it exists at all between these two groups of hominids results from the overlap in both time and space between them, but the root issue goes back even further in time and has developed into an intellectual warfare between two different factions within the sanctified halls of human evolution:<br />
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<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-psc7UcfkHO6i5kZlzsUXPxV-yCWCwiU39XK37EUO06wux9hryrMjUsCJSjuvdLCcOKeN8iilAYERn9S1_Jkn0GnKF_U3vzrBQ27ZB2LuE4bHKNVZyIn8RvmwqoP0Un-i7ATgIH4GK5B2/s1600/ooa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-psc7UcfkHO6i5kZlzsUXPxV-yCWCwiU39XK37EUO06wux9hryrMjUsCJSjuvdLCcOKeN8iilAYERn9S1_Jkn0GnKF_U3vzrBQ27ZB2LuE4bHKNVZyIn8RvmwqoP0Un-i7ATgIH4GK5B2/s200/ooa.jpg" width="200" /></a> </ul>
<b>The African Replacement Camp</b> (AR, aka the Out of Africa theory, or OOA) - this group holds that anatomically modern humans evolved in Africa relatively recently (100,000 to 200,000 years ago), then migrated out of Africa about 60,000 to 80,000 years ago and replaced all pre-existing populations of humans, including our favorite "cave man" the Neanderthal (The name literally means the Neander valley [thal] in Belgium where they were first discovered in 1829) and other early humans including homo heidelbergensis and homo erectus. These scientists hold that those earlier groups were related to us - distantly - but modern humans evolved from the population which never left Africa when the earlier versions of humans <i>did</i> and only left Africa recently;<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZuztFlllggqL21fKborngNv8nIQXYcmy2cd_iiFzFKB3bcp7-eVxEWVHqeFS4o6MYSiGuWLEB3jT70hz1O-lpKT3DIYpfn2rQhCLZweKt37CWFCl3o8Ea5al_1FQl-zxGoo3kFxBGm3t/s1600/ooa_MR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
<img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZuztFlllggqL21fKborngNv8nIQXYcmy2cd_iiFzFKB3bcp7-eVxEWVHqeFS4o6MYSiGuWLEB3jT70hz1O-lpKT3DIYpfn2rQhCLZweKt37CWFCl3o8Ea5al_1FQl-zxGoo3kFxBGm3t/s200/ooa_MR.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<b>The Multi-Regionalist Camp -</b> which holds that the different pre-modern populations of humans, the ones which had migrated out of Africa a long time ago and are very well-known in the fossil record in their respective regions of the globe, evolved independently into the many varieties of modern human populations - not <i>species</i> so this is not implausible. These populations have been referred to as 'races' (more on that nomenclature later). Multi-Regionalists allowed for interbreeding between existing pre-modern humans with anatomically modern humans (amh) as part of the evolution, but it is not an integral part of the theory. Rather gene flow among populations is the mechanism which kept us as one species. (Click on any image for a larger view).<br />
<ul></ul>
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Neither is unequivocal but as in many other disciplines in which polarization has occurred, the arguments became VERY passionate in recent years. There is evidence for both. The AR/OOA theory has best been supported by genetic data - MR by palaeontological and phenotypical (body types and physical characteristics) observation. In fact, more palaeoanthropologists accepted AR than MR - it was becoming a consensus, but it could not claim victory because the palaeontologic evidence for MR was too strong to just ignore. Note, however, that both concede that humans originated in Africa - the only difference is when modern humans left Africa and whether the earlier migrations out of Africa contribute to our current gene pool.<br />
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Until recently, the genetics basis of AR was winning out - not only because of the weight of evidence, but because of a line of reasoning which was NOT scientific, but was dressed in scientific raiment to support AR. Over the course of the past couple decades, it became politically incorrect to espouse multiregionalism because it was equated with racism. Rather, it became THE politically correct stance to hold that all humans have exactly the same genetic background, that we are ALL of recent African descent, that all other, earlier homonid groups were inferior and were replaced by the recent African diaspora, that everyone alive today is a direct descendent of that recent exodus from Africa and that "races" are transient and meaningless and have no genetic basis. This is a noble position, and to a large degree true - but not completely.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CcE-17f6S_Izg96M3hEQvdhQme0zctiuxTJ3TVd_kvxAJE0xahxBUlQm4r4NXRIY2BPnYD6rTSsG_wgTrxqfQ-Dmi14sBEU73kLOhF1FcB8LSTCywaMKum20plOk8tHXor8vSL9yt_lQ/s1600/evolved+man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CcE-17f6S_Izg96M3hEQvdhQme0zctiuxTJ3TVd_kvxAJE0xahxBUlQm4r4NXRIY2BPnYD6rTSsG_wgTrxqfQ-Dmi14sBEU73kLOhF1FcB8LSTCywaMKum20plOk8tHXor8vSL9yt_lQ/s200/evolved+man.jpg" width="200" /></a>The adoption of that strong AR stance was a necessary imposition on scientists because of the idiotic position adopted by REAL racists after it was pretty well established that humans did indeed originate in Africa and not Asia. The racist position was that, if we all came from Africa originally, all non-African populations were MORE evolved, and, of course, better. With that kind of stupidity, it's no wonder that most scientist became wary about making any statement about human evolution which could give racist morons even more grist for their misguided mills of misinterpretations and misinformation.<br />
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It was a natural progression from the cautious avoidance of any hint which could be misconstrued that Africans somehow represent a more archaic form of humans to a position that all recent populations are the same because the migration from Africa was so recent. It even became taboo among scientists to recognize the genetic differences between modern human populations manifest in susceptibility to certain diseases.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBTjJUB7FDDPQUSaz3cX1F76dh59xHIIAPCt7J9RdSwVHiznFu77dEqgNuRJQ7s8kHWRZ_cC2qWT5b9Y88-vetNpn_632-pvmaUPwCbCaPIcUfAMxJ-x31ZoHXFb8bjqJUSCuq_BFR5Au/s1600/mitochondrial+eve.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBTjJUB7FDDPQUSaz3cX1F76dh59xHIIAPCt7J9RdSwVHiznFu77dEqgNuRJQ7s8kHWRZ_cC2qWT5b9Y88-vetNpn_632-pvmaUPwCbCaPIcUfAMxJ-x31ZoHXFb8bjqJUSCuq_BFR5Au/s200/mitochondrial+eve.gif" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3rDkj1GL84TqK4iEFOKAxU-VkowLSjQly16mR51P-ZQMiKnYL1vE6fCxIfc3FpwHWbrXasl2_FNP0xA0f-9VQSsMdT9VJ3XynFGClqFUqjWMZmAa5gMiK1X5Z0A-vQtnRcosY2T8CX-zK/s1600/eve1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3rDkj1GL84TqK4iEFOKAxU-VkowLSjQly16mR51P-ZQMiKnYL1vE6fCxIfc3FpwHWbrXasl2_FNP0xA0f-9VQSsMdT9VJ3XynFGClqFUqjWMZmAa5gMiK1X5Z0A-vQtnRcosY2T8CX-zK/s200/eve1.gif" width="81" /></a>With the "discovery" of Mitochondrial Eve and Y-Chromosome Adam (unfortunate epithets, as those two lived about 60,000 years apart in time) the recent origins of all populations on Earth became comprehensible to the average person on the street and the campaign to expunge all non-amh populations from our line of direct descent and to mark all earlier varieties of humans as evolutionary dead-ends was on.<br />
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Once more back to our Neanderthal buddies. From genetic evidence of the previous decade or so it appeared that Neanderthals and modern humans were different enough that the African Replacement model seemed the most plausible. Especially because their mitochondrial DNA was significantly different than ours. That seemed to close the door on Neanderthal lineages persisting to the present. (I have to let you in on my own view here - I was a heretic - a 'modified' MR theorist - it was my opinion that the genetic differences we see now resulted from interbreeding between amh's coming out of Africa with the local, older populations, including Neanderthals - and yes, I did receive not a little derision from main-stream scientists. But I must admit that that recent genetic evidence was making me waiver a bit and I was on the verge of conceding that Neanderthals were, indeed, a dead end - one must go with the data, regardless of where it leads).<br />
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This past week, it was announced at a conference on human evolution that a new genetic sequencing study of the Neanderthal genome and a comparison with a broad spectrum of modern humans reveals something stunning. It seems that non-African populations of modern humans have Neanderthal genes mixed in at a small but significant number of locations in their genomes. Sub-Saharan African populations do NOT have those Neanderthal genes.<br />
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What does that mean?<br />
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The amh's who left Africa 60,000 + years ago and settled the world appear to have interbred with Neanderthals at least in some locations. Those of the amhs who did not migrate out of Africa but remained at home during the most recent OOA diaspora obviously did not interbreed with previous migrants in the far flung corners of the world and so remain unchanged by any crossing. In other words, sub-Saharan Africans represent a more pure variety of what evolved in the homeland as amh. The populations of the rest of the world have genes of a more archaic human variety in their genomes.<br />
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How's that for irony for the white supremecist jerks of the world?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBEK0YLChPC6l6kUrj0hEFlitD_e0ZpZutHsty_Ohh5WldmOirkDniqQGWMIAZniRse1xKf-K9_pGa4XZ-7e4DwGLX8AO5elnLvR2zGocqEt_SFkLeAJjf1Xz2XQ8IvRgnv_gNSUIFiGV/s1600/neanderthal%2520child2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBEK0YLChPC6l6kUrj0hEFlitD_e0ZpZutHsty_Ohh5WldmOirkDniqQGWMIAZniRse1xKf-K9_pGa4XZ-7e4DwGLX8AO5elnLvR2zGocqEt_SFkLeAJjf1Xz2XQ8IvRgnv_gNSUIFiGV/s400/neanderthal%2520child2.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
We already knew that Neanderthal carried the gene for light skin and red hair - a gene which is absent in most modern human populations but is common in areas previously inhabited by our Neanderthal cousins. <br />
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(The picture is an artist's reconstruction of a Neanderthal child from Europe, based on skeletal and genetic data. You probably know someone who doesn't look very different. Click for a larger view).<br />
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This latest genetic finding shows that 'white' people are not a 'more evolved race' of humans than sub-Saharan Africans, but, rather, are a cross-breed of amh coming out of Africa with an earlier variety which had been around Europe and the Middle East for hundreds of thousands of years.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkG5STw5qpKk-wuxjeOGXO54KtqiUVirWc-hutwYDaxVh8S2rfjcqUmWhJJZAaN33CFvzbu-SoE9mxDNPf1DAW_87GX5sG1_uHGL1X3tH1dYU768uEyouCCp4HoY3HQtbH8t0Z-z-5jwvi/s1600/neanderthal-615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkG5STw5qpKk-wuxjeOGXO54KtqiUVirWc-hutwYDaxVh8S2rfjcqUmWhJJZAaN33CFvzbu-SoE9mxDNPf1DAW_87GX5sG1_uHGL1X3tH1dYU768uEyouCCp4HoY3HQtbH8t0Z-z-5jwvi/s320/neanderthal-615.jpg" width="320" /></a>So what was different about the individual Neanderthal people? Not much. They were slightly larger than us, but no larger than the upper 25th percentile of modern humans. They had larger brains than us. They had a 'weak' chin. So do MANY modern humans - I know many people with a weak or absent chin. They had a prominent bone structure in their middle faces which resulted in a broad upper nose ridge (see picture) and a prominent brow ridge (so did Charles Darwin). Most of them had a small bony protuberance on the backs of their skulls called an occipital bun. Hell, I have one of those! Lastly, they had a receded forehead rather than the vertical one we have. All of these characteristics are "on average" so there is nothing odd about any trait. I personally know, and I think you do too, many, many people who have at least one of those characteristics. In fact I met a highly accomplished man, a professional violinist, who has ALL of them - a true modern day phenotype of Neanderthal.<br />
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What this does is support the position that there is no such thing as any superior "race". There really <b>is</b> no such thing at all as 'race' in humans as it had been understood previously. This new finding will make that conclusion even stronger. Local varieties of pre-amh populations interbred variously with amh coming OOA and with Neanderthals. The proof that there is no such thing as race is in the fact that every allele (variant form of a gene) is present at some frequency in EVERY population on Earth, with the exception of those genes which arose from interbreeding with pre-existing local populations - in which case those genes are absent in sub-Saharan African populations which stayed put during the diaspora. There is no unique genetic make up of any single "race". But there are some genetic differences across and within all populations/varieties, and this latest finding explains those differences much better than either the OOA or MR theories could on their own.<br />
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This is so logical and is one reason I was a 'modified MR' camper for so long. In order to remain a single species when our populations were spread around the world required gene flow. We now see that such gene flow included our recent cousin, the Neanderthals. This is how evolution works - the most vigorous rivals are those species or sub-species which compete for the same resources. It is often the case that one does not drive the other to extinction but that there is "back-crossing" of genes and assimilation of characteristics into into a single species.<br />
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A complete genome sequencing of Neanderthals is due to be published soon, so there might be more to come on this one and an update will be posted here.<br />
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One last thing. This whole finding supports the idea that we DID arise as a species in Africa and that there were multiple migrations out of Africa. Lest you think this improbable and that the gene flow would be impeded by the distances, here is a map of the world during the time all this was going on. This was during the most recent glacial epoch when sea level was 430 feet lower than today, In the image (click for a larger view) it is apparent that no great sea journeys were necessary for our dispersal to now-remote areas of the world because the coastlines were much farther out than today and therefore, much closer to each other - the light blue ocean color around the continents represents the old continental margins<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqzTgmdd3Bg5WHTnh__oIoUIR2Esm9NaUybeUSuBAz63goE57E1Q0EM5lyAbGzKEl6JxFgVjgvPqREOhBSChVCjJbSd0QWGsNPlxfGFtcYcKMGkkoIL00K14nXM3Ckqf-0vYLJs-nu0KH/s1600/ice+age+sea+level.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqzTgmdd3Bg5WHTnh__oIoUIR2Esm9NaUybeUSuBAz63goE57E1Q0EM5lyAbGzKEl6JxFgVjgvPqREOhBSChVCjJbSd0QWGsNPlxfGFtcYcKMGkkoIL00K14nXM3Ckqf-0vYLJs-nu0KH/s400/ice+age+sea+level.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Celebrate Diversity - our single species is even more diverse than we thought previously.<br />
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Next time you want to disparage someone, think twice before referring to them as a Neanderthal. As Pogo noted, "We have met the enemy, and they is us."<br />
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UPDATE:<br />
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In the time since I wrote this post the Neanderthal DNA project has analyzed the data in greater detail and it is now very well established and accepted that in all populations of modern humans between 2% and 5% of nuclear DNA is comprised of Neanderthal genes - with the exception of Sub-Saharan Africans. Science triumphs - reason and tolerance benefit - racism takes one on the chin. Perhaps what is most interesting is that the former dichotomy - almost a schism - between the Recent OOA and MR theorists has become predictably less vehement. There doesn't seem to be too much left over which to come to verbal blows - MR'ers have been vindicated that pre-existing forms in different regions of the world indeed contributed to the modern populations which 'originated' at the various places, AND OOA 'ers can justifiable state that amh did, indeed, leave Africa only recently. Oh! And we can now answer that age-old question as to what it was that caused the Neanderthals to become extinct - THEY DIDN"T!!! The ARE us (Well, some of us).<br />
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UPDATE 2: I have updated this post at http://suspectterrane.blogspot.com/2012/05/neanderthals-climate-and-consensus.html<br />
It seems a bit off topic at first, but does provide an update on the latest thoughts in the scientific world.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-41971791684154937982010-02-19T21:57:00.018-05:002010-03-10T14:31:00.341-05:00Gaia and the Na'viI suppose it had to work its way around to this. I've been putting it off, but my last post (Time and Place) leaves me no option but to follow up with this discussion about Gaia. I know many of you are sick of Avatar, but I found the film useful as a foundation for this essay. <br />
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This is NOT a review of the film, and my intent is not to either praise or bash it. Having said that, let's clear the air about my opinion so I can then get on to why I am using it to discuss Gaia and to expand on the Anthropic Principle (Time and Place). I admit I was charmed by the visuals of the film and I was impressed by the imagination that went into the biota. The concept of operating in an inhospitable environment via a telepathic avatar was a cool and original new take on space fantasies. Overall, I suppose the film was all right if you don't mind a story line cobbled together from Pocahontas and Fern Gully.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86fQ6WDHcoLMGvKLIIMwtaPwElK6JPnrjKeu_mYU9n5whTOh3QBOSG28fjhFxCghxYozIOO4gJdEalSIb0ksoHSVZd0xdv53m0sbhRQj3zVYRN7djlPM5SEtNB_GJH2JVE6OhSU-Asn1l/s1600-h/avatar-quotes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86fQ6WDHcoLMGvKLIIMwtaPwElK6JPnrjKeu_mYU9n5whTOh3QBOSG28fjhFxCghxYozIOO4gJdEalSIb0ksoHSVZd0xdv53m0sbhRQj3zVYRN7djlPM5SEtNB_GJH2JVE6OhSU-Asn1l/s200/avatar-quotes.jpg" width="146" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc1VLlDAI8HHwmp_SwsMFyckon8bXaatZSa5JDDz1AmLf6tb2KT82vRzuC9VuKfL3K0hg22MzsE-zfSnHe-HHvv2Tcn4avTEEREUTgsd_v2GvfEkPmo27GPqLtnIoOst2Y_WIwrJWPZSSW/s1600-h/fern+gully.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc1VLlDAI8HHwmp_SwsMFyckon8bXaatZSa5JDDz1AmLf6tb2KT82vRzuC9VuKfL3K0hg22MzsE-zfSnHe-HHvv2Tcn4avTEEREUTgsd_v2GvfEkPmo27GPqLtnIoOst2Y_WIwrJWPZSSW/s200/fern+gully.jpg" width="135" /></a><br />
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</div>I was turned off, however, just a couple minutes into the film when they said that the rare mineral for which they were raping this planet was called ... wait for it..... "Unobtainium!" <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAB7QPlIfu8342ahZhD6pmgvCpJYZeLSMDX7xrHmrIi7RsHVN9YpV12_Uu1mqhBMQzMsG7MDMmgt9IcdtBqN-nmO5qOF0WJA9a3ti71H7KEB6PE1H894LWVs_pjUXd_3ZvLtEHxtrZ6Vb/s1600-h/Upsidaisium.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAB7QPlIfu8342ahZhD6pmgvCpJYZeLSMDX7xrHmrIi7RsHVN9YpV12_Uu1mqhBMQzMsG7MDMmgt9IcdtBqN-nmO5qOF0WJA9a3ti71H7KEB6PE1H894LWVs_pjUXd_3ZvLtEHxtrZ6Vb/s200/Upsidaisium.png" width="200" /></a></div>WHAT?!?!?!?! Unobtainium? It's like the old Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes in which the anti-gravity mineral they were all trying to find was called upsidaisium; or the one in which the ingredient in the new super secret bomb was called Hush-a-boom. At least that was a cartoon, made with tongue firmly embedded in cheek. But a $50 Million film and they called it unobtainium??<br />
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Apart from that, there were two particular things which I did not like: one that disappointed me (today's topic) and one that ticked me off. So what ticked me off? Once again, it's the BAD old corporate MINING company that will do anything, kill anyone, destroy everything, with reckless abandon to get every last gram of whatever it is (see my post called "Resourceful" below). I know mining concerns didn't have a good environmental track record in the past, but name me one industry that DID have a good record 50 years ago. Mining companies are probably amongst the better environmental stewards now - I know, I work in mining stormwater management, waste management and mine reclamation. Just the grumblings of a mining geologist, so you can move on to the real point.<br />
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The thing that disappointed me. It began as something I was excited about as the story unfolded. There is a pervasive undercurrent of the "The Gaia Hypothesis" throughout the film and it seemed as though, for once, the film makers had understood this concept and I was prepared to love this film (once the "unobtainium" incident had faded into the background of the visual spectacle). What I thought at first was going to be a proper treatment of this idea went south and by the end of the film I was pissed.<br />
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Never heard of the Gaia Hypothesis? It is a product of the late '60s/early '70s (Do I have to say more than that?). The Gaia Hypothesis can be summed up that all Earth systems (Lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere - not blogosphere but I am working on that one) are all constituent parts of a single symbiotic system; i.e., the Earth itself and all its life forms constitute an organic whole - the entire planet is a single, multifaceted organism - the whole place is literally alive and interdependent. <br />
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By way of background, Gaia was one of the 'original' Greek gods (a goddess actually). She was the Earth mother, who spawned Uranus and Oceanus, from whom all the Titans and then the regular gods, sprang. Gaia was the everlasting Earth from which all other things,including the other gods, and ultimately, all life energy flowed. BTW, the name Gaia, in its more European form "Gaea" and its more recent anglicized form "Gea" is the root of our words for things related to the Earth, like Geography - the graphing (mapping) of the Earth, Geology - the study of the Earth, Pangea (Pangaea) in a Plate Tectonic setting. OK. Back to the Gaia Hypothesis.<br />
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There are a couple versions of the Gaia Hypothesis: <br />
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<ul><li>a weak version in which people recognize that all life is not only connected but that life is also dependent on the physical conditions of the various ecosystems, and the ecosystems are maintained and changed by the presence and actions of life;</li>
</ul><ul><li>a strong version, in which the non-biological spheres of the Earth are an active part of the living whole - literally, constituents of the total organismic whole; the rock, water and air parts equally integral with biota in the 'life force'.</li>
</ul><br />
There is some modicum of truth in the weak version of the Gaia Hypothesis evident in even a cursory inspection of Earth history and the changes over time (see Time and Place, below as well as Status Quo). The strong version is simply teleological... it's a religion. It's another manifestation of the Anthropic Principle (see, once again, Time and Place, below - I told you this post was necessary after I had written Time and Place).<br />
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So in what way is the Gaia Hypothesis something we should entertain seriously? <br />
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The Earth we know, all of its mountains, valleys, forests, deserts, rivers, the beautiful erosional landscapes of glacier-sculpted peaks, aretes, horns, cirques, fjords, are all the result of weathering, which, in turn is the result of climate, which in turn is the result of the very specific nature and composition of our atmosphere. The atmosphere was literally created by living organisms (marine plants actually) and is now maintained by life. Differences in atmospheric composition over time and place result in differences in wind and water distribution which results in different landscapes. Changes in continental positions also change climates, locally and globally; the natural changes in climate have the most profound effects on biota, which evolve and/or become extinct as their ecosystems change (this is another, future topic). <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWEaOesh8dPHKnYg-LIVj-XZyl2dvyOhrJLaT4rvmMM90ljOznIA2gYKPNfio44t5zjS_wopLM3uTsEa7hzUUscc7jd_S_mVGYWalcCt2snht9we95cJrohWfAc2o_0vvUI4YQ583ktnLC/s1600-h/hydro_cycle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWEaOesh8dPHKnYg-LIVj-XZyl2dvyOhrJLaT4rvmMM90ljOznIA2gYKPNfio44t5zjS_wopLM3uTsEa7hzUUscc7jd_S_mVGYWalcCt2snht9we95cJrohWfAc2o_0vvUI4YQ583ktnLC/s320/hydro_cycle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>But there is feedback the other way. The presence of forests modify local climates to keep areas moist, affecting downwind climates and contributing enormously to the hydrologic cycle of the entire planet (click on the image for a blow-up view). Burrowing organisms literally MAKE soil, which is a huge sink for CO2 regulation in the atmosphere, helping regulate near-surface temperatures. The soil also controls the infiltration and runoff of rainwater and groundwater, as well as stream flows, which controls sedimentation and distribution of sedimentary rocks... And the type of soil is dependent on the type of underlying rock and the climate, which latter controls which organisms are present to work on the rock...<br />
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I haven't even scratched the surface, but I hope you see that the local climate, which is mostly a function of latitude and position of the continents, controls what life forms are present at any location, and the life forms modify the environment in numerous ways and change the abiotic components, which have a further effect on what OTHER biota can be supported and the whole contributes in significant ways to regional and global ambient conditions, including feedback on the climate. At the root, however, life on Earth has evolved into ever-changing environments which result from the interaction of the biosphere with the elements of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere - life creates the conditions for its own future evolution and survival. It isn't conscious. If something gets out of balance, extinctions ensue. Period. Gaia (nature) simply doesn't care. It is dispassionate. (Once agin, see Time and Place).<br />
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Now this interdependence is energy driven. And the energy comes from two sources: the Sun, the main driver of all life and most of our industrial society; inner heat from the Earth's interior. Both are necessary if one wants to consider the Gaia Hypothesis even remotely real. We are not certain how much a role Earth's inherent heat played in kick-starting life in the first place - likely it was THE energy source, but that is mere speculation on my part based on the fact that the Sun was less active and less strong in the early solar system and on the fact that the heat flux from the Earth's interior was far greater than currently. The current heat flux from the Earth is miniscule and has an impact on life only in areas such as mid-ocean ridges where thriving ecosystems are present at deep sea volcanic ridge vents and the like. <br />
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The Earth's internal heat plays a more subtle role. It is the driving force behind the elevation of land and the recycling of Earth materials which have collectively resulted in the presence of continents and ocean basins. More to the point the elevation and subsidence of land plays a huge role in the interaction of land and biota in ecosystems, and in the generation of soil, the life-sustaining substrate of all life, which is produced by life in combination with mineral grains which are either weathered in place or transported from upslope areas with rainfall runoff. The energy expended by runoff water in soil transportation and accumulation is not quite enough to transport all of the sediment to make the vast quantities of soil. Some of the energy to move sediment and create soil derives from the energy it took to lift the rocks up, millions of years ago, to whatever elevation above sea level they are; it is tectonic energy - Earth's interior energy. It becomes potential energy which is released when the eroded sediments are mobilized by rainwater - filling depressions, making the basis of soil. Think of it like a heavy book which has no inherent energy to make nose. Until you put that energy into by lifting it up to some point above the table top. It now has energy which you can prove by letting it go and listening to the noise it makes when it returns to the elevation it was.<br />
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I won't go into the Sun's energy input here - that's another post.<br />
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Hopefully this little snapshot shows that, at some fundamental level, the actual Earth and its inhabitants are symbiotically intertwined (See Status Quo, below the fold). So the weak Gaia Hypothesis has some modicum of merit, as I said earlier. Personally, I don't buy it for many reasons. But back to the point. What was disappointing about Avatar?<br />
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The story followed a really consistent weak Gaia Hypothesis thread for most of the film. It was good because, even if I don't accept the hypothesis, it was a consistent position and a good, not-too-hokey presentation of the weak Gaia Hypothesis.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolORXV6ibcSzGjjD-f6d6ZoQPFXn5279iei1MSg19Ys4AqGKBUWBlOl1syIGOQHi_YBvDKVkAJGIr2pMjQmbTz7WgPccqOwpNjUA6m3p_hrPxD8xCzgFjvIB7eRMSVpXiPT1sroLDpzms/s1600-h/gaia3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolORXV6ibcSzGjjD-f6d6ZoQPFXn5279iei1MSg19Ys4AqGKBUWBlOl1syIGOQHi_YBvDKVkAJGIr2pMjQmbTz7WgPccqOwpNjUA6m3p_hrPxD8xCzgFjvIB7eRMSVpXiPT1sroLDpzms/s200/gaia3.jpg" width="135" /></a><br />
UNTIL.... dum - dum dahhhhh.<br />
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The fight with the nasty old humans from the mining concern rages when the spirit of Pandora rose up to assist its biota. ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE!!!!!!!! (See Time and Place). Strong Gaia Hypothesis alert. The planet itself took an active role and ensured its organisms cooperated to repel the parasite which was desecrating the Gaian being.<br />
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I won't even go into the bit about the planet taking an active role in the permanent body switch.<br />
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The weak hypothesis is not too bad a way of looking at the world and our place in it. It really does make one feel a part of the world despite living in civilized conditions. But the strong hypothesis is nothing more than another religion - and not an original one either.<br />
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I suppose I could go on, but I can sum it all up with one word:<br />
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Unobtainium?!?!?!?!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-9623050788371875462010-02-12T22:36:00.020-05:002010-03-11T08:17:01.962-05:00Time and PlaceHesitantly, reluctantly, Helen slipped out of a slim, tight-waisted leotard and stood naked in the moonlight before me. Somewhere a clock chimed three. An owl hooted in the nearby copse. No wind stirred the casement window as she stood in the pale, translucent light on the Persian carpet. A minute passed – then another. Then another minute. Then - another minute passed. Then another minute passed and another. A further minute passed quickly followed by another minute when suddenly, a different minute passed followed by another different minute and another and yet another further different minute. A minute passed. I glanced at my watch. It was a minute past. This was it! A minute passed. After a moment, another minute passed. I waited a minute, while a minute passed quickly past and then a minute, which seemed to last an hour, but was only a minute, passed. <br />
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That was “A Minute Passed”. You can hear episode nine of “A Minute Passed” tomorrow night at a minute past. <br />
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Thanks to Monty Python for that little gem of an introduction.<br />
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Time is a funny thing. Time was, I wouldn't have bothered thinking about what time is. <br />
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Time is one of those sticky little nuisances of a problem about something that EVERYBODY knows what it is, but NOBODY has been able to define it. Go ahead and try. Define time without using the word, or a reasonable substitute for the word 'time'. I'll wait. I've got time. <br />
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Satisfied that you really can't do it? <br />
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Time is rather like life. Everyone knows what it IS, but try to define life while I am making you waste your TIME trying to define ... um... time. <br />
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All very cute - and unoriginal, I know. It's the kind of stuff I thought about seriously when I was twelve or so and it subsequently became part of the invisible, unexpressed substrate of my world view. So I am not going to discuss such trite nonsense. I want to discuss DEEP time. Not too deep. Not astronomical deep. Just geological deep. That'll be deep enough for most of us to drown in it. <br />
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I bunged in that little spot of humor from Monty Python above for a reason. What does it mean to say that time passed? Well... Cosmologists tell us something completely useless like, time moves in the direction of increasing entropy. Very true....and meaningless. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Tg1qKWlSxXguoPpQt7DleVdFnH0rO3Y4Gsou4DJKfqHXBsFyrGWjIUnIvYa6NahwG58ekdY6mnFcacXVdSVU1BBA9It_I3hbgfk6ZhcjHVls6QUppkaT7TKcO5fJ_Is3SwpihkgBf4bZ/s1600-h/Cosmology-3N.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Tg1qKWlSxXguoPpQt7DleVdFnH0rO3Y4Gsou4DJKfqHXBsFyrGWjIUnIvYa6NahwG58ekdY6mnFcacXVdSVU1BBA9It_I3hbgfk6ZhcjHVls6QUppkaT7TKcO5fJ_Is3SwpihkgBf4bZ/s200/Cosmology-3N.gif" width="200" /></a>And what do they mean by time MOVES? That movement can't be the same as physical movement, because in that case something tangible changes its position in space - we are what moves. <br />
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But with time, you can stay still in space while you move through time. Well, do we really move THROUGH time - we move THROUGH air, or water but we move IN time. <br />
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We can move through space while moving in time. We can move in time while not moving through space. But what we can't do it is stay still in time either while moving or not moving through space.<br />
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So time doesn't move, and it doesn't stand still. We don't move through it, but we can't move without it, because it takes TIME to move from point X to point Y. We can measure it, but it has no length or mass. We measure mass in terms of the amount of matter at some point, and length is some distance that one can pace off or can hold between one's hands. But time is only marked by... the passage of time. It's as though we were to say that distance is marked by a change in distance. No. The concept of distance is not dependent on changing one's position. But the concept of time only makes sense in terms of time passing to mark the changes we observe happening to the world. <br />
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Whoa!!! All right. Time's up. That kind of silly philosophical musing can go on and on, wasting a lot of...?? hmmmm.., Nevermind that - on to the real discussion.<br />
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We do not live in a privileged time in Earth's history. There is nothing special about the conditions of the here and now. The positions of the land, sea level, polar ice, continental elevations, climate distributions, average temperatures, atmospheric gas percentages... None of them has an optimum position or setting. None of them is static. All of them have changed over geologic time, and not in any relationship to each other. <br />
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People tend to view the Earth as a static place - a place where the conditions of life SHOULDN'T change - at least not permanently. We think that the conditions of the here and now are ideal and that the conditions of the world have been somehow set up FOR US. Everyone falls into this trap - even people who would like to see civilization end and the world revert to a natural state (there are many of theses latter types, some in fairly influential positions). It is a trap known as the Anthropic Principle and even for irreligious people it is based on the same thinking as a literal reading of the creation story in the Middle-Eastern monotheistic bible(s); the world is here for us. The adherent to the anthropic principle does not think, we are here because the conditions of the Earth provided for our evolution; they think the conditions of Earth are ideal for us and are here for us.<br />
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The Anthropic Principle is founded on the propitious conditions which make life on Earth possible. Here they are. The Earth is just the right size that its gravity is strong enough to hold a gaseous atmosphere which includes water vapor; the composition and thickness of the atmosphere is such that the air pressure near the Earth's land/water surface provides for the existence of liquid water; the distance from the sun is far enough that the Earth is neither fried, nor frozen, but receives enough energy to warm the surface; the atmosphere's properties are such that it contains gases which trap some portion of re-radiated heat which maintains a temperature above freezing as the average temperature; the Earth is large enough that it's interior heat and the segregation of its materials result in an iron/nickel liquid outer core, which is the cause of the Earth's magnetic field, which is the only thing which deflects harmful radiation away from the planet's surface. Without that magnetic deflection there would be too much radiation for life to survive - or to have gotten started in the first place.<br />
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There are a few others but they are not important to the point made here. There is an extraordinary combination of circumstances which have combined to make the Earth habitable to any life at all. It is not unnatural, therefore, for many people to conclude that the combination is just too coincidental to have happened by chance, and that the existence of life and humans in particular was the ultimate end-goal of the entire history of the universe. These include religious people who think that the universe was created just for humans to be at the pinnacle, and non-religious people who conclude that evolution has had a definite direction toward one end - us. <br />
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That attitude is what allows two extreme environmental views:<br />
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1). The Earth was created for us - in this view, people take the typically biblical slant. If the Earth was created FOR us, we dominate and have the right to exploit other organisms and natural resources without care or management. If we are the pinnacle, everything else is here for our use;<br />
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2). The Earth is the place where the pinnacle of evolution was destined to occur. As a result, the Earth is ideally suited for us as it is. In consequence it can not be changed and any actions of humans as a result of our industrial civilization which might change the current conditions of the Earth must be stopped and reversed. <br />
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The former position, adopted by many industrialists and the attitude of many ultra-conservatives is untenable because it is one of uncontrolled rapine. It is the attitude that resulted in the pollution we knew back in the 1960s - people who complain about pollution today obviously do not remember the 1960s, or they were not paying attention.<br />
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The latter position, one of many ultra-liberals, is equally untenable because it eschews modern life-sustaining necessities in favor of "saving the Earth" (see Status Quo, an earlier post below). These people don't care about the standard of life of existing industrial nations, or raising the standard of living of developing nations, or of saving lives by modern farming or pest control methods. They care only about the status quo of the Earth's systems. <br />
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Both positions are equally deplorable and both stem from the SAME misconception of the Earth: that it doesn't change over time. Ah! Here we are. Finally back at the topic du jour. <br />
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The actual condition is that over its 4.6 BILLION year history, the Earth has NEVER been the same from one day to the next - NEVER!!! It changes. It's systems change, life on Earth changes - daily and hourly (an apropos quote as I am writing this on Darwin's birthday), climate changes, the continents change, the oceans change - every aspect of every system changes. This is the reason that sexual reproduction is successful - the genetic variety generated by sexual reproduction provides the variations to ensure each lineage survives the ever-changing Earth.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXr1KeSJ_gNTfG3Rb5uZ_hy8tM0ZSESbDcJ6gCiWhK2RbuAzIq6QIO-xKv-y0JwJCDvfj8rB4B4ULeYI4M39mUeQmVxzisVh-cDVeT0eESJrXeoboA25VB_OBNq726g0iJvJhpeXHJP-CW/s1600-h/Geologic_time_for+_students.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXr1KeSJ_gNTfG3Rb5uZ_hy8tM0ZSESbDcJ6gCiWhK2RbuAzIq6QIO-xKv-y0JwJCDvfj8rB4B4ULeYI4M39mUeQmVxzisVh-cDVeT0eESJrXeoboA25VB_OBNq726g0iJvJhpeXHJP-CW/s200/Geologic_time_for+_students.jpg" width="200" /></a>The degree of change is so vast that the Earth of 10 million years ago would be virtually unrecognizable to us today, and 10 million years before that, equally as unrecognizable from the previous iteration, and so on, and so on...back to the Earth's beginning. (Click on image for larger view) I mean that literally - the locations and shapes of the continents have changed so drastically that we literally would not recognize a map of the Earth over the time spans mentioned above.<br />
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One reason for the failure of people to recognize the changes over time, is the inability of those same people to grasp the vastness of geologic time.<br />
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IT IS IMMENSE. (Notice, I have to resort to an adjective which implies SIZE because we don't have an adequate time-based word - long, really long, REALLY LONG - nope).<br />
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The ultra-religious people of category one above don't recognize the length of time because to them the Earth is only about 10,000 years old because some biblical scholar said so. The rest of the people don't recognize the enormity of time because it is almost beyond the imagination. There are so few good analogies to help the non-geologist grasp this concept of deep time which is critical to getting over the anthropic principle. I think I have one, however - a little thought experiment.<br />
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Pretend you begin an experiment to count to one billion (Just 1,000,000,000, not 4.6 billion) saying one number per second. Of course, you couldn't actually SAY each number once you reached over a million or so - it takes too long to say the word for one number per second - but let's pretend. Now that is SECONDS, not years, in which the age of the Earth is counted. <br />
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There are 86,400 seconds per day - that's 31,556,736 seconds per year. At that rate, it would take you 32.7 YEARS to count to ONE BILLION at one number per second. Now multiply that by 4.6 to see how long you would be counting - 150 years to count to 4.6 billion at one number per second. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDHusUTQ4woBx_xNbG3tfVxKhje0KXhI5Vi6fz0ejMNbhWElpwAaCqf_FXA_wtXlBznb2yrkcGzS3Nnvqs83znC553eQKxbLhNNSeiqp1EZrliokvBEjbcAcvVHB1UdQCTfKKHY5UQuEu/s1600-h/GeoTimeSpiral.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDHusUTQ4woBx_xNbG3tfVxKhje0KXhI5Vi6fz0ejMNbhWElpwAaCqf_FXA_wtXlBznb2yrkcGzS3Nnvqs83znC553eQKxbLhNNSeiqp1EZrliokvBEjbcAcvVHB1UdQCTfKKHY5UQuEu/s200/GeoTimeSpiral.jpg" width="200" /></a>Now remember that each second = 1 year of Earth history - a ratio of 1:31,556,736, and you get an idea of the vast TIME over which the Earth has been changing, second by second, system by system. Daily and hourly, millenium by millenium, aeon by aeon (click on the image for a larger view).<br />
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There is no such thing as the proper setting for anything on Earth. No matter how you slice it and dice it, there just ain't no equivalent to a 98.6 for ANY system on Earth. There is no normal shape and size and location of continents, no pre-ordained optimum temperature, no proper level for the oceans. They all JUST ARE what they are at any given TIME.<br />
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And the thing that has made humans SO successful as a species and what makes us THE ecological dominant, is our ability to adapt to EVERY change, over both space and TIME. Other species are so locked into their evolutionary niche they become extinct if (as in WHEN) conditions change. WE are not locked into ANY ecological niche. We can and do adapt - in space and over time. <br />
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The Earth has UNDENIABLY changed and is UNDENIABLY changing NOW. There is nothing unusual about it. With this little bit of background, we can see it is a waste of time (remember the topic?) to convince people that the Earth is changing - it simply IS changing. We have been regaled with a strident message that Earth's climate is changing and we are the cause. Many people have been persuaded that such is true only because there has been a back-story - the other half of the latter day apocalyptic message of impending doom. The back story, a la Al Gore (See Caution: Mountebank at Work, below) is that until humans began visiting devastation on the Earth, everything was static, there had been no change, it was an idyllic world, a world ideally suited to us - in short, an anthropically principled world which WE have bunged up. <br />
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The environmental guilt trip inflicted on us over the past decade has only been possible by NOT revealing to non-geologists that the Earth has a history of change and that the current change is not only within the norm, but less extreme than many past changes which occurred in our absence as a species. We DO contribute to the change of most of Earth's systems. Humans have become a geologic agent. But we are not the only agent and we can not shoulder all of the blame for ongoing changes - perhaps not even much of it. Especially as regards the climate system. The back story, quite plainly, was made up, because the people who told it - nay, shouted it with clarion voice and threats of brimstone damnation, know (and knew then) that the Earth and its systems have never been static. <br />
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In the end, we can not understand place in the absence of the knowledge of time. We can not understand time in the absence of the knowledge of the collective changes to place. The Earth is four-dimensional. To try to understand it in the two-dimensional portrait of the sound bite and propaganda documentary is ... a waste of TIME.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-57619198364939082582009-12-08T15:27:00.002-05:002009-12-08T15:37:30.270-05:00Dam it all... Dam everything... Dam everywhereI just presented a summary of climate change science and the basis behind cap and trade legislation at a regional Chamber of Commerce meeting this morning. Just days before the presentation I learned that an AGW proponent was to be speaking just before me and I learned something from my counterpart from the other side of the climate coin.<br />
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During his presentation he discussed sea level change to, what I thought, was a disproportionate degree. In the midst of his lengthy but by no means complete discourse on sea level change, he displayed a graph of dam construction in the States since 1950. After showing pictures of dams he then made the point that - by damming major streams, we are impounding water which would otherwise be measurable as an ADDITIONAL sea level increase!!!<br />
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OK gang. Time to get out the nasty ol' calculator and check this one out.<br />
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The oceans cover 71% of the Earth's surface - that's 3.6 x 10^14 meters: or for those not versed in scientific notation 3,600,000,000,000,000 square meters. <br />
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So, in order to raise sea level by even 1 cm (0.01 meters) requires - come on, how much water? <br />
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(3.6 X 10^14) X (.01) = 3.6 x 10^12 cubic meters of water. That is 1.3 X 10^14 cubic feet of water.<br />
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Well, that doesn't mean much. How about this - 9.5 X10^14 gallons. Ready? 9,500,000,000,000,000 gallons.<br />
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Let's put it in a context to which we can relate. A pool of water one foot deep would cover a land area of 1.3 X 10^14 square ft. At 43,560 sq ft to the acre, that's roughly 3 billion acres of water (3 billion acre-ft). <br />
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Well .... The land area of the conterminous 48 United States is 2.5 billion acres.<br />
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OK. So let's be more realistic and make it 10 feet deep. That, then, is a pool 10 ft deep over 300,000,000 acres. That's about equivalent to the combined land areas of Texas, California and Arizona covered with 10 feet of water!!!<br />
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That's the volume of water it would take to raise sea level by 1 cm - less than a half inch. But he thinks that the volume we ARE currently impounding would make a measurable increase in sea level?<br />
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What he doesn't even consider is that a dam is only a storage unit. The volume of water that flows through a dam is EXACTLY the volume that flowed through the previously undammed stream. We just have storage of some finite volume, and an uncalculated loss to evaporation, which is pretty significant.<br />
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And now, the rest of the story.<br />
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That speaker went on to reveal the AGW crowd's real goal. Cap and Trade is JUST the beginning. His entire presentation boiled down to this salient point:<br />
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If we want to have any effect on global temperatures we must ELIMINATE all emissions of carbon dioxide - NO BURNING OF ANYTHING combustible - by the year 2030!!!!!!<br />
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And THEN... he put up a slide to depict our alternatives - and they were pictures of a nuclear power plant and a hydro-electric power station at a major dam.<br />
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Go ahead. I dare anybody here to take either of those proposals to Greenpeace and the Sierra Club and see if you can still crawl to get back out of the door.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-38008465611662349832009-11-24T22:57:00.009-05:002010-03-11T12:37:52.957-05:00The Corpse of the CorpsWell it is certainly a busy time for a blogging Earth scientist with a mission to explore human (mis)understanding of the Earth and its systems. What with the revelations of the machinations and proved outright lying from the climate change crowd (See Climate Alert and Climate Update, below), the unabashed idiocy and complete absence of any semblance of comprehension of Earth systems from that prophet of eco-hucksterism, "The Thinking Man's Thinking Man" (See Caution - Mountebank at Work, below) we have yet another front page story regarding the Earth and our interaction with it. Unfortunately, this one seems to have been pushed to the rear by the Hadley CRU debacle even though it is close to home and caused millions of times more damage, disease, death, injury, real property loss and resulted in far more monetary cost than the climate crew's worst predictions over the next 100 years possibly could. <br />
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A court has ruled on the issue of culpability over the flooding of New Orleans in Hurricane Katrina and found that the Army Corps of Engineers is largely to blame for the breach of the levees and the flooding of large areas of the city.<br />
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That is a nearly unbelievable ruling and I am surprised that more has not been made of it. The Army Corps of Engineers has been ruled as negligent in its original creation of, and in its subsequent absence of maintenance and upgrades to the New Orleans levees which failed during Hurricane Katrina. The first few litigants in the case were awarded something on the order of $700,000 each by the court, but we can now expect the rest of the displaced people to belly up to the bar (pun intended) to get theirs. This is going to be staggering.<br />
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So... why DID the New Orleans catastrophe occur? WAS it really the fault of the ACOE? Was it, therefore, preventable? <br />
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There is a geologic reason for it, and I have some sympathy for the Corps.<br />
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We have to protect New Orleans with a large artificial embankment because New Orleans is essentially at sea level or slightly below mean sea level. That has happened because the Earth's crust under the Mississippi delta is subsiding as a result of the massive load of sediment deposited over time by Ol' Man River. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX5fxMNhyphenhyphenMgd8hNbvhp-8bYtJS-2BJExx1VfJIcq6iKn657VZf9g6VJU1kZKv4uSymFEuCiJ22LHkUP37EXMmHp0tgfQTAtgyc04Hz6dRCd0QMWTOh_sVBn1T-Vmg6rnuBVavSfu7O1LaG/s1600-h/Miss_Delta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX5fxMNhyphenhyphenMgd8hNbvhp-8bYtJS-2BJExx1VfJIcq6iKn657VZf9g6VJU1kZKv4uSymFEuCiJ22LHkUP37EXMmHp0tgfQTAtgyc04Hz6dRCd0QMWTOh_sVBn1T-Vmg6rnuBVavSfu7O1LaG/s320/Miss_Delta.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
As the crust is depressed and the area subsides while it is filling with sediment, the most direct route for water to flow from higher elevation upstream areas back to sea level shifts around. It has shifted about six times over the past 5000 to 6000 years (that's seven different deltas). The current delta represents only the past 500 years or so. As a result of shifts in the depression/sediment balance, the course of the mighty Mississippi is trying to shift again - this time in a major way. The shortest route back to sea level for all that water is down the Atchafalaya basin which almost touches the Mississippi channel at a point well north of Baton Rouge. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqfOnwnNsxI7mHfx7R8l4BEWtCbZsjtv7KRbTt-u_ie5mFcJwT1r1p9A6v4QywjiJk2BmiBXIRzaTsmdWAa5CNIwF_JUW7F6B4K0OZpfle23h9NAodO9v9cNwihwJgXJmkMk6opYNgY4nA/s1600-h/atchafalaya.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqfOnwnNsxI7mHfx7R8l4BEWtCbZsjtv7KRbTt-u_ie5mFcJwT1r1p9A6v4QywjiJk2BmiBXIRzaTsmdWAa5CNIwF_JUW7F6B4K0OZpfle23h9NAodO9v9cNwihwJgXJmkMk6opYNgY4nA/s320/atchafalaya.png" /></a></div><br />
Well, nobody wants the river to head down a different course - not people in Baton Rouge and New Orleans whose livelihoods depend on the river, and especially not the people who live in the Atchafalaya basin which would, of course, be drowned in the enormous discharge of the Mississippi. So, beginning at the point where the Miss. and Atch. rivers nearly meet, there is a series of flow control structures, beginning with a deflection dam which prevents the Miss from jumping ship into a new channel, and continuing downstream in a series of levees (artificial banks) which have become necessarily higher as the surrounding land continues to subside. <br />
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This is not something new. Back near the turn of the last century, the Miss was not navigable by large ships because the channel was too shallow at New Orleans and downstream. After many ideas a solution was found - the river was constrained between straight jetties and levees to - get this - increase the velocity of the flow which would scour the stream bottom, making the river deeper. It worked, the river became navigable. However, constraining the flow between artificially narrowed banks (levees) results in higher flood stages. Think about it. We eliminated the flood plain of the river by building towns on it which then had to be protected from flooding by building levees. Do you see the root cause and snag here - people built on land that naturally FLOODS episodically. The natural flood plain was wide so flood waters were distributed over a large area. Now, with the levees, the same volume of water still flows down the reiver but within a narrower channel. The result is that the height of the flood stage must be greater, which, in turn, requires higher levees. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzNdRdrY205a9-osRK2Zd_6O6sAr1N6NVFA90H8VHVk3-lWilk0_3JSxqqcPTxMiNZtxdiO6ozzBcNGpeDHE4mOBujtao4qAbe5sa7PqKTLB-Xvx03ZMEQztgoy3vEj2VZpaCcuIZ961Q/s1600-h/levees.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzNdRdrY205a9-osRK2Zd_6O6sAr1N6NVFA90H8VHVk3-lWilk0_3JSxqqcPTxMiNZtxdiO6ozzBcNGpeDHE4mOBujtao4qAbe5sa7PqKTLB-Xvx03ZMEQztgoy3vEj2VZpaCcuIZ961Q/s320/levees.gif" width="232" /></a></div><br />
The volume of flood water is much higher now than it was 100 years ago. The increase in impervious land cover (pavement and buildings) all along the Mississippi upstream of New Orleans results in more stormwater runoff during storms rather than infiltrating into the ground. Of course, MORE stormwater flowing through a narrowed channel requires ever-higher levees, which means an ever-increasing water pressure on the earthen levees during floods, which requires ever-constant vigilance and repairs. Ergo, the court's ruling against the Corps.<br />
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But is it the Corps fault? What we are now living with is the legacy of the original narrowing of the stream channel (not an idea or proposal of the Corps) to increase velocity AND with increased runoff within a land area which comprises about 40 or more percent of the entire United States. <br />
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No single group is to blame and each successive generation has had to cope with the cumulative legacy left over from past generations. Ultimately, we will lose the battle with the Mississippi and it will flow down the Atchafalaya basin. Those of us alive now can only hope that it is after we have departed this Earthly paradise and that there will be enough advanced warning for the people at that time to evacuate the Atchafalaya basin and re-settle everyone onto higher ground. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdI0dCNDRFRhIAInHHfnKZ5A73_InoMHIizfobXX6SDdIc-Axap25Zgr2i88v1Ft4ymh0_ZQfXi7LkqDhOv-RTerL0FmrQsZx67exqPFn6VME9vFg7XtV0oqIt6lAUhd0Zbz4GHDkBft36/s1600-h/Miss_Watershed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdI0dCNDRFRhIAInHHfnKZ5A73_InoMHIizfobXX6SDdIc-Axap25Zgr2i88v1Ft4ymh0_ZQfXi7LkqDhOv-RTerL0FmrQsZx67exqPFn6VME9vFg7XtV0oqIt6lAUhd0Zbz4GHDkBft36/s320/Miss_Watershed.jpg" /></a></div><br />
So the Army Corps has been set an ultimately impossible task as a result of a series of historical blunders which, at the respective times, seemed to be good ideas. The Corps has to control the flow of one of the largest rivers on Earth at the downstream end of a continent- sized drainage basin on a budget which is far from adequate and against all political pressure to "not muck up sensitive riparian (stream side) eco-systems," or to "not disturb existing communities..."<br />
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Ironically, the group which has been empowered by Congress to regulate and oversee the protection of riparian corridors, wetlands, swamps, bayous and the like is.... The Army Corps of Engineers. So in order to repair the levees at some locations, the Army Corps cannot implement the necessary work because the land is protected by The Army Corps, and work is forestalled for decades while the necessary studies and paperwork/permits/mitigation plans are completed to protect a swamp or two while in the process of protecting HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE and one our major cities. During that time, the cost of the work goes up and up, with the result that by the time the Corps has approved work by the Corps, the funds have been drained away to other projects and new appropriations must begin - always inadequate.<br />
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The answer to this mess? Well, there are two parts to it. One, seemingly easy, the other a tough nut to swallow.<br />
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First, we have to get beyond the point of protecting small land areas against all change when the public welfare is at stake (See Resourceful, below). Protection of wetlands is all well and good, but when it becomes the overriding factor in land use decisions which affect public safety, we should have NO question as to which will go.<br />
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That's the easy part.<br />
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Second, what can we actually DO about the Mississippi? There is no good answer - only several expensive and unpalatable ones:<br />
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1). spend an awful lot (and I mean an AWFUL lot) on repairing and maintaining an ever-increasing levee system, along with other controls and continue to bail people out as they continue to return and get washed out every 50 years or so. It will continue to happen because the land continues to subside and there will be increasing water problems; i.e., we live like the Dutch - below sea level in constant threat of flooding;<br />
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2). relocate everyone in the Atchafalaya basin and let the Mississippi do what it is ultimately going to do and get it over with - i.e., Baton Rouge and New Orleans become high and dry, which is inevitable anyway, although perhaps not for several hundred years;<br />
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3). stop paying for the re-settling of people flooded out in low-lying areas behind the levees. Rather than spending federal relief money to put them back, we pay to relocate them and begin the long, slow process of re-establishing the floodplain of the Mississippi, albeit behind the levees, which are still needed to keep the river deep enough for shipping. <br />
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I dare any politician to seriously propose any one of those.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-9325604602958042102009-11-18T14:50:00.012-05:002010-03-11T08:29:03.036-05:00Caution - Mountebank at WorkI've been on several pretty long-distance business trips in the past few weeks with the result that, in that inevitable state of boredom and frustration one always experiences while burrowing through the labyrinth of store-encrusted tunnels in the many indistinguishable airport stop-overs which are part of every post-modern flight plan, I found myself, inexorably, speed reading the titles lined up on the shelves of the news stands which dot these cheerless avenues, hoping against all hope to find one bit of something intelligible AND above the 8th grade reading level to ease the insufferable boredom of the next leg of my various peregrinations. Conceive my combined shock, dismay, rage and general disappointment over the abysmal states of both journalism and American aptitude when my eyes brushed over the cover of News Week with a picture of Al Gore who was ennobled by that paragon of journals with the appellation "The Thinking Man's Thinking Man." <br />
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I remain, two weeks later, almost speechless at the unmitigated effrontery presented by this sanctimonious, condescending, elitist nuncio from Newsweek, which I can only conclude is staffed by cretins of no common rank. Honestly, this is just about the worst (best) in-your-face demonstration of American scientific illiteracy and of how easily the ill-educated poltroons in our top journalistic bastions can be impressed, swayed, hoodwinked and exploited to propagate the idiotic prattlings of one of the greatest knee-biting wankers currently at large. <br />
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OK - I'm down off my soap box, but as long as you're still with me, let's just look at what "The Thinking Man's Thinking Man" actually thinks. <br />
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First, take a side-track for just a minute and watch this little tid-bit of His-Gore-ness from You Tube - I'll wait:<br />
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns_4pzfOSTc<br />
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I've been informed that You Tube has pulled the clip which is such an embarassment to his Gore-ness, so I'll have to explain.<br />
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This was a clip from the Conan O-Brien show in which Gore tells us all about the abundance of geothermal energy and how it is free energy right under our feet. <br />
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During the course of the little interview we learned from Gore that:<br />
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1. We get geothermal heat from the core of the Earth;<br />
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2. At a depth of a couple kilometers into the Earth the temperature is a couple MILLION degrees;<br />
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3. We now have drilling equipment which can withstand that kind of heat so we can tap into all that heat;<br />
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4. We can use that heat to make steam and generate electricity;<br />
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5. There is enough heat to run our current civilization for 35,000 years.<br />
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Please excuse a slight, unstiflable note of derision - to wit - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA<br />
(imagine me making a really wild cackling sound during the above spot of jollity).<br />
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All right, then. One at a time:<br />
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1. We get geothermal heat from the core of the Earth (I know Conan actually said this, but Gore agreed). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytXTZtpH32xEDXq_H8lWABo3UlDftpOv68zXeAbKWmYx0XUpKueA0dm0K2Lgs3VQU7tsodN6SN6HWE5wOiZvmhJydJF9y17VQxrFu8v4D-cs6Wu40DxK0uvcwfkH1XUl53SyH4yStqE2e/s1600-h/geothermal_gradient_01.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytXTZtpH32xEDXq_H8lWABo3UlDftpOv68zXeAbKWmYx0XUpKueA0dm0K2Lgs3VQU7tsodN6SN6HWE5wOiZvmhJydJF9y17VQxrFu8v4D-cs6Wu40DxK0uvcwfkH1XUl53SyH4yStqE2e/s320/geothermal_gradient_01.gif" width="320" /></a>Response: Below the Earth's crust (upper 5 to 70 km) the entire mass of the Earth is HOT with an increasing temperature all the way to the center of the earth, 3,950 miles down. (As always, click on image for larger view) That means the below the hot base of the crust, is ~ 1,800 miles of hot mantle, below which is ~ 1,400 miles of really hot outer core, below which is ~ 800 miles of inner core to the center of the Earth. The places on Earth where we DO have geothermal energy potential have a heat source which is a few hundred METERS (not miles) below the surface. So, we do not derive geothermal heat from the core, although in some sense, some portion of the Earth's interior heat does initially derive from the core but the point is that this kind of loose talk belies a fundamental absence of knowledge of the Earth which any 'thinking man' might reasonably be expected to know. <br />
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2. At a depth of a couple kilometers into the Earth the temperature is a couple MILLION degrees;<br />
<br />
Response: The geothermal gradient is the average increase in temperature with depth into the Earth and it is ~ 24 degrees C per km. The Earth's surface temperature (of the actual crust) is a reflection of the average atmospheric temperature which is about 10 - 15 degrees C. So, with a geothermal gradient of 24 degrees per km, at a depth of a couple km the temperature averaged <br />
around the globe would be 58 degrees C or ~140 degrees Fahrenheit - 0.014% of just 1 million degrees. <br />
<br />
For comparison, the photosphere of the SUN - the part we see, is 6,000 degrees C - less than 11,000 degrees F. <br />
<br />
Gore's statement represents, quite simply, one of only two possibilities: He is just plain STUPID; or he purposefully uttered a bald-faced LIE!<br />
<br />
3. We now have drilling equipment which can withstand that kind of heat so we can tap into all that energy;<br />
<br />
Response: What do we now have? Drilling equipment which can withstand millions of degrees (NO WE DON'T), or which can withstand the staggeringly ordinary and low temperature of 150 degrees at the depth of a couple km? Yes we do, but that kind of heat is not useful for geothermal energy production. Perhaps most importantly, the consideration here is not so much with the equipment, but with the rock itself. As one drills deeper and deeper, and the rock gets hotter and hotter, and the pressure goes up and up, the void created by a borehole typically closes soon after drilling as a result of plastic flow of the rock.<br />
<br />
4. We can use that heat to make steam and generate electricity;<br />
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Response: He makes it sound like we can drill down anywhere, tap into huge heat reserves and use it. Except where active volcanoes bring hot material near the surface (this is the few hundred meters depth I mentioned earlier) the depth to temperatures hot enough to generate electricity is typically far below a couple kilometers. And what he is NOT saying is that there has to be a fluid medium to BRING that heat up from way down there. Groundwater does not typically occur at any significant volume that deep. The existing geothermal fields exist at places where the heat source is shallow AND there is circulating groundwater which is heated and can be used to run a turbine. What he is talking about is almost a perpetual motion machine - it takes a certain amount of energy to raise the temperature of water above the boiling point to make steam. That energy is released by turning a turbine, but some of the energy is needed to pump the water to the depth required and back up to the turbine again.<br />
<br />
5. There is enough heat to run our current civilization for 35,000 years.<br />
<br />
Response: The Earth has been HOT HOT HOT for all of it's 4.6 BILLION year history. It will remain HOT for billions more years. So, YES, there is enough heat for 35,000 years if we can figure a way to tap it - and quite then some. <br />
<br />
This statement just goes to reinforce the fact that "The Thinking Man's Thinking Man" actually hasn't thought about this issue AT ALL!!!!!, that he is horrendously and embarrassingly IGNORANT about geothermal energy, and, perhaps most importantly (and the point that he cares about) that many people are even more ignorant than he is and there are others (e.g., Conan) who will pay him handsomely for saying anything he damned well pleases, right or wrong and people will fawn on him, dub him with laudatory epithets, lick his boots and open their wallets for whatever cause Al tells them they should.<br />
<br />
To all my female readers, be pleased that Gore was not called "The Thinking Woman's Thinking Man". Distance yourselves from this charlatan and do yourself a favor:<br />
<br />
THINK FOR YOURSELVESAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-63490170103361228182009-10-27T08:58:00.008-04:002010-03-10T20:25:30.756-05:00Spring Water<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZ1VIet_Z3PgymGNdg9vDOr5I6-CzbaLiSs6aLz8GFdq_GbfrJKYRs-xLK0nb3Fel39T3VgaJDIX3mvdgRxzN3L5S-PDOCXuHqzrw5LMnJAhVOYc8l8YslnqBPHAnVZmh_6lkD4pTgcGo/s1600-h/sigg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZ1VIet_Z3PgymGNdg9vDOr5I6-CzbaLiSs6aLz8GFdq_GbfrJKYRs-xLK0nb3Fel39T3VgaJDIX3mvdgRxzN3L5S-PDOCXuHqzrw5LMnJAhVOYc8l8YslnqBPHAnVZmh_6lkD4pTgcGo/s200/sigg.jpg" width="171" /></a></div>I really like the latest "Green" thing in the form of these stainless steel water bottles people carry around with them rather than buying "Spring water" in throw-away plastic. I want to talk about spring water, but first I want to address the bottle issue.<br />
<br />
These bottles are marketed by Sigg out of Switzerland. For those who weren't around or who weren't backpackers in the '70s, these bottles are enjoying a co-opted renaissance. They began life as fuel bottles for backpackers' camp stoves because they were light and strong and leak-proof. Bravo to Sigg for cashing in a good thing when they see it.<br />
<br />
What I find amazing is the inconvenience people are willing to put up with in their effort to be GREEN. These bottles are not a convenient size, they have no convenient handle, no carrying belt clip thingy like a good canteen. Hell, they don't even come with a drinkable cap - you have to buy that separately. The last thing I want to do is carry around a bottle which is really too big to hold, too big to put in a small pack or purse, isn't insulated so the water I would have to sip is going to be damned HOT on a summer day, and is just, in brief, a clumsy nuisance. <br />
<br />
That's the price to pay, you might say, to get away from the throw-away waste to which our society has become addicted. Perhaps, but I still prefer that OTHER water carrying vessel of the 70s, which to my mind was infinitely more practical, transportable, comfortable and far less of a nuisance - the bota, wineskin. I bought a really good one in the late 70s and still use the same one to this day. <br />
<br />
But on to the real point. <br />
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Spring water. The REALLY Great thing about the Sigg craze is that people are just getting plain old water to fill these things. Not so-called spring water. A compound word of sorts, "spring water" implies water from a spring, which implies it is something special, unique, different in some way. Better than old tap water. Spring Water! Oh,just the words rolling over the tongue allows you to taste that fresh, cool potable. Say it out loud and you can even smell the chilled air around the mountain spring where the water is delved from the Earth.<br />
<br />
What we all grew up considering as spring water, was just that, water from a spring. A spring is simply a place where the surface of the Earth is lower in elevation than the groundwater surface, so groundwater flows up onto the land surface and becomes surface water, a.k.a. a stream. A stream begins at the place where groundwater first becomes surface water - a place we call the source of the stream; "source" is French for a spring; thus Source Perrier, for the Perrier spring in France, and Manon du Source (Manon of the Spring for those Gerard Depardieu fans with us). <br />
<br />
With some unimportant exceptions (from a commercial water purveying perspective) springs occur mostly in a special type of limestone terrain known as karst terrains. The taste we associate(d) with spring water is water which is considered to be 'hard' in that it contains a lot of dissolved calcite (the mineral which makes up limestone), along with a few other soluble minerals, which imparts a flavor with no aftertaste and of course no chemical treatment because it is groundwater which contains no bacteria. <br />
<br />
Unfortunately, at some springs, when the water emerges onto the land surface, a pool forms where algae and bacteria do grow, so the water would have to be treated with chlorine before it could be used as a potable source, thereby eliminating the natural marketability, not to mention the taste. So, in order to eliminate the environment for the growth of algae, one could drill a well right next to the spring and capture the same water before it bubbled out of the ground to the pool where algae could grow. You would still have the spring water (it IS collected at the spring) and the spring water taste, and it could be marketed as pure, untreated, natural and therefore unimprovable, to make it sound appetizing, even though it was not strictly collected by appealing French Aquarians who personally dip the bottle destined to be yours into the clear sparkling water at THE place where the land surface just happens to be below the water table. It's close enough to make no neverminds, right?<br />
<br />
Now suppose there was something in the way of that well location and the company had to move its well 100 meters from the actual spring but it still drew water from the same limestone water system which was a mere two minute flow before the water reached the spring pool and bubbled deliciously into your bottle, dipped lovingly with slender long fingers into the cool limpid waters...<br />
<br />
Well, what the hell. Let's go for broke. Suppose the company that wants to sell water doesn't even own the land that has so obligingly lowered itself below the water table to create the magical spring, but it can get a lease to drill a well into the same subterranean plumbing system through which that same delicious, refreshing water is flowing on its inexorable path to the SPRING. It's only five kilometers from the spring, but it is the same aquifer, same water, just a week or so flow time before it reaches our enticing advertising tapster waiting to ladle your own taste of the goodness of nature from the flowing bosom of the Earth just for you. <br />
<br />
It IS the same water, but is it 'spring' water?<br />
<br />
One final step - the 'spring' water has become so popular that people in other continents want some too. Well... suppose we find another limestone area and drill a well there? It IS groundwater which is heading to a spring and it IS in limestone so .... it'll be close enough. I've got it!!! The Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania and the Chester Valley west of Philadelphia. There are limestone springs in those places, lots of water, good transportation corridors, many workers, everything we need. What about our name? Well, the COMPANY is now called XYZ Spring water, so we have to keep it even though the water is not coming from our own named spring.<br />
<br />
Welcome to the world of bottled spring water. It is groundwater, just like the water that pours out of many of our kitchen faucets when we turn the tap. NO DIFFERENCE, except whatever minerals your water might have in it compared with those at the 'spring'. Of course the water from the 'spring' that supplies your bottled water, is almost assuredly not the same mineral content which gave the original 'spring' water its distinctive taste - but it's WATER. Who is going to know the difference?<br />
<br />
The last thing I love about Perrier in particular - "Naturally Carbonated" Implying it is naturally sparkling and it comes from the ground with that crisp bubbly, palette cleansing tingle. <br />
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Time to stop being coy - OF COURSE it is naturally carbonated! Limestone is composed of calcium CARBONATE (CaCO3). It cannot help but be "carbonated". The water contains dissolved calcium carbonate, which means the calcium cations and the carbonate anions are dissociated in the water - ergo, naturally carbonated. The bubbles are put in at the bottling plant - sorry, there really are no shy water nymphs lovingly sluicing your sparkling water directly into pristine bottles. Only a pipe leading from a well to a filtration plant to a cooling tower and carbonation unit and then into a bottle filling machine. <br />
<br />
Source Perrier - your source for pure, untreated, naturally carbonated spring water directly from the Pennsylvania bottling plant to you. And a bargain at just $1.99 per (small) bottle.<br />
<br />
No thanks! Pass me my bota and turn on the tap.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-37935851692016362362009-10-13T15:04:00.000-04:002009-10-13T15:04:10.563-04:00Daylight SavingsHere we are at that time of year again. People have become too 'settled in' to their daily routines so it's time to muck around with our circadian rhythms by dragging time backward one hour. Yes. It's time to gain that hour of sleep you lost back in April when time was shoved forward and you were wrenched out of bed with 3,600 too few winks. <br />
<br />
Here's a good way to look at this little bit of archaic nonsense. On the Saturday night (Sunday morning) at the end of October, you will get to repeat the hour from 1:00 am to 2:00 am - so plan ahead to be having a really great time that hour because you will get to do it all over again like an instant replay. If you are asleep (boring) you miss out on the chance to do whatever it is you could be doing over again for one hour and still get up at the same time the next day, none the worse for wear - so make the most of it. This is all made possible because we insist on observing the vernal ritual of springing ahead to "daylight savings time" and we are about to return to Eastern Standard Time. <br />
<br />
Daylight Savings Time. Do we really save daylight from April through October? Saving daylight... from where... or from when? To where, or to when? When do we get to spend those saved daylight hours again? <br />
<br />
The answer is that we bank one daylight hour early each morning for about 200 days a year and get to spend each again that same night - a little diurnal sunlight banking system.<br />
<br />
The opposite side of the ledger is during the 165 days or so when we do NOT get to bank our useless early morning hours to use later in the day. In essence, because we sleep as late as we can, instead of Eastern Standard Time, should we call the time from October to April "Daylight Losing Time? <br />
<br />
So, we set up the clocks to make daytime seem longer during the time of year when the days are longest anyway, and we re-set the clocks to shorten daytime when daylight is at its shortest span - very logical. <br />
<br />
Now going from Daylight Savings to Eastern Standard is always a favorite of most people - you get to sleep an extra hour. In reality, and despite what I said above, THAT extra hour's sleep is the only (single) hour that is 'saved' throughout the half year duration of Daylight Savings Time. You 'save' it when you give it up in Spring and recoup it again in the fall.<br />
<br />
This whole concept of daylight savings has always struck me as one of the greatest mass brainwashing schemes ever, because as it turns out, contrary to Abe Lincoln's maxim, you CAN fool all of the people all of the time - each and every time. Consider the following official, National (hypothetical) policy: <br />
<br />
"Because summer days are longer and it gets really hot as the day goes on, the work week for all government and non-government employees in businesses other than retail and entertainment is going to shift back an hour beginning in May of each year so that everyone will go to work at 7:00 am instead of 8:00 am and you will get out at 4:00 pm."<br />
<br />
That would mean you would have to get up at 5:30 instead of 6:30. <br />
<br />
Now imagine the clamour and uproar and dissent such a policy would engender. <br />
<br />
SURPRISE!!!! That's exactly what IS done. Except, of course, most people don't recognize it as such because it is disguised as Daylight Savings Time. When you set your clock ahead one hour in spring, you are shifting the day back an hour so that instead of going to work at 8:00 you're really going at what, in "Standard Time" is 7:00. You don't give up, or lose, or SAVE an hour in Spring - you begin getting up an hour earlier, and within a day or two, it is your norm. So would getting up at 5:30 become your norm if just left the bloody clocks alone.<br />
<br />
I can think of nothing so stupid as shifting the clocks twice a year, because people think 5:30 in the morning is too early to get up, so that we can fool those same people and they won't recognize that they ARE getting up at 5:30 in the morning!!!!<br />
<br />
Why don't we just pick one and stick with it? <br />
<br />
Oh well - it's a futile crusade, so I won't even bother with it. I think I will enjoy the last week or so of "saved" daylight and get outside to enjoy the autumn.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-30713574897494488682009-09-28T21:39:00.002-04:002009-09-29T10:31:18.051-04:00...and butterflies cause hurricanes...So here's the latest off the press in the climate change arena.<br />
A hypothetically warmer atmosphere will set off cataclysmic failures of THE LITHOSPHERE.<br />
<br />
Yes! That's right. A globally averaged temperature increase of a couple degrees will cause earthquakes and volcanoes, land slides, tsunamis, debris flows, increased erosion, gravity slumps.<br />
<br />
Am I serious? Just check this out:<br />
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/09/07/guardian-global-warming-to-trigger-earthquakes-tsunamis-avalanches-and-volcanic-eruptions/<br />
<br />
I hardly know where to begin with this one, except perhaps to say that I am saddened that there are Earth scientists in the world who either have such severe tunnel vision that they can adhere to such tripe, or are SOOOO dishonest that they are willing to prostitute themselves to get a little additional research funding.<br />
<br />
So what is wrong with this idea, anyway? It seems to make sense. Removal of thick masses of ice will release a load from the Earth's crust, which will rebound isostatically, the shifts causing Earthquakes and land slides, etc. and, if above a magma chamber, a volcano.<br />
<br />
What is wrong with it is that it is charlatanism, pure and simple. That the Earth's crust will rebound isostatically when a BIG load is removed is beyond question. Scandinavia, parts of Great Britain, Canada, are all currently rebounding as a result of glacial unloading following the termination of the last glacial maximum 14,000 yr b.p. That's 14 thousand years ago - long time (not geologically) and things are still SLOOOOOOOWLY readjusting. Not many earthquakes in Scandinvaia, or Great Britain (that are noticeable - I'll return to this so just tuck it away). No volcanoes that I am aware of threatening all and sundry. Landslides? You're at greater risk of landslides if you live next to the now-culturally preserved coal mine slag heaps in Wales than having an isostatically-induced, tectonic readjustment landslide engulf your little blot of landscape. <br />
<br />
Anyway, apart from simple, every-day, hum-drum isostatic rebound, nothing in today's world is comparable to what occurred at the so-called end of the epoch known as the Pleistocene- in fact, we are arguably not out of the Pleistocene and what little melting has been observed; 1) is less than has been observed in the past; and 2) is still an equilibration of the great meltdown following the most recent glacial maximum (see my thread on the Holocene, below). <br />
<br />
The authors of this latest study (? that's generous) provide as support for their hyperbolic hypothesis that there was an increase in volcanic activity following the last glacial maximum, 14,000 years ago, so, ipso facto, there will be volcanos and earthquakes as the current spate of non-existent searing heat denudes the ice caps. <br />
<br />
Well, the point is that this is the act of a mountebank of rare perception. It is the safest bet in the world to predict earthquakes and volcanoes and landslides because .... There are currently active volcanoes below both the arctic sea ice as well as below the antarctic ice sheet and Greenland sits very close to one of the more active volcanoes on Earth - the numerous vents and fumaroles, craters, cracks, active dikes, magma chambers... in Iceland. Volcanoes are accompanied, preceded and post-dated by numerous earthquakes, which, apart from other things generate landslides. Small magnitude earthquakes occur daily by the thousands, including many below the areas of current continental glaciers and sea ice - some of them are tectonic, some are the result of isostatic adjustment. Most of them go unnoticed and unreported to the world at large. <br />
<br />
So all of these things are ongoing currently. Predicting them is like predicting sunrise at about 9 O'Clock in the morning. All this cretin has to do is go on line (USGS website will do nicely) and begin counting earthquakes and the REPORTING them in support of his quackery. Because most people have no clue about how many earthquakes there are on average (thousands per day), to suddenly begin broadcasting that there are hundred and hundreds in the areas he predicted they would be would certainly look like an increase and support of his prognostication.<br />
<br />
And so it goes, on and on. This is the kind of hucksterism which is going to discredit the scientific community at large, once that damned overdue kid stands up and shouts "But he hasn't got any clothes on!"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-65913320414530856962009-09-02T23:35:00.016-04:002010-03-30T15:28:50.742-04:00Here there be monsters!Before the age of global exploration the edges of the then known world were annotated on maps with one or both labels: "Terra Incognita" and/or "Here there be monsters."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQj1Z90wFtZW-viPeuwprwIyQ8RZ6BlFO3MKXrAjlq9_wS9rk8RP6IBacvNsG0A1kbmESeK-cVXJ4iDpDhVePqX7-VRUXOVTR5h2ABP6W8QN2QC7m4459KxNPC3UXAwyIzWBZ1Js1_Iq1/s1600/map2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQj1Z90wFtZW-viPeuwprwIyQ8RZ6BlFO3MKXrAjlq9_wS9rk8RP6IBacvNsG0A1kbmESeK-cVXJ4iDpDhVePqX7-VRUXOVTR5h2ABP6W8QN2QC7m4459KxNPC3UXAwyIzWBZ1Js1_Iq1/s400/map2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I really like the optimism of the "Terra Incognita" label. It implied that there were, quite literally "Unknown lands" beyond the edges of the map. Up to a point, the map makers were right - ultimately, they had to run out of more terra as they went around the globe and became more cognita.<br />
<br />
The bit about monsters seems quaint to us in retrospect - but it shouldn't. After all, what were people afraid of? It wasn't so much literal monsters as it was a fear of the unknown (the 'incognita' part of the other label).<br />
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Is that very different from people today? There are many things in the modern world about which people possess an irrational, unjustifiable terror - mostly because those same people also possess an appalling degree of 'incognita' in regard to most things on "terra".<br />
<br />
The really terrific thing about modern people, in comparison to the relatively uneducated people of the past, is what I like to call 'selective concern'. This is, of course, related to the more common malady of selective belief. There are three general categories of selective concern.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikshl5sQSYc7MacqVBVR-YwYLZ71iVFnsilD-uWL4A_aQShnLfWC6V-eldsc_FIT0EH_faHu_R74CfEmkFfiFeWJS6VZ4mOlxNPeZ_PTCfZClhWSmBwQZtCsSLuo5hRVduaCaPDkAnSkcz/s1600/ape_man_evolution.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikshl5sQSYc7MacqVBVR-YwYLZ71iVFnsilD-uWL4A_aQShnLfWC6V-eldsc_FIT0EH_faHu_R74CfEmkFfiFeWJS6VZ4mOlxNPeZ_PTCfZClhWSmBwQZtCsSLuo5hRVduaCaPDkAnSkcz/s200/ape_man_evolution.png" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Category 1: If something in the world seems to affect 'you' personally, and is something which is a feature or function of the natural world over which the average person has no control, people tend to disbelieve it in the case of selective belief, or ignore it in the case of hazards. Evolution is probably the best example of a selective belief issue: "I didn't evolve from some lower life form" - but there are others. Plate Tectonics - "I don't believe it - the continents are not moving." The age of the Earth. Many people accept the bibilcal chronology of 6,000 years as an age of the Earth. The age of the universe "No way. The universe can't have existed for all that time without people - after all, people are the center of creation." Our solar system's place in the universe on an outer spiral arm of an ordinary galaxy in a universe of ....Oh, you get the picture. <br />
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For selective concerns, natural disasters like thunderstorms, blizzards are the things we are concerned about, can't control and so just accept them as part of the world.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7C-sybVmFmYJMGDkeXUguZ-sEnLPnIkeO3Nsl4naPOxnmzzEA-HF51J3wr41sfNmOLzAdeziVAU8kPgMnDHixkqH62lyCGbyrcgVw-oAXqfSPCy77tGzonvPcyyi7HkVL3oBTWoqOsRx/s1600/nuclear+power.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7C-sybVmFmYJMGDkeXUguZ-sEnLPnIkeO3Nsl4naPOxnmzzEA-HF51J3wr41sfNmOLzAdeziVAU8kPgMnDHixkqH62lyCGbyrcgVw-oAXqfSPCy77tGzonvPcyyi7HkVL3oBTWoqOsRx/s320/nuclear+power.jpg" /></a></div>Category 2: If there is something which can be assigned a cause (right or wrong), or can be blamed on someone or something, but is not understood, then people are eager to believe it and to invent (or accept the inventions of others) monsters to scare themselves and others over the issue. Included among the many in this grouping are industrial pollution and nuclear energy. People are terrified of pollution. They have never seen anything such as groundwater pollution but they come to public meetings ready to testify that the boils on their bums are caused by the drinking water pollution "they read about last week in the paper." And nuclear energy - don't even go there. People have not the faintest idea of the technology, the processes, the requirements, etc. but they KNOW they are against it. It's too frightening a thing for someone to be FOR it. "I know it's dangerous and frightening because someone said so."<br />
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It's getting to the point at which many people like to blame someone even for natural disasters - "Someone should have known this was coming and warned us; e.g.the Dec 26 2004 tsunamis. (Is this the most frightening photograph you have ever seen? Indonesia, 2004 Click on the image for a larger view)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5SnycHxqveOdfZW4W3o_mBenOChKNFZqTYSOYdH8Ar7-pxtqkr-5juw5PlAqDK2kHiWq7MG13bbaF_MY-0mAELYLR2Jc11dl1Jl3Z3t9_0KwWQrRxT5rgccOdYJRwU9lubsfWw3ew-Ovb/s1600/Tsunamis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5SnycHxqveOdfZW4W3o_mBenOChKNFZqTYSOYdH8Ar7-pxtqkr-5juw5PlAqDK2kHiWq7MG13bbaF_MY-0mAELYLR2Jc11dl1Jl3Z3t9_0KwWQrRxT5rgccOdYJRwU9lubsfWw3ew-Ovb/s400/Tsunamis.jpg" width="400" /></a>Category 3: This is the stuff which we know are threats, or dangers, understand them pretty well, and just don't give a damn about. Earthquakes - to a San Franciscan. Hurricanes to Floridians. Smoking to a lot of people. A bomb (a tank full of gasoline) under your baby's child seat in the rear of your own car. The list goes on.<br />
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Familiarity breeds contempt. Maybe so, but it seems it breeds complacency. People have a much higher risk of being hurt in an Earthquake (at least in S.F.) or in a hurricane or tornado than they do of ever having ill effects from groundwater pollution.<br />
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So! What monsters do we face in the 21st century version of terra incognita?<br />
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It's - wait for it - PLANT FOOD! Yes! you read that correctly. Plant food. Otherwise known as carbon dioxide. A natural molecule without which life on Earth would be IMPOSSIBLE. A molecule which occurs naturally in epic volumes in every living thing, in soil, in the oceans, in rocks and in the air - of which latter humans contribute only a couple percent of the total.<br />
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This SHOULD be firmly in Category 1 - well, strictly speaking, it shouldn't be in any category, but since we are afraid of it, we'd better bung it into one of the categories. It is almost wholly naturally occurring. We exhale it by the ton - there's nothing we can do about it. You'd think it would be relegated to the junk heap of bygone fears.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2jB-lG1TmI0Tksy4plPrCNPUvgxVNTb7M5TDPIJP9PeM99ELXj5mKJRfW6kkYH9ppIUcv3EUTwa8R_NpzKrQAmw5kQNwk_nFHIrDFWzO4m7fgo7zsB3_frhMffBY2rjyThtLHQCqIk5y/s1600/IceAgeEnding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2jB-lG1TmI0Tksy4plPrCNPUvgxVNTb7M5TDPIJP9PeM99ELXj5mKJRfW6kkYH9ppIUcv3EUTwa8R_NpzKrQAmw5kQNwk_nFHIrDFWzO4m7fgo7zsB3_frhMffBY2rjyThtLHQCqIk5y/s320/IceAgeEnding.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
But Wait!!!! It IS someone's fault. Someone CAN be blamed for it. In fact - all someones can be blamed for it - so we are told. So it sits in Category 2 along side nuclear energy as a threat to humanity - nay, to the actual planet (see Save the Earth). It is ripe ground for the invention of monsters.<br />
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Not content to populate the world with carbon dioxide monsters, our scare mongers have demonized the whole planet. Mother Earth IS 'The Monster'. "We have gone too far into terra incognita," we are told. "The Earth itself is going to rise up," so the prophets of doom now say, "and swat humans and other life off its back," rather like Rodan flicking annoying airplanes away with its tail.<br />
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We have now ventured off the edge of the intellectual map into terra incognita - we now call it the land of the mythical tipping point - an imaginary temperature above which the world will presumably boil, burn, shrivel and disintegrate.<br />
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Of course the more incognita the monster, the greater the terra(or). So, no-one will say what this tipping point actually is - it's incognita. The worst scenario has the Earth warming a few degrees over the next hundred years. So did we pass a tipping point into a different terra incognita during the last interglacial warm period 120,000 years ago when the Earth was more than 6 degrees warmer than now? Hmmmm.... that happened during a time when polar bears were alive on Earth, and they weren't tipped off. The polar ice caps are 34 million years old - so they weren't tipped off. Oh, wait! PEOPLE were also around, and they weren't tipped off the edge into the land of the lost.<br />
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So, this monster, this vicious, ravaging, CO2 beast, which lives in the terra incognita of the unknown tipping point, would have to cause greater temperature increases than that predicted by our modern cartographers before we sail off the edge or get consumed by monsters.<br />
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I suppose I shouldn't be saying this. I have been labeled as dangerous (that's another post) for saying these kinds of things. Perhaps I had better go incognito, and slink off into the terra incognita, because, as a dangerous person, I would do well with the other monsters that be there.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-47862243054656494782009-08-28T14:58:00.002-04:002009-08-30T15:09:08.431-04:00Asteroid SmashteroidSomething MUST be at fault. Something HAD to have happened. After all, dinosaurs were one of the most successful groups of animals ever to have lived, weren't they (see Taxonomy, below). They were huge - they were powerful. They dominated the Mesozoic world. There has to be A reason they became extinct.<br />
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We are consoled by the tidy fable that the dinosaurs were wiped out by the equivalent of a massive train wreck one fine day 66 million years ago when a beastly great chunk of rock the size of small mountain range rammed the Earth amidships.<br />
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"What do you mean, fable?" you might well ask. "Didn't an asteroid slam into the Earth then?"<br />
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Yes it did. There is no question about that. Geologists even think we know the impact location (The Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. <br />
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The question is, is that what done in the dinos? After nearly 30 years of wrangling over this one, it looks as though the few lonely, hold-out, mavericks (prime among them (us) Gerta Keller of Princeton Univ), are probably correct in their assertion that the bad bolide is not the sole reason for the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period, which saw the loss of dinosaurs amongst many other species (but few genera and no other order of taxa besides the dinosaurs). That a big rock from space proably caused some of the extinctions seen in the fossil record around that time is likely. BUT - the asteroid impact - the so-called smoking gun of dinosaur demise has been pretty positively dated to have occurred about 300,000 years before the onset of the MASS extinction. Species which were present in the Cretaceous but which are absent in the Paleogene - the criteria for demarcating the two periods - stubornly persisted AFTER the big crash, much to the chagrin of TV documentary producers who like a snap finsih. <br />
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There are alternative hypotheses about what it was that 'done the dinosaurs in'. But in the end, they were simply out-competed by other, non-dinosaurian populations, including their own evolutionary descendants, the birds (not all dinosaurs were big - many were chicken-sized and smaller). Whether the selection event was protracted over hundreds of thousands of years, or precipitated by some catastrophe or other, the fact is that dinoasaurs were the only entire group (a taxonomic order) which failed to cross the Cenozoic threshold. All other taxa which could in any way be considered competitors of dinosaurs made it across that boundary and survive to this day. <br />
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So, with the more and more refined age dating, and the near-inescapable conclusion that the K-T bombshell occurred nearly half a million years before the actual K-T boundary, it seems that the consensus of scientists for two decades was wrong and lonely Gerta Keller and a handfull of others - who were derided as deniers of THE obvious answer - have been right all along. This is science of course, and theories are overturned in favor of data. W might still find something that proves Dr. Keller wrong, but such wouldn't necessarily make the asteroid hypothesis right - that's an "either-or" situation which is just as inappropriate here as it is in the evolution culture wars where creationists say, if evolution doesn't work, there can be only one other alternative - some god..<br />
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Now, where I have seen something similar to this before? Oh, I know... That's anpother post, though.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-63993680717787645672009-08-28T12:39:00.003-04:002009-09-01T12:05:40.553-04:00Resourceful"You can't do that. It's not legal. It would result in damage to <em><strong>natural resources." </strong></em><br />
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In my line of work, which involves assisting private sector clients with natural resource management issues, I hear this all the time. Some times it has merit. Many times it is a bit ludicrous the way it is being applied. Most of the time it is tossed out as way to stop someone else from doing something that you don't want done - probably because you didn't think of it first.<br />
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Most of the time it is applied to some animal or plant that has been placed on a threatened or endanged species list. For example, I am working on a $30+ Million project which was held up for several years because of a turtle which is not present at the job site and has never been spotted nearby. But the stream valley, of otherwise ordinary resource value, is considered <strong>potential </strong>migration habitat for a turtle, if one is present. Nevermind there aren't even any turtles in the two end point areas where a turtle might be migrating from and to. Even worse - in that case, no-one has even identified two such end-point destinations. And let's be real - how far does a turtle migrate?<br />
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OK - so I worked our way through that one and the project moved on. Now that you have a flavor for natural resource arguments, here's the real kicker.<br />
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A quarry which has been operating since 1860 is at the point it needs to expand. The expansion will remove a natural chanel which carries water during storms - it is a natural resource because it meets some definition of a stream (with no biota). The expansion would also remove some forested area (which has only escaped the housing development boom of the past decade because it is zoned for quarrying) which is suitable habitat for some rare form of skunk cabbage - the cabbages are NOT there. So, the quarry is told they can't expand within the limits of their approved quarry zone because it would impact natural resources. <br />
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We're finally at my point.<br />
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How is the stone being quarried not also considered a 'natural resource' as well? The rock, which occurs naturally, is a resource which is exploited for societal use (that's what a resource really is). That can be mined, crushed, spread around the state, except it can't be mined where there is a linear indentation in the rock surface where stormwater flows while it is raining - because that is a protected natural resource. And not where some passing bird might unload an undigested seed of some skunk cabbage onto the rock surface where the shade is just right - we have to protect that area in case such a bird does decide to dump right there.<br />
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So what is this thing - a natural resource. Webster defines a resource a "a natural source of wealth or revenue." That includes the high quality aggregate mined, ut not a ditch or a skunk cabbage.<br />
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Webster goes on to define it as "a nautrual feature or phenomenaon which enhances the quality of human life." Well, the stone does just that - but not while it remains in place. The ditch and the skunk cabbage? <br />
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People have been very resourceful, exploiting this idea of natural resources to stop other people from exploiting natural resources.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-7646918140373134522009-08-27T21:00:00.008-04:002010-03-29T20:06:41.215-04:00Make mine on the rocks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_F4cXzhToh9juuRrM6y0jZ5SJgA_oMmDy1wgisvymWOwWSjbtzNep3MJIPLITxKt-jB5KVbLtMAfGbaLQsLzmKYCO8QSAE5xd88WnOqD2SWvYpQoAWZmmVpwQ6woEabHPExSWIKchLool/s1600/cro+magnon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_F4cXzhToh9juuRrM6y0jZ5SJgA_oMmDy1wgisvymWOwWSjbtzNep3MJIPLITxKt-jB5KVbLtMAfGbaLQsLzmKYCO8QSAE5xd88WnOqD2SWvYpQoAWZmmVpwQ6woEabHPExSWIKchLool/s200/cro+magnon.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>There's a single-minded facination with glaciers. A sort of atavistic, prickling-behind-the-neck connection people seem to have with the ice ages. In Europeans, it seems to be more a vestigal connection - a sort of cultural memory. Perhaps it's why the western populace is so consumed with the idea of global warming and the loss of polar ice - it is rather like the last remnant of the ice age, which was the back yard of European pre-history.<br />
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Whenever someone asks me a geology question - this typically only happens when we are on a weekend camping trip or something similar - they almost invariably interrupt my explanation at some opportune point and ask if what I am telling them is related to "the galciers". In most cases what we are discussing is not even remotely associated with glaciation.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1E7Uz-wj_cpJCxcJmKe_twp8B6UmSqwpQWmo0WEiIxfRicT0HBw6vPNG9ROCVVJflEF3kVHnzEoqilTsvs2QfS4E9aiiAeGqwIwuDtBpKJnKLJ_JkGZacwyApG45951WdX8QPuxwYXqr/s1600/IceAgeEnding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1E7Uz-wj_cpJCxcJmKe_twp8B6UmSqwpQWmo0WEiIxfRicT0HBw6vPNG9ROCVVJflEF3kVHnzEoqilTsvs2QfS4E9aiiAeGqwIwuDtBpKJnKLJ_JkGZacwyApG45951WdX8QPuxwYXqr/s200/IceAgeEnding.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
I understand the connection. The first nip of real autumn in the air stirs something in some little cro-magnon recess of our northern cultural memories and there is a connection to our ancestors. I think it is one of the reasons most of the global warming alarmists live in high latitude areas - you don't hear many people from the tropics screaming about the loss of polar ice - except to get money from some global warming based scheme (I'll explore the Maldives a little below). Eur-asians are evolved varieties of the human species with a circadian link to a seasonal way of life. It is the rare person who chucks northern life with all its harshness and wild temperature and precipitation swings, to move to more moderate climate in a lower latitude. Retirees don't count - these are people whose testosterone and estrogen productions have waned which seems to make them more reasonable specimens of our ilke and suppresses the relentless, mindless drive that keeps the rest of us soldiering on in the face of the harshest of conditions for at least half of each of our few years on Earth.<br />
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If it sounds like rubbish to you, ask yourself why any Swede, or German, or Norwegian, or Scotsman, or Canadian (all countries with very strong 'stop global warming' activists and organizations) or Minnesotan, wouldn't jump up and down, wave a banner and shoot off fireworks of celebration if future winters were to be a bit less severe, a bit shorter and the growing season consequently extended just a few extra days. (Minnesota farmers were sold a variety of corn for the increased, global warming induced longer growing season - result? Crop FAILURES!!) After all, those WERE the condition a thousand years ago, during the Medieval Climate Optimum. There were thriving agricultutral communities in all those countries - even in Greenland where an active viticultural concern was thriving - despite the absence of modern farming and chemicals.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1D6mewlrHkZivI4C6O9xvN4mhkUV9MJSID8XOcwyYjsCV6Ob7MpRNKuzxU192h5y_v7Bu6sV2gbBjDcwi16QlJfRHX5bQaQxpkP5uyxYD-gW2CgxsGQRzeup47SiggvaG2Lu0ML0PB_G/s1600/ice+age+humor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1D6mewlrHkZivI4C6O9xvN4mhkUV9MJSID8XOcwyYjsCV6Ob7MpRNKuzxU192h5y_v7Bu6sV2gbBjDcwi16QlJfRHX5bQaQxpkP5uyxYD-gW2CgxsGQRzeup47SiggvaG2Lu0ML0PB_G/s200/ice+age+humor.jpg" width="196" /></a>Now those countries all have severe winters with comparitively shortened growing seasons (Greenland has NO growing season now). But tell them that things might warm up a bit and they let out a collective yelp of fear and alarm you can hear at land's end. I can think of no better reason than we northerners are clinging to some sort of suppressed, ice-age cultural remnant, and we retain a sort of perverse fascination with freezing.<br />
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Of course what those global warming activisits are being told is that the hypothetical increase of temperature over the next century (not a sure thing by any account - well except the account of the U.N. IPCC) will result in a rise of sea level of a meter or two, which would submerge many populated areas.<br />
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Is that true? Well, the only thing we can do is to look at the evidence to see if that is what happened the last time the Earth was warm. What was sea level during the Medieval Cimate Optimum? Or the Roman Warm Period? Pretty much what it is now, really. Where were the deserts then? Pretty much where they are now. And so on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj99mmyksZJZiNd5jzZ5rC0hJrZzAHtkSetWiFsst0dJnhHcz0lVvGYpUsisFjYI03xvynXmBW2blB671d_0tiULqTnnpz7Pkq42aKhXtedd7BUG-W9OZSN36acDOFBmRc9Hd1b60XHbeCf/s1600/Sea+Level.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj99mmyksZJZiNd5jzZ5rC0hJrZzAHtkSetWiFsst0dJnhHcz0lVvGYpUsisFjYI03xvynXmBW2blB671d_0tiULqTnnpz7Pkq42aKhXtedd7BUG-W9OZSN36acDOFBmRc9Hd1b60XHbeCf/s200/Sea+Level.png" width="200" /></a>Now this sea level rise thing is really interesting. Places like the Maldives are claiming that the sea level rise <strong>caused by antropogeneic global warming </strong>(AGW) is drowning their archipelago. It is true that sea level has been rising - pretty much since the end of the last glacial maximum (14,000 years ago), since which time it has risen about 130 meters (that's about 400 feet). Recent measurments show a definite slow down in the rate of the rise, however.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvERxd65ucRftp6e6IrfpLCpvfxgTcQfdnVZHgWcpZ9sh9uqnQ9XAU1dL_3amwd33XvcL2d2zYfJX3c4C6VPwHDr35NEzOXGNJ_tWH95nXHDjBo9oAi3ERyDmRTlS6l-ssG_Yh5pdpsnP/s1600/Vail_Sea_Level.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvERxd65ucRftp6e6IrfpLCpvfxgTcQfdnVZHgWcpZ9sh9uqnQ9XAU1dL_3amwd33XvcL2d2zYfJX3c4C6VPwHDr35NEzOXGNJ_tWH95nXHDjBo9oAi3ERyDmRTlS6l-ssG_Yh5pdpsnP/s320/Vail_Sea_Level.png" /></a>Now there are two causes of island submergence - sea level can actually rise - or the island(s) could be sinking, which is a very common thing among oceanic islands. One thing is certain - there is NO evidence that sea level rise was/is caused by AGW - especially because atmospheric temperatures have decreased slightly in recent years and sea surface temperatures have not increased (the bally-hooed July '09 'record' appears to be no such thing, but a mere artefact).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1IDeKcYPgWHeIkS6rQrOg1Wmeuu23eT6C95BF3uTi7rmFP0e0OelepdGhN32epBTly-YC-UA5crLunwnSgloF0v2OPYyEwVV0RLw8cGRpi7swDavMg4Q-uuxYLNC8alrT_2Osi6v0FWwg/s1600/global_sea_ice_oi_hadisst11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1IDeKcYPgWHeIkS6rQrOg1Wmeuu23eT6C95BF3uTi7rmFP0e0OelepdGhN32epBTly-YC-UA5crLunwnSgloF0v2OPYyEwVV0RLw8cGRpi7swDavMg4Q-uuxYLNC8alrT_2Osi6v0FWwg/s200/global_sea_ice_oi_hadisst11.jpg" width="188" /></a></div>Moreover, there are now MANY published papers regarding the supposed loss of polar ice, which has actually increased in extent and has been increasing in thickness and mass for the past few <strong>decades.</strong><br />
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Anyway, in the absence of some sort of cultural memory of our pre-historic, ice-age human ancestors, I am at a loss to explain the fear people have that the Earth might be coming out of one of the coldest periods in its history and becoming more like it has been for most of its history; i.e., warmer than it has been these past several million years. Based on the science - the real science - it doesn't look as though we should expect any change very soon, however.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_wv0U8d-Cd28mzuziVe538sEeWTgbbJ95XDfHXJrWjqbfKVRVWwGjwroqWaBiIyzPatcouW1bfn4jjxmeaNTW-vY1ThP6-SBxTBewdZ6r9-foueRoCeOEaK2e9L0fdhgtMpy6XqM-UY8/s1600/altamira.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_wv0U8d-Cd28mzuziVe538sEeWTgbbJ95XDfHXJrWjqbfKVRVWwGjwroqWaBiIyzPatcouW1bfn4jjxmeaNTW-vY1ThP6-SBxTBewdZ6r9-foueRoCeOEaK2e9L0fdhgtMpy6XqM-UY8/s200/altamira.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Personally, I love winter and I admit to the lure of the Pleistocene (see my thread on the Holocene, below) - the sight of musk oxen, or wolverines, American bison, caribou and other arctic to sub-artic megafauna stirs some sort of deep rumblings of the Pleistocene in us.<br />
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Gotta go now, I feel the urge to embed some sharpened sticks facing upward at the base of a cliff.<br />
Well, perhaps I'll just settle for a glass of scotch - on the rocks, of course.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-58829074761897340642009-08-26T22:00:00.000-04:002009-08-27T11:16:30.956-04:00Power of Suggestion"The Earth has been getting COOLER for a decade? How can that be? I have felt the summers getting warmer."<br /><br />That's the reaction I got in a recent discussion aboout GLOBAL WARMING with a friend.<br /><br />"Really? You have noticed warmer summers?" And this in the midst of the "Year without a summer" in the central and eastern states.<br /><br />First, he hasn't felt the summers getting warming because, quite simply and factually, they have NOT been getting warmer. Even in his state, temperatures have mirrored the global averages which have stabilized or cooled since 1998.<br /><br />Second, even if gloabl warming is happening, the signature which would be seen would be warmer winters - not warmer summers. There is really nothing in global warming theory which concludes that summers will become warmer - almost all predictions are that the signature would be warmer temperatures in the polar winters. And of course, polar winters are already somewhere on the average of -20 C to -30 C. A slight warming (which has not been measured btw) would mean that the average polar temperatures would be -15C to -20 C (or somewhere similar). In fact, poalr temperatures are very much as they have been since detailed records began.<br /><br />This friend is very well educated, highly intelligent, very astute in most things, but he was convinced that summers are becoming noticiably warmer based on what he has heard in popular media stories and on the never-ending parade of reports of "Warmest year on record"... "Warmest decade on record" all of which have been shown to be incorrect claims (the 1930s is still the warmest decade - you know, dust bowl and all that - 1934 the hottest year, followed by 1998 (an anomalously strong el nino year), after which the Earth has cooled slightly. In fact as of 2008, we were, temperature wise, back to where we were near the beginning of the last century.<br /><br />Wasn't it Josef Goebels who said, "If you tell people a lie long enough, they will come to believe it." Even in the face of contrary evidence and against their own senses.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-58285584936588799492009-08-26T16:02:00.000-04:002009-08-26T20:52:03.675-04:00My Precious....This one really pegs the incongruity needle.<br /><br />There are many reasons to increase fuel efficiency and to begin to wean ourselves from the petroleum system. Not that such is going to be easy or brief, but there are many good reasons to at least begin and to continue working toward it in earnest. <br /><br />My own principle reason is politcal - if we could, in the next half century, devise some way to make it an obsolete fuel, much of the world's problems would dissipate like so much exhaust...<br /><br />But one that I hear quite frequently, apart from the standard pollution reasons, is that we should become more energy efficient to conserve precious petroleum resources -<br /><br />WHAT?????<br /><br />Petroleum resources are ONLY precious because they are useful - in the here and now. If they didn't burn like mad and release tons of energy, they would not be precious - they would be nothing more than the pollutants that they really are.<br /><br />And conserve the resources for WHAT? Aren;t we trying to get away from a petroleum based world. If we succeed the precious resource will be useless!!!<br /><br />It's nice to think up good reasons for this cause, but let's not look stupid in doing it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-50774077886809276232009-08-26T14:59:00.000-04:002009-08-27T11:24:23.230-04:00TaxonomyWhy do we have such a love of despising ourselves?<br /><br />We try to belittle the human species at every possible juncture of thought.<br />Back in the '70s there was that series of books/movies which stated, quite emphatically, that humans MUST have had extra-terrstrial assistance to achieve the things we have.<br /><br />Personally, I like to take credit for our own accomplishments rather than make up an unprovable entity to credit.<br /><br />This kind of self-disparagement comes in all forms. My favourite (least favourite) is the perennial comparison of the species longevity of human-kind as compared with, what else - Dinosaurs. That paragon of all life forms - it inspires awe, wonder, fear. We consider them almost god-like.<br /><br />Why? Because some of them were big?<br /><br />Let's look at this one closely. What we hear is: "Dinosuars - (imagine Walter Cronkite's voice here) - one of the most successful life forms which have ever lived on planet Earth. They ruled supreme for 140 MILLION YEARS. Humans, by comparison have been on Earth for a mere 200 THOUSAND YEARS - 700 times more brief.<br /><br />Quite correct, as far as it goes. But how far is that? Let's compare dinosaurs and humans using the most dispassionate system available - the taxa:<br /><br />Here's the dinosaurs (in simplified form):<br /><br /><strong>Kingdom: </strong>Animalia (animals)<br /><strong>Phylum: </strong>Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)<br /><strong>Class:</strong> <a href="http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/glossary/Archosaur.shtml">Archosauria</a> (<a href="http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/glossary/indexdi.shtml">diapsids</a> with socket-set teeth, etc.)<br /><strong>Subclass:</strong> Ornithodira (dinosaurs and <a href="http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinos/Pterosaur.shtml">pterosaurs</a>)<br /><strong>Superorder:</strong> Dinosauria (dinosaurs)<br /><strong>Order: </strong>Saurischia and Ornithischia (based on hip structure)<br />We can go further using everyone's favourite T.Rex:<br /><strong>Family:</strong> Therapoda<br /><strong>Genus:</strong> Tyranosaurus<br /><strong>Species:</strong> rex<br /><br />There were other tyrannosaurids<br /><br />OK? What about humans:<br /><br /><strong>Kingdom:</strong> Aminalia<br /><strong>Phylum:</strong> Chordata - so far so good<br /><strong>Class:</strong> Mammalia<br /><strong>Sub-Class:</strong> Placental<br /><strong>Order:</strong> Primates<br /><strong>Family:</strong> Hominidae<br /><strong>Genus:</strong> Homo<br /><strong>Species:</strong> sapiens<br /><br />So - a comparison of dinosaurs to humans compares the ORDER (Super-order) to a species.<br /><br />Is that legal? Is it cricket?<br /><br />Let's do two comparisons: Let's look at T. rex vs humans - species to species.<br /><br />T. rex lived for the last couple million years (at most) at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Anatomically modern humans have been around for only a couple hundred thousand years - OK but we are still going. But here's the kick. T. rex lived in a small geographic area in the North American west - the Dakotas, Montana and the adjacent areas of Canada. We live EVERYWHERE.<br /><br />Now how about the order dinosauria compared with the order primates.<br />Well - this is even better, the first primates were around at the time of the dinosaurs - and way before T. rex. When comparing apples to apples, we do pretty well.<br /><br />In fact, if you tot up all of the orders of plants and animals and make a graph through time, there is only one branch which completely disappears at the end of the Mesozoin Era - you guessed it - Dinosaurs.<br /><br />In fact, except for their one offshoot branch - birds - the dinosaurs were ...... LOSERS!!!!!!<br /><br /><br />They are gone - we are still here.<br /><br />So tell Erik von Dannikan to take a hike - or better yet a space flight in a Chariot of the Gods - and be proud of your heritage.<br /><br />You are the direct descendant of a very, very, very long line of WINNERS. Every one of your ancestors, back to the lowest pond scum, was a winner in the game of life - not one of them was unable to grow to sexual maturity, or failed to repreoduce, or didn't manage to raise its offspring to their own maturity.<br /><br />Of course we didn't and don't need assistance from aliens. And no other order, family, genus, species can claim more evolutionary success than us - even crocodilians which have been around longer, have not radiated into as many habitats and different environments than primates, hominids, homos, sapiens (any stage along the taxa does well under scutiny).<br /><br />So next time someone extolls the prowess of the dinosaur line, feel free to put them in their place by decrying our erstwhile planet-mates as the losers that they were. And, btw, don't buy that guff about bad luck and asteroids - just a load of fetid dingoes kidneys, but that is another post.<br /><br />Here's a health to our company! CheersAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264732903898024761.post-51175863304334621562009-08-26T13:08:00.001-04:002010-03-31T13:21:23.411-04:00Status QuoYou can't 'save' the Earth.<br />
At least not in the sense that it should be preserved in its current state - the status quo.<br />
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That's what 'saving' something is. When we talk about saving the Earth, what we mean is that we should stop changing it - we should preserve it. OK - so is the current condition the way we want things to stay forever? And does that mean that we need to stop consuming - everyone in the world? Because that is the only way that things are going to be preserved in their current state.<br />
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Or do we mean that only certain things should be preserved? Things like wildlife, and habitats.<br />
Well, that covers everything. Find some place which is not habitat to some life form and you win the nobel prize - life is EVERYWHERE you might care to look for it. How does one make a case that some species and habitats warrant protection and others do not?<br />
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Many go so far as to say we should restore the Earth.<br />
To what condition, I ask? And what time period do we conclude makes a good target for which we should aim? 100 years ago? Probably not. 500 years ago? Why would that be better? 10,000 years ago? Is that being ridiculous? I don't think so.<br />
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And to which geologic time period should restoration proceed? Where does one draw a logical line? There is no logical differernce between 100 years and 100 million years.<br />
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One can not say that things are different now because humans have caused extinctions and losses of habitats. We are, quite simply, an ecological dominant speicies - there have been many over time, and all have done the same thing we have. They have outcompeted other species, resulting in irrevocable habitat changes and affecting evolution and Earth history forever into the future.<br />
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And where do we draw the line as to what species to restore? Do we continue our genocidal warfare against pathogenic bacteria and viruses, or do we also go after fleas which are the vectors of such pathogens (go ahead - someone make a case that fleas should be protected), or do we go up the ladder and erradicate the rats which carry the fleas (anyone not have an instinct to kill any specimen of ratus vulgaris upon sight)? From a perspective that all species warrant protection and that all of the organisms in that particular vector (bubonic plague) are/were vital components in its propagation, what do we preserve and what do we erradicate in order to preserve ourselves? Ditto malaria - which is now killing people in multitudes because the only effective pesticide for the culex pipiens mosquito was DDT which is now in short supply. We eliminated DDT to save raptors (all well and good) and the end result is many people dying. All well and good?<br />
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I don't advocate re-introducing DDT, but use this example that at some point in any attempt to "save" the Earth, there are consequences to human civilization. We can look at many similar examples but that one will suffice for now.<br />
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So let's take the approach that we want to preserve all currently undeveloped land and sea areas to pre-human civilization conditions. That implies that there is some primordial condition for each such area that represents the status quo and that is what we strive to recreate and then preserve.<br />
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Let's look at a worthy candidate - Yellowstone Park. It's already preserved to some degree. The re-introduction of wolves a couple decades ago stirred up a controversy amongst local ranchers which rages to this day - one re-introduced species. But that's simple. What abuot the geyser field? An earthquake in the 1990s resulted in Old Faithful geyser being not quite so faithful - a re-alignment of the subterranean pluming system has caused a more irregular eruption schedule - and some woman tried to sue the National Park Service because she did not get to see that geyser epupt! I'm not kidding.<br />
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So - should we engineer the geyser field to re-establish conditions to the pre-1990s? Install some pumps so that Old Faithful erupts every 68 minutes again?<br />
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Well ... I don't need to get ridiculous, but we could continue this line of argumentation all the way back to the time before the Yellowstone caldera formed and make a good case that any of the many conditions going back in time are just as worth re-establishing as any other.<br />
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Regardless of humans' presence or absence, the Earth changes - it is the only constant of Earth history - CHANGE.<br />
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We do not live in a special time. We do not live in a priviledged environment. The Earth has not always been as it is now. The Earth from 50 million years ago (m.a.) would be unrecognizable to us, and the Earth at 100 million years ago would be unrecognizable to the inhabitants of 50 m.a. and so on. On a local scale, one does not need to have such an expansive time lapse between interrations and the changes render your own little corner of the world as vastly different than in previous times.<br />
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Life on Earth has not only changed the Earth over geologic time, life on Earth has made Earth what it is. The atmosphere of today was manufactured by life. The atmospheric composistion is what dictates the behaviour of weather patterns and climates, which in turn drive erosion, transportation and sedimentation, which in turn create new landscapes and geology, which in turn are eroded by the atmosphere.......<br />
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We are part of the web of life. The changes we visit to the surface of the planet are just the latest in the processes of changes which life and the physical planet have been enacting for 4 billion years.<br />
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As Bradbury noted "I hate a Roman called 'Status Quo'". Well, in terms of the Earth, there IS no Roman called Status Quo.<br />
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Life is not a passive passenger (the roots of those words are related) on spaceship Earth. Life changes Earth - it always has - it always will.<br />
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The Earth does not need to be saved, as in rescued, from us any more than it does or did from any other species.<br />
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The Earth does not need to be saved, as in preserved - quite simjply, it can not be.<br />
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Once again, I don't advocate wasteful living. We are a self-recognizing, forward-looking species, unique in all the kingdoms of life on Earth and that attribute comes with some responsiblities, but that would be moralizing...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636729050807714487noreply@blogger.com0