The Volcano Theory
Photo: Google Images
Our world has lasted for eons. No animal, even the giant dinosaurs, ever threatened the planetary ecology as much as scientists are claiming we humans are. Mighty volcanoes have spewed millions of tons of noxious gases and dust and hot lava and only managed relatively short-term disturbances. Now, National Geographic is adding to the chorus of those asking for immediate life-style changes to prevent major long-term problems for the world. Most of us say, "OK, we'll change when we have to, but not yet. Things are still fine here in developed countries.'
I have been thinking about this and the analogy I come up with is volcanoes. Volcanoes are distributed around the world and sporadic. Not any more. Add up all the gases that come out of the smokestacks and exhaust pipes of our coal, natural gas, and petroleum powered machines and we are putting volcano sized emissions into the atmosphere every day. Mother Nature isn't set up to handle this constant, every increasing flow of CO2 and other gases. It is like another analogy - letting dishes pile up in the sink. We can't stop eating (world society of rising expectations) everyday but we can reduce the rate of growth of dishes in the sink (CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere with attendant temperature rise) so Mother Nature can start to work down the dirty dishes already there. Some diligence by all of us is necessary. Got diligence? That is a very real question.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Billy 8:16PM (2/09/2008)
About those Cyanobacteria, they created masses of calcified colonies a few billion years ago that are left as fossils called stromatolites. Their waste product was oxygen which dramatically changed the atmosphere and the conditions that these organisms lived in. Interestingly enough they do not exist in those colonies any longer because of the change to their environment. All of the evidence from real science shows that the chemistry of out atmosphere is changing, but why is it so difficult for people to understand how science works? These are not opinions or beliefs, but measurements made by many scientists from everywhere on the planet. I am a college instructor who teaches Biology, but even my own father thinks that nothing is changing and everything will be fine despite my explainations of the data. What's the psychology behind this?
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Billy 3:14PM (1/25/2008)
About those Cyanobacteria, they created masses of calcified colonies a few billion years ago that are left as fossils called stromatolites. Their waste product was oxygen which dramatically changed the atmosphere and the conditions that these organisms lived in. Interestingly enough they do not exist in those colonies any longer because of the change to their environment. All of the evidence from real science shows that the chemistry of out atmosphere is changing, but why is it so difficult for people to understand how science works? These are not opinions or beliefs, but measurements made by many scientists from everywhere on the planet. I am a college instructor who teaches Biology, but even my own father thinks that nothing is changing and everything will be fine despite my explainations of the data. What's the psychology behind this?
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Tony Belding 3:25PM (10/26/2007)
National Geographic is not a science journal.
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Kardax 1:03PM (10/26/2007)
This problem is going to solve itself.
All the CO2-intensive fossil fuels are limited in supply. When they've all been burned, we'll stop our CO2 emissions. Simple :)
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Mikael Johansson 1:42PM (10/26/2007)
Kardax, that´s correct. But then we humans will be gone too.
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Mikael Johansson 1:42PM (10/26/2007)
Kardax, that´s correct. But then we humans will be gone too.
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Kardax 2:07PM (10/26/2007)
Mikael Johansson: I'm sure a few of us will still be around :)
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susan.kraemer 2:12PM (10/26/2007)
No animal has changed our world as much as us?????
Incorrect:
Cyanobacteria billions of years ago completely changed our original atmosphere from CO2-based to the primarily oxygen-based atmosphere that the vast majority of lifeforms enjoy currently.
From the journal Nature:
"The transition from an early, virtually oxygen-free world to an irreversibly oxygenated one is linked to the first appearance and proliferation of photosynthesizing cyanobacteria."
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v448/n7157/full/4481005a.html
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GoodCheer 2:20PM (10/26/2007)
While we're probably getting pretty short on oil (at least the oil that's easy and inexpensive to get to), but unfortunately we have coal to last for a very long time.
Coal, which as we know from previous posts is the enemy of mankind... so I won't get into why.
I think I'm going to side with the poster that occasionally says that all the money being used to fund fuel cell and ADM (oops, I mean bioethanol) research should be used as incentives for small residential wind/solar/geothermal... we'd have a dramatically different energy landscape in just a few years.
I also like the idea of demand-side funding... as it will promote both production and innovation as companies compete for quasi-free-market dollars, without picking a winning company or even technology.
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mike 3:41PM (10/26/2007)
Did anyone predict the national drought that currently going on? I don't think so. Climate is a complex system. What other consequences of climate change will we see that we did not predict.
The right wing, with no basis in science, does not have the right to change the parameters of how this planet runs. We have no test planets. We have no backup planet.
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Domenick 4:39PM (10/26/2007)
But "Proceedings of the Royal Society B" is. You have have heard about this article, http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/3x081w5n5358qj01/
Coupled with other alarming reports, such as the Global Environment Outlook (Geo-4), I would seem there is lots to be concerned about.
We need to figure out what exactly we can do to begin living carbon positive lives and reducing other environmental destruction while we can. It would be monumentally depressing ,to say the least, to discover that we are on the wrong side of a tipping point.
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susan.kraemer 5:44PM (10/26/2007)
National Geographic is a science magazine for the layman interested in all kinds of science, and it has covered the science of climate change for decades along with all sorts of other science as new studies get published in the academic scientific journals, like Nature and Science.
Increased droughts with more wildfires in some areas were predicted along with more flooding in other areas as a result of climate change from the early 80's on.
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susan.kraemer 12:33PM (10/27/2007)
To Mike:
"Did anyone predict the national drought that currently going on? I don't think so."
Scientists said in 2000 that drought has doubled desertification worldwide, which includes our desertptrone areas.
http://enviro.org.au/drought.asp
The IPPC report said 5 Billion people will have water scarcity by 2100:
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:V4_BPdMPkVcJ:www.sac-hei.ch/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/marie_gleditsch_climatechangeconflict.doc+water-stressed.+This+number+is+projected+to+increase+to+about+5+billion+by+2025+ippc&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&client=firefox-a
scroll down to # 2.
“Approximately 1.7 billion people, one-third of the world’s population, presently live in countries that are water-stressed. This number is projected to increase to about 5 billion by 2025, depending on the rate of population growth.”
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susan.kraemer 12:35PM (10/27/2007)
I meant to say by 2025, not by 2100.
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GreyFlcn 2:32PM (10/27/2007)
Put it this way
The earth's level of CO2 hasn't gone over 281 ppm (parts-per-million) in 650,000 years.
We're now past 381 ppm
Thats not natural.
"Of course, the rise in CO2 has been caused by industry"
^^ Guess who said this?
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GreyFlcn 2:39PM (10/27/2007)
Darn, can't do HTML links
http://greyfalcon.net/carbon
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susan.kraemer 3:20PM (10/27/2007)
Mike: heres more scientists who've predicted US drought (if we keep adding carbon at the current rate):
...90 Year Drought Predicted For US Southwest
http://www.livescience.com/environment/070405_southwest_drought.html
...4 to 8 Degrees Hotter And Longer Summers
http://ams.confex.com/ams/Annual2006/techprogram/paper_102437.htm
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armmat 4:35AM (10/28/2007)
The apparent egotistical mentality of human beings is quite evident from this blog entry. We humans are changing the conditions of the planet...no doubt about that. But guess what...we're going to extinguish ourselves...our own pathetic selves. That's the influence we have. Granted, we'll take down alot of other animals, plants, and etc with us. But we are nothing but a pathetic blip on the timescale of this planet. It will eat us up and spit us out as fecal planet waste out the other end.
I just hope it's more painful for some than it is for others....particularly for the bastards who are most responsible.
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Scott 1:55PM (10/28/2007)
For someone to believe we can add so much pollution to the environment and not have an effect on it is irresponsible and illogical. Look at China who is having to spend billions to clean up a lake that is infested with algae that had been providing millions of people with water. "The deputy director the State Environmental Protection Administration said in July that one-quarter of the length of China’s seven major rivers is so dirty that even touching the water can be harmful to the skin." This is what happens when you don't regulate pollutants emitted into the environment. More on China lake here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21498294/
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armmat 9:03PM (10/28/2007)
SCOTT...
The problem isn't that they don't believe it...it's that they won't admit it. While Cheney and Bush and the likes of them are sitting in the ranches enjoying a steak (with the blood of thousands of people on their hands), why would they care when they are not directly affected?
Same goes for the thousands of bozos in the US driving around in SUVs going to TGI Fridays with their precious children, then going home and watching Desperate Housewives. We had 911 and everyone in the US went apeshit about safety and froze with paranoia....imagine what people in other countries, such as Iraq, are facing on a daily basis. We've experienced nothing compared to others so it's no wonder we are in denial.
Just remember, people in power in this country don't care about America...they care about money.
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