Date: 9/23/05 10:29 AM
From: Action editor
To: "group mailing list"
<rhe@robertedwards38.fsnet.co.uk>
Copy:
Subject: Greenhouse-effect is starting to turn into Venus-effect
> From: set [mailto:setex01@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Friday, 23 September 2005 5:41 PM
>
> Greenhouse-effect is starting to turn into Venus-effect
>
> NOW we are staring REAL PROBLEMS in the face! No amount of
cognitive
> dissonace will make this one go away!
>
> Sergei Kirpotin of Tomsk State University in western Siberia
and Judith
> Marquand of Oxford University report in New Scientist on 11
August 2005,
> that the vast expanse of western Sibera is undergoing
unprecedented
> thawing that could dramatically increase the rate of global
warming. The area,
> which covers the entire sub-Arctic region of western
Siberia, is the world's
> largest frozen peat bog and scientists fear that as it
thaws, it will
> release billions of tonnes of methane (locked up in
"methane-ice", a
> clathrate - gas hydrate - which freezes at +7deg. C) into
the atmosphere.
>
> Methane is a greenhouse gas 20 (or more) times more potent
than carbon
> dioxide. It is a scenario climate scientists have feared
since first
> identifying "tipping points" - delicate thresholds
where a slight rise in
> the Earth's temperature can cause a dramatic change in the
environment
> that itself triggers a far greater increase in global
temperatures.
>
> For decades already climatologists had been puzzled about
the steady
> retreat of glaciers the world over; an amazing array of
possible causes was
> concocted in order to not have to face the obvious - the
ever accelerating
> warming of global climate.
>
> A report, <Meeting The Climate Challenge>, aimed at
policymakers in every
> country, from national leaders down, has been timed to
coincide with Tony
> Blair's promised efforts to advance climate change policy in
2005 as
> chairman of both the G8 group of rich countries and the
European Union -
> but it has been largely ignored.
>
> In remarkably blunt language it spells out the
"Countdown to Global
> Climate Catastrophe": when the current avagerage CO2
content of the atmosphere of
> 279 ppm will have reached the magic number of 400, the
irreversable "Venus
> Effect"(as the present author has termed it in his
lectures) will set in.
>
> Solar thermal energy received by the Earth (as sun-rays) is
in the visible
> part of the spectrum of electromagnetic waves; the heat
radiated back
> into space from Earth is of infra-red wave lengths. Gas
molecules like
> carbondioxide (CO2) or methane (CH4) block such radiation.
Heat trapped by
> the atmosphere by "greenhouse-gases" will lead to
run-away temperature
> increases. They in turn will cause the melting of ice in the
Western
> Antarctic and Greenland (not to mention the thermal
expansion of water in
> the oceans!) and cause a sea-level rise of in excess of 10m.
>
> The influx of fresh-water will turn off (or alter - which
amounts to the
> same thing) "thermohaline conveyor-belts" (like
the Gulf-stream in the
> Atlantic and El Nino in the Pacific). The feed-back caused
thereby will
> lead to out-of-control warming of global climates and
ultimately eradicate life
> "as we know it". (Michael McCarthy, 24 January
2005, The Independent).
>
> Some climatologists venture, that without the warming from
the changed
> thermohaline "central heating" system, parts of
the globe will undergo
> marked cooling. As contradictionary as it may appear -
global warming
> will cause drastic cooling in certain regioins. These
regions, as it happens,
> are home to a large fraction of humanity.
>
> Will history repeat itself - will there be a mass migration
of people(s)?
> But will mass-migration be a solution? Some 80% of all
humans live
> (practically) at or close to the present-day sea level. What
is worse, is
> that many of the largest agricultural regions lie also just
a few meters
> above sea level.
>
> At the present rate of CO2 increase in the atmosphere of 3-4
ppm per
> annum, we will have reached the dreaded threshold in ~30
years. If the thawing of
> the tundra in western Siberia is for real, then it is surely
not
> restricted to this area alone, but will equally affect
eastern Siberia, Alaska and
> Canada (has anybody bothered to check)? If this thawing is
not only local
> (which were bad enough), the ~30 year "grace
period" for human Life on
> Earth (as we know it - a.k.a. "civilization") will
shrink to a mere fraction of
> this time-span.
>
> Can we stop this, reverse the trend? In all probability -
NO! Prayer (as
> a substitute for real spirituality) being just an
ineffective excuse is
> certainly not going to help.
>
> MAYBE (...... just maybe) the campaign of Professor Maathai
(Kenya's
> deputy environment minister and winner of the 2004 Nobel
Peace Prize) to plant
> trees, IF taken up by EVERY human on Earth, MIGHT let the
children of
> today become grand-parents!
>
> Contrary to common belief it is not (so much) the emission
of "greenhouse
> gases" by human activity and the human modus vivendi
overall, that is
> really causing the climate change! Deforestation and
pollution of the
> worlds oceans are the real reasons for the run-away climate
change. While
> humans will very soon have "amputated" half of the
"lung" of Gaia (the
> living Earth) - its forests, the other half - the worlds
oceans, become
> rapidly a diseased organ unable to function properly due to
pollution.
>
> The beginning thawing of the tundra is finally bringing
justice into it
> all: it will not be our(grand-)children who will have to pay
for our ways of
> life, but it seems possible, that we ourselves are not only
writing the
> bill, but will also have to settle it in our life-time!
>
> This was originally written some two weeks before Katrina
caused the kind
> of devastation hurricanes bring with ever greater frequency
to the Caribbean
> region. Being preoccupied with trying to comprehend the
damage to the
> people of the southern USA and the bayou region, the next
scientific report that
> should let us all pack our emergency-kits and head for the
hills went
> unnoticed by the media: Steve Connor, Science Editor of The
Independent on
> 16 September 2005 reports that satellites monitoring the
Arctic have found
> that the extent of the sea ice this August has reached its
lowest monthly
> point on record, dipping an unprecedented 18.2 per cent
below the
> long-term average. Experts believe that such a loss of
Arctic sea ice in summer has
> not occurred in hundreds and possibly thousands of years. It
is the fourth
> year in a row that the sea ice volume in August has fallen
below the
> monthly downward trend - a clear sign that melting has
accelerated. The record
> loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced
scientists that the
> northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold
beyond which the
> climate may never recover.
>
> Katrina (and the breach of levees which flooded the city of
New Orleans)
> may become yet another large-scale contributor to global
warming: the vast
> quantities of toxic waste that have been
"disposed" of by the flooding and
> which are now being pumped out into the ocean entirely
untreated, will
> kill any sort of life over large parts of the Gulf of
Mexico. These anoxic
> conditions will leave the CO2-laden exhaust of part of the
biggest
> polluter unscrubbed - another effect of the "American
Way of Life" that will get
> externalized into other parts of the globe.
>
> The time for political correctness (i.e. where one can speak
the truth
> only in hushed tones and then only to the "right"
people) is way past: just as
> the article regarding the melting tundra was not splashed
across the
> front-pages of the newspapers, so was the evidence for the
climate having
> "flipped" - in all probability irreversibly -
simply stuffed down the
> memory hole.
>
> Only a concerted global effort to demand of the USA
to(finally) act like a
> responsible member of the global family of nations may still
halt the
> untreated "disposal" of the possibly largest ever
accumulated mass of
> toxic waste.
>
> Dr. Siegfried E. Tischler, Visiting Professor - Ethics of
Science
> mob: +43 676 505 7217 (Austria) +62 813 656 66956(Indonesia)
> e-mail: setex01@ yahoo.com. / fax: +62 778 431 506
>
>
>
>
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