Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Global Whining

I’ve been away. Or, didn’t you notice? I decided, several weeks ago, to solve the global warming problem. I’m not exactly sure I believe there is a global warming problem, but since perception is reality, it must be a big one…problem, that is. And, the Steve Cook motto is, “Where there’s a problem, Steve’s got a solution.” Or, something like that. I haven’t really given much thought to my motto.
Anyway, I put my mind to solving the problem. First, I studied the situation. It’s always good to study situations. So, that’s what I did. I did a lot of reading, mainly cereal boxes, but, hey, there’s some good stuff out there, especially on those organic cereal boxes.
I basically came to the conclusion, initially, that in some parts of the world it was cooler this year, and in some areas, it’s been warmer. What I think we are really experiencing today is what I call, “Global Staying Pretty Much the Same.” But, again, since so many people are so scared about global warming, I may as well solve it.
Personally, I say, “Bring it on.” I think it would be great to be able to take a vacation in the tropics and see the sights of Manhattan, all at the same time. I just hope global warming kicks in before I get too old to enjoy that.
But, anyway, I digress. Here’s the solution: Do you remember, back in the seventies, when everyone was whining about global cooling? I do. So, here’s what I did. I read some stuff, including a very well-written piece on Wikipedia, about global cooling. I read what the experts of thirty years ago thought was causing global cooling. And, I decided that the secret to ending global warming, is to do the things we were doing in the seventies to cause global cooling.
Pretty clever, eh? I thought so. For instance, it seems that aerosol cans were blamed on global cooling. So, for starters, if you’re really worried about your carbon footprint, and all that, everyone should go get themselves an aerosol can and spray it everyday. It doesn’t matter what it is. Maybe deodorant, or room freshener would do. And, if manufacturers took out those fleurocarbons, then Congress, or someone like that, should demand they be put back in. I firmly believe that if we all cooperated on this, we could end the threat of global warming almost overnight. I think we should all be encouraged to spray regularly. In fact, I’ve already come up with a great campaign slogan. Are you ready for this? “If you want to end global warming, let us spray.” Huh? Cool or what?
Now, there was something else that the scientific gurus were suggesting thirty years ago that might be causing global cooling. It had something to do with the earth’s tilt getting just slightly off kilter. I am not sure if that was caused by anything, or just one of those things that happens. But, anyway, if the earth tilts too much one way and it gets cooler, then logically if it tilts the other way, it’d get warmer. Even an idiot could figure that one out, as I proved. Now, what I haven’t been able to figure out, is how the earth’s tilting affects the whole earth. I’d think the people on one side would get cooler, while the folks on the other side got warmer, but that’s one of those issues I leave for those far wiser than I to figure out.
But, here is what I did figure out. If we simply set off some bombs or something, it should be an easy thing to cause the earth to tilt the right way. And, since we have plenty of bombs lying around, if we tilt too far one way, we can just set off some bombs on the other side of the earth and adjust it. It might take several detonations to tweak things just right, but obviously it’s an easy fix.
So, there you go. While the various political candidates do nothing but whine and complain, I look for solutions. As Bobby Kennedy said, “Some men look at things and say something or another, I look at things and say something else.” Hey, maybe that should be my motto.

1 comment:

Shifu said...

You’ve got the wrong end of the stick as far as aerosols are concerned. In an atmospheric context the term doesn’t refer to aerosol cans. These store liquids under high pressure, hence the spray when you press the button. (Esentially can contain two things. a) a fluid that boils well below room temperature; it wants to expand and escape but cant until the button is pressed and b) the product. Deodorant or whatever.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/aerosol-can2.htm
In atmosphere aerosols refers to very fine particles such as wind blown dust and the like. Back in the days before the clean air acts industry emitted a great quantity of aerosols (soot and chemical waste) from factory chimneys. It was this that was referred to back in the 70s.

As for the earth tilting. Your thinking of the ‘wobble’ (precession) and changes to the axial tilt of the earth caused by astronomical or Milankovitch cycles. Ice ages are caused by astronomical (Milankovitch) cycles that caused the amount of solar energy to vary over the eras. However the first of the present series of ice ages, where ice sheets advanced and retreated 20 times across the northern hemisphere, only began three million years ago. (Factors such as movements of the continents, greater volcanic activity and so on had kept the climate warmer prior to then for tens of millions of years.)
http://www.homepage.montana.edu/~geol445/hyperglac/time1/milankov.htm
But the Earths tilt and wobble altering the amount of solar energy only accounts for 5 degrees of temp. change, the rest can only be accounted for by accompanying falls and rises in CO2.
Earth should be heading towards another ice age in around 20 thousand years or so, though if CO2 concentrations remain high (CO2 can persist in the atmosphere for thousands of years) then its onset may be delayed.

Maybe sick to working on your motto. :-)