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July 14, 2004 I suppose that I should begin this with the admission that I have little patience with junk science (or junk scientists, for that matter.) I read scientific journals avidly and have found the opinions on such things as "global warming" to be about evenly divided between those scientists who think it's a "disaster" waiting to happen and those who think that, even if it DOES prove to be true, it'll merely moderate some of our weather extremes and enhance the growth of plants--upon which we ALL depend, ultimately, for food and fiber. Frankly, I'm inclined to believe that the latter group makes MUCH more sense than the former. For those of you who may not know, the premise of the doom-sayers is that oil and gas combustion (isn't it ALWAYS oil and gas that are the culprits when blame needs to be affixed?) makes CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), which, they claim, accumulates in the lower atmosphere as a "greenhouse gas" which traps solar energy, raising the temperature of the lower atmosphere-- since it's HEAT energy that is trapped by "greenhouse gasses." Keep in mind that greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere is composed of the following: 97% WATER VAPOR, 1.7% CO2 & 1.3% a variety of other substances--including CFC's, neon, argon, smoke particles (suspended solids), etc. The doom-sayers claim that a rise in average world-wide temperatures of only 2 degrees Celcius COULD cause the polar icecaps to melt which, they insist, will flood all coastal areas and some islands--especially low-lying atolls. Since the average North- and South-pole temperatures are around minus 12 degrees Celsius, they have no explanation how a temperature of minus 10 degrees Celsius might accomplish this since water freezes at zero Celsius. IF the intent is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere, doesn't it make more sense to attack that 97% instead of a measly 1.7%? The answer is, of course, but reducing greenhouse gasses is NOT the final agenda of these people. Stopping humankind from burning oil and gas is. Understanding that oil and gas are the two most important substances that (you should pardon the expression) fuel the engine of the American economy, they are intent on causing that engine to come to a grinding halt--or, at the very least, slow it to a crawl. Why? Because there are those in our own country who honestly believe that the world economy is a pie and we enjoy too large a slice. Unfortunately, the fact is, the world economy is NOT a "pie" it grows almost daily. Think for a minute. Two thousand years ago, one of the biggest problems facing the Romans was how to dispose of all that black, smelly, gunky stuff that kept seeping out of the ground. Then, think about all the new medicines we see developed almost daily. We've actually explored for exploitation about 50% of the Earth's surface. It's almost a dead-bang certainty that we haven't even TOUCHED the vast majority of the Earth's resources. The deepest we've drilled for oil and gas is about 5 miles. We've MINED only down to a very maximum of 2000 feet or so. Yet, the Earth's crust is well over a hundred miles thick--including that part that's underwater. Estimates are that the world's oceans contain enough dissolved gold to make a solid block of the stuff 2 miles on a side! All we need to do is find out how to extract it...and we WILL eventually. So, the next time some enviro-nut talks to you about "Global warming," ask him/her to PROVE IT, and refuse to take the word of some pseudo- scientific "study" as gospel. Remember, one of the 4 great logical fallacies is called "Appeal to Authority," and, frankly, there AREN'T any real authorities on the global climate. We can't even predict what the weather will be like in 50 days...let alone 50 years! Ever notice how each day's "record high" occurred 75 to 100 years ago, on average? If we're experiencing "global warming" why haven't more of those records been set in the last 10 years? ------------ About the author: David A. Jared is a semi-retired oil & gas middle- manager who, as soon as he can get his daughter out of college, intends to be a FULLY-retired oil & gas middle-manager. Email: JaredLand@sbcglobal.net |
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