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| Global warming:A natural or human result | | |
Sponsor |  FreqWiz | Jul 18, 2007 4:43pm | Many climatologists and scientists say arctic ice melt and other changes in the Earth's climate are the result of an increase in the world's temperature, a trend widely called global warming.
Many global warming experts say the phenomenon, if unchecked, is capable of altering the world's climate and geography. In the worst-case scenario, experts say oceans could rise to overwhelming and catastrophic levels, flooding cities and altering seashores.
Other scientists and observers, a minority compared to those who believe the warming trend is something ominous, say it is simply the latest shift in the cyclical patterns of a planet's life.
Most of the scientific community believes that some warming is occurring across the globe and through some layers of the atmosphere. But why it is occurring and what that means for the future is scientifically and politically contentious.
The Earth's temperature averages about 60 degrees Fahrenheit (about 16 degrees Celsius).
The average surface temperature has warmed one degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) during the last century, according to the National Research Council.
The temperatures were relatively unchanged from 1880 to 1910, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They rose till about 1945, cooled until about 1975 and have risen steadily to present day.
There are several possible reasons for the warming, scientists say.
A change in the Earth's orbit or the intensity of the sun's radiation could change, triggering warming or cooling.
The reason most cited -- by scientists and scientific organizations -- for the current warming trend is an increase in the concentrations of greenhouse gases, which are in the atmosphere naturally and help keep the planet's temperature at a comfortable level.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for instance, has increased by 35 percent since the dawn of the industrial age, according to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, commonly referred to as the IPCC.
The presence of methane is now 151 percent above pre-industrial levels, but the rate of increase has slowed in recent decades, according to the EPA. Meanwhile, nitrous oxide increased by about 18 percent during the past 200 years.
Many scientists and experts who have studied global warming believe the increase is primarily the result of human activities, like the burning of fossil fuels, emissions from vehicles and the clearing of forests.
"For the last 30 years, there's no way there's anything natural that can explain it," Stephen Schneider, a professor of environmental studies at Stanford University in California, said.
"A vast bulk of the knowledgeable and honest community ... will say the science is settled and humans are at least a majority of the reason behind the warming," he added.
Many scientific organizations share Schneider's view, ranging from the national academies of the countries that comprise the G8 to the National Research Council, the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union.
But there are those who do not share his view, and among the skeptics is Richard Lindzen, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"We've suddenly taken to reading tea leaves," he said. "When we saw cooling from 1940 to 1970, we were proclaiming global cooling. Since then, there's been a few tenths of global warming, so we're proclaiming global warming."
He believes the current warming trend is the result of natural variability, where a planet goes through phases of warming and cooling and the human contribution to it is minimal.
"The Earth is always getting colder and warmer," he said. "It's always changing. In fact, this is true of any fluid-covered planet."
Asked about glacial melt, which many observers point to as evidence of global warming, Lindzen said the way glaciers change and move are phenomena largely unexplained.
Global warming: A natural cycle or human result? |
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| | | lizzy | Feb 7, 12:58pm | What we now describe as the North Pole is getting warmer, because it is shifting away from the true north pole which is pointing towards another direction..in other words the poles are shifting and north isnt north any more..
Simultaniously the south pole is getting COLDER.
I have seen evidence of this which i wholey believe..i will try to retrieve it for anyone whos interested..
I have also seen evidence of foulplay on the political arena..
people realy are sheep..they commision a few respected experts to do some papers on climate change/global warming [polution] (which is hardly mentiond any more)engineer them to their agenda, get a stupid fat American fading politician to feed the nuerotics to a background of typical spring
in the Arctic.
Then the evil Builders of doom set their money making agenda for the G8 who feed the UN to pass laws which aim to prevent poor and indiginous peoples from using the free or cheap renewable fuels they have been using since time began in favour of a deadly fuel which will eventualy poison a third of the waters of the earth and cause lukemia in hundreds of children as well as deformaties in unborn babies and will continue poluting the earth for millions of years after mercinaries have enjoyed their fortune..
BTW we the slaves pay for the clean up and also the set up of all these new and revamped nuclear power stations and those bastards sit back and rake in the profits getting ready to run when human error prevails as it always does making hiroshema look like a sneeze.
They will tell you they are saving you a lot of money to begin with so you can play your music, watch your screens, run your dishwashers, fancy lights and all forms of communication..they will make you entirely dependent on them and only them..and then they will tell you what it all costs whilst making themselves look like the saviours of the earth.
Irene Kock of the Nuclear Awareness Project stated,
"Nuclear power is not a solution for climate change. It is a cynical gambit on the part of the global nuclear power industry to save itself from being phased out. In addition to the risk of catastrophic accidents, nuclear power is hazardous because of pollution from day-to-day operations. All stages of the nuclear fuel chain, including uranium mining, processing, refining, fuel fabrication, reactor operations and nuclear waste handling, emit radioactive, carcinogenic pollutants."
She noted that CANDU reactors routinely emit tritium, a radioactive, carcinogenic form of hydrogen.
"Local tritium levels are far above background levels in the vicinity of CANDU reactors. Exposure to tritium and other radioactive pollutants increases the risk of cancer and other health problems. Spent nuclear fuel is instantly lethal and remains toxic for more than a million years. No agreement has been reached on how to dispose of this high level radioactive waste, which is currently stored at each reactor site around the globe."
Elizabeth May of the Sierra Club of Canada stated,
"the nuclear industry and its supporters in government are trying to revive a dying industry through the climate change negotiating process. Climate change is one of the most serious problems facing the planet. Not only does nuclear power not address the problem, it diverts funds away from energy efficiency measures."
Kristen Ostling of the Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout said,
"It would seem that the Prime Minister has his head stuck somewhere between a uranium mine and an oil well. He should not be acting the part of salesman for the Canadian nuclear industry, using large sums of public money to finance nuclear deals. The choice is not between nuclear power or fossil fuel. The way forward is through energy efficiency and renewables."
Ostling noted that CANDU reactors have a history of accidents and maintenance problems as well as declining performance. In 1996, Ontario Hydro's 19 operating reactors ran at 66 percent capacity. In addition, fossil-fuelled generating stations are typically used in conjunction with nuclear stations, in order to meet daily peaks in electricity demand. Nuclear stations are not flexible enough to adjust to changing demand on short notice. Continued use of nuclear stations requires the continued use of fossil stations.
ccnr.org/no_nukes_cnp.html [ccnr.org/no_nukes_cnp.html] |
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| | | lizzy | Feb 19, 10:46am | | I always thought homegrown could be put to good use |
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|  csny | Feb 26, 1:17pm | Nuke plant shutdown causes Fla. outages
By JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago
A South Florida nuclear plant automatically shut down Tuesday, causing sporadic power outages throughout the state that affected up to 3 million people from Daytona Beach through the Florida Keys. Authorities did not specify the cause of the midday shutdown of both reactors at Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point plant south of Miami but say there were no safety concerns.
Power was already restored in some places by early afternoon and was estimated to be fully restored by 6 p.m., Florida Power & Light said.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the two reactors automatically shut down. Two other power plants farther north, the Crystal River reactor and St. Lucie twin reactors, continued to operate, although officials at those two facilities noticed the grid disturbance.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez said the outages were technical, not criminal.
"It's a matter of just a cascading effect," he said.
The outages have no connection to terrorism, Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Laura Keehner said.
"We don't know whether the grid disturbance caused the units to shut down or that their shut down caused the grid disturbance," said Kenneth Clark, a spokesman at the NRC regional office in Atlanta. He said the two reactors were automatically shut down.
"There are no safety concerns. The reactors shut down as designed," Clark said. Both reactors continued to have offsite electric power, and two coal-burning power plants at Turkey Point also shut down, he said.
Florida emergency management officials said the outages cut power to about 2-3 million people, although FPL said the number was closer to 800,000.
Outages appeared to be concentrated in the southeast portion of the state, including Miami, but were also reported in along the southwest coast and northeastern part of the state as well as in the Florida Keys. The outages began shortly after 1 p.m. EST, though power in some affected areas had been restored an hour later.
Several Miami-area hospitals switched to backup generators when the power went out. Miami-Dade schools were scheduled to be dismissed on time, and officials said school buses would be running.
In Miami's western suburb of Doral, Panera Bread bakery servers enjoyed the unexpected smoking break at the height of the midday rush-hour, while their manager grumbled over lost sales. At a Starbucks down the block, employees began handing out sandwiches they feared would go bad.
Nelson Suarez, 35, a manager for Asia sales at World Fuel Services, enjoyed the free lunch.
"I can't work anyway since all the power is out, so at least something good came out of this," he said.
In Collier County in the southwestern portion of the state, sheriff's spokeswoman Karie Partington said officials were working to determine the extent of the outages.
"We really don't have a good picture of it," sheriff's spokeswoman Karie Partington said. "It's not any one location."
In central Florida, the Orange and Volusia county sheriff's offices confirmed power outages at traffic signals across their jurisdictions.
"I don't have a handle on whether we're experiencing residential or commercial outages," said Gary Davidson, Volusia sheriff's spokesman. "I know we're receiving reports of traffic lights out virtually throughout the county."
Jaime Hernandez, a spokesman for Miami-Dade County Department of Emergency Management, said the county is partially activating its emergency operations center. He said no injuries have been reported so far.
By 2 p.m., most of downtown Miami appeared to be back to normal operation, including a campus of Miami Dade College and numerous stores and businesses. Traffic lights were out for a short time but appeared to be back in regular operation. In the Florida Keys, spokesman Andy Newman said areas were without power for about 15 minutes, but it was back up as well.
An official at the Miami International Airport says the facility is working on a generator backup but that no airline delays were reported.
youtube.com/watch [youtube.com/watch] |
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| Global warming:A natural or human result | | |
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