Svante Arrhenius:He Warned Us, But We Didn't Listen.

   More than hundred years ago, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius asked the important question “Is the mean temperature of the ground in any way influenced by the presence of the heat-absorbing gases in the atmosphere?” He went on to become the first person to investigate the effect that doubling atmospheric carbon dioxide would have on global climate. The question was debated throughout the early part of the 20th century and is still a main concern of Earth scientists today.

   In a sense, he predicted global warming… way back in the 1890s… when he performed a series of calculations on the temperature effects of increasing and decreasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. His calculations showed that the “temperature of the Arctic regions would rise about 8 degrees or 9 degrees Celsius, if the carbonic acid increased 2.5 to 3 times its present value.

His calculations were off, due to his data sources, but they track the path accurately!

   In the 1960s his calculations were improved on by EO Wilson and Robert MacArthur, and again showed that our increasing GHGs are pushing us toward accelerated Global warming.

Our Carbon Footprint...Will Deliver Death to the Seas...to Us All

Has anyone else noticed? We are destroying our planet...killing an untold number of species, and we don't seem to give a damn. I've seen coral, ablaze with color only a few years ago, bleached and dying today...and when it is gone its ecosystem will follow.

And the biggest cause...us...our incessant use of carbon fuels (fossil fuels) over saturating the atmosphere with CO2...and as a result the oceans, which absorb more than a third of it.

We must end this madness...

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No More Lobsters, No More Clams...

As some of us know, but most of us don't, the water absorbs gasses from the atmosphere. In fact, tons of gasses are absorbed every day...millions of tons or more per year. And today, with our gross amount of carbon that we blow into the air we are poisoning the oceans as quickly as we are the atmosphere.

With our human-consumptions of fossil fuels we are creating a great deal of CO2, and with the warming of the planet we are seeing an increased release of suspended methane...an even harsher Green House Gas (GHG). These levels have been increasing since the industrial revolution...200+ years of ever increasing carbon levels...and the seas and oceans, even our lakes and rivers are suffering.

In fact 1/3 of airborne CO2 is now absorbed into the oceans, and as a result the Ph factor is coming down...making the oceans more acidic...it is approaching a null point of 7.8...when the general ocean Ph has been above 8 for literally millions of years.

Certain animal species convert chemicals suspended in the ocean waters into calcium shields, of sorts. These animals are called 'calcifiers' and they use their body chemistry to create their calcium based shells and exoskeletal armor. But with the higher acidic environment they are having to work harder to make, and keep their shells. The more CO2 in the water, the harder it becomes, and one day not so far from now...easily within this century...we will reach that 7.8 Ph factor, and the shells will become a thing of the past for many species.

What can we do? Reduce our carbon foot print, reduce ocean temperatures...or at least slow the warming trend, and act internationally to address the problem. As the world's largest contributors to global warming and the release of GHGs, the United States, China and now India all need to commit to reductions and then see these reductions through. There is no other option, not if you want these species to survive.

DDT, Gone but Still Persisting…

Fifty years ago the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior used broad spectrum pesticides to try to eliminate pests that damaged crops and were hurting our forests. They sprayed tons of DDT from aircraft deployed systems. It did little to defeat the targeted species…as they were already at work and had laid their eggs before being exposed, but the environmental destruction was wide spread.

DDT was considered valuable because it was inexpensive to manufacture, could be deployed easily, and had an extended life in the field, which meant that it would work well over extended seasons and support reducing target populations over longer periods than other pesticides.

Today DDT is not allowed to be used in the United States, and most developed nations have banned it as well. It is, however, still used in South America, Africa, and Asia to combat different infestations and to reduce disease carrying pests that spread malaria and other infections.The US EPA removed DDT from service in the early 70s when it was classified as a probable human carcinogen by U.S. and international authorities. Specifically, DDT is:

• known to be very persistent* in the environment
• will accumulate in fatty tissues, and
• can travel long distances in the upper atmosphere.

The half-life* of DDT is projected at 15 years, that means that it persists in the environment, slowly losing power over time. And today, 45 years after it was taken off of our shelves, it can still be found in our soil and our water.

Using toxins for mass elimination of one or two insect species proved foolish. There was no protection for the thousands of other lifeforms exposed to these poisons, and many animals died along with the bugs. Fish were effected, too, as the sprays blanked streams and lakes, along with the land. Research today has found that there are DDT deposits in the beds below our ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers.

And though we can’t use DDT in the United States, we are allowed to manufacture it for international shipments, which means that it is being used in developing nations. Air deployed systems spray into the atmosphere, and the result is that the fine spray often lifts to the clouds, delivering it to far away regions the world over.

DDT isn't the only persistent organic pesticide of concern, there are many more being distributed and sprayed today in the USA and throughout the world. These products are primarily developed by the petrochemical industry, and they represent a major part of their market, and their profit. The necessary changes to regulations, for production and use, need to be enacted to counter the impact these toxins continue to have and the damage they are doing to our home (planet Earth).

Joni Mitchell may have said it best in her song "Yellow Taxi",   "...give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees!..."

Global Warming and Climate Change...our Green Earth is Waning

North America will look like this in decades ahead.

We are at the edge, as I have mentioned in my Facebook articles. And we are at fault for it...caused mostly by our greed, and made worse by our inability to assume responsibility for our actions.

The United States, contrary to Congress, is the primary cause of Global warming...with our excessive use of resources, upwards of 25% of the world's resources are employed in our lifestyle...and we are the largest carbon emitter of all nations.

First place in this dangerous category...what an honor.

Due to our uncontrolled growth in human population, and our out of control use of our natural resources, we have doomed our planet to ruin, and we have started---as effectively presented in the Sixth Extinction, an impressive research based volume by Elizabeth Kolbert, we have entered the next planetary extinction, one that we have caused and one that we will have to suffer over the next few centuries.

Though only a minority of world leaders are listening, Kolbert isn't the only one raising the alarm. Others have been telling us for more than half a century. In her world awakening "Silent Spring', Rachel Carson pointed to the toxins we were indiscriminately spreading over croplands and forests, without control and without concern...which began the destruction of many species, and which may have taken Carson herself, as she died of cancer before her book raised her warning. Rachel died, but the American EPA was formed from her work.

Today Congress, backed by industrial forces like the petrochemical giants (Koch, Dow, and DuPont among them), is working to take the enlightened power away from EPA to reduce the Clean Air and Water regulations that have made our best dent into our non-sustainable practises.

It is in our hands...and there are active forces afoot. The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), The Earth Institute (Columbia University), and the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation are leaders among them. And though some of their challenges call for the elimination of the use of fossil fuels within the next 30 years (RMI), and the dedication of half of our planet under the Half-Earth Project in a call to conserve half the Earth for the rest of life (E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation), when closely reviewed we find they are both achievable and truly sustainable, with both economic and environmental protection engaged to ensure that they succeed.

Now it is time for us to use that backbone that evolution gave us, and stand against the greed that has lead us into extremis.