Editing the truth - Journal #10 (11)

The 60 minutes video was really interesting and again shows why politicians cannot be trusted. In the video a NASA scientist named James Hansen, one of the world’s leading researchers on global climate change, is being interviewed. He spends the majority of his time talking about how our politicians are going out of their way to cover up the accelerating global warming. His research shows that both the melting in the arctic and Antarctic has increased and is accelerating as we continue to burn fossil fuels that pump out greenhouse gases. He says we have a maximum of ten years until we reach the tipping point, a point at which irrevocable damage will be done and global warming becomes unstoppable. As Hansen began trying to alert the public, the White House began censoring all climate related research. The White House acknowledges that climate change is happening, but will not allow the full extent of the damage done to be exposed to the public. After being hushed by the White House Hansen made a public announcement criticizing the Bush administration, since his public criticism, NASA has been keeping an eye on Hansen and hardly allowing him to speak on the subject. The main villain behind the censorship of global warming is Phil Coonet, the man responsible for editing all documents sent to congress. On all of the edited documents concerning the accelerating global warming handwritten notes, such as “there is too much uncertainty on the subject” or “further research is required” would be added in and the facts erased from the bill.

Global Dimming vs. Global Warming - An atmospheric tug of war - Journal #9 (10)

After 9/11 the entire U.S. air fleet was grounded for three days. During those three days the weather across the U.S. was unusually clear and sunny. This was caused by a lack of vapor trails usually left by airplanes. These vapor trails affect the temperature around the globe significantly. Usually the temperature range (the change from the highest recorded temperature to the lowest recorded temperature in a 24 hour period) is somewhat consistent. During the three days following 9/11 the change in temperature range was just over one degree Celsius, a dramatic change from a climate perspective. This is the first example of Global Dimming.

The second example given is based in Israel. In the 1980’s a British scientists used light meters to collect sunlight to determine the amount of water needed to successfully grow crops,  twenty years later the tests were updated and showed a staggering 22% drop in solar energy over the 20 year period. Unfortunately these findings were ignored by the scientific community. After looking more in depth at the numbers, it was determined from the 1950s to the early 1990s there was a 9% decrease in sunlight in the Antarctic, a 10% decline in areas of the U.S., a  30% decline in regions of Russia, and a 16% decrease in parts of the British isles. Evidence once again pointed to Global Dimming and was once again ignored.

Further evidence, dating back more than 100 years, was evident in the declining Pan Evaporation Rate.  

One of the keys to Global Dimming is the amount of pollution in the air. If there is a layer of pollution three km thick, it will cut down sunlight more than 10! This pollution will turn the clouds into giant mirrors and reflect more sunlight than normal back into space. These reflective clouds could alter the pattern of the world’s rainfall

As we continue to strive to clean the earth’s atmosphere, we are creating a tug of war between the cooling gases and the warming gases. If we remove too many cooling gases, while continuing to pump ridiculous amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we will create the most devastating situation for our World.

Politicians sit and watch the world burn - Journal #8 (9)

Wow. This was by far one of the most frustrating articles I have ever had to read. The title “As the world burns” is perfect the perfect title for this piece and goes to show that politics will negotiate, lie, cheat, and steal to get their way, even as the world burns. I am appalled by the lack of concern that the white House has for this issue and the lack of action they have taken to combat it. It is disheartening to see such a diverse group of men and women try so hard to make a necessary change for the health of the environment and fail so miserably. This is the reason I can’t stand politics, politicians, policymakers, or anything of the like.  

It is a known fact that global warming is one of the fastest growing threats to our world and that almost nothing is being done about it. The few who are attempting to initiate change are quickly being hushed, bought, blackmailed, or threatened. Before we know it the world will be overpopulated, there will not be enough food to feed us, let alone sustain us, and species will be lack diversification to the extent that our remaining food sources will be taken to the point of extinction by disease.

We need to elect strong, intelligent politicians who are willing to stand up for the environment and bring our planet’s resources back to a sustainable level. Although you and I both know this will most likely not be the case, we can hope.

Reviving Ecosystems: One Predator at a time! - Journal #2 (2)

After watching the National Geographic Strange Days on Planet Earth I am in somewhat of a state of awe. Before watching these two movies, I had known that predators were crucial to the prosperity of ecosystems, but I had no idea the extensive role they played. The impact of human expansion on ecosystems is often much more destructive than anyone could ever imagine. As with everything else in life, moderation is the key.

Each ecosystem is a delicate balance of predators and prey. It was mind blowing to see the contrast between Guri before the flood and Lake Guri shortly after. The flood following the damming of the Caroni River drove the majority of the large predators normally occupying the valley to higher ground. As the waters continued to rise, species such as the iguana and the howler monkey found refugee on the small island now surrounded by Lake Guri. Without the predatory animals to keep the species ecosystem in balance, the island became over populated creating a scarcity of food.

In the 1930s, wolves across the United States were hunted to near extinction. These top predators not only created a meal for an array of different species, but also allowed the vegetation in the surrounding areas to flourish. Without the wolves to maintain the amount of Elk in Yellowstone, the willows and aspen trees were overgrazed and nearly destroyed. Although wolves can be a nuisance to farmers and ranchers, they are crucial to the success of ecosystems like that of Yellowstone National Park.

One of the most shocking things this video showed me was the connection between the seafood consumed in 1^st world countries, such as Europe, and the destruction of plains predators in 3^rd world countries. There is so much that is effected by overfishing or overhunting that is nearly impossible to account for all of the damage, but with increasing technology and research efforts, we may be able to salvage our planet from its downward spiral!

Ding Darling (8)

I just got home from Ding Darling and I had a blast. The tram tour was educational, relaxing, and surprisingly quite fun. My tour guide was Lewis Irvine from Tarpon Bay Explorers and was very knowledgeable. One of the first things we talked about was how quickly the habitats can change in areas like this. Within two-hundred feet of the start of the tram tour we passed through three different habitats: Pine Flatwoods, Salt Marsh, and finally into the estuary where the majority of the tour took place. After the changing environment, we learned that the road we were on was actually called a spoil road and was created using the mud and dirt taken from the man-made “barrow ditches” on either side of the road. After the man-made road, the only other man made thing we saw on the preserves were designed to control mosquito populations (shown below). These were developed to control the amount of water in the shallow parts of the estuaries and keep the flats flooded at all times, which in turn would destroy the mosquitos breeding habitat.

I grew up here in Southwest Florida so I knew or had seen most of the different plants and birds we saw/talked about on the tour. We saw everything from Red, White and Black mangroves to Sable palms and Spanish Bayonets (Spanish Bayonet shown below).

My favorite part of the tour was seeing the young osprey cleaning has talons after eating a fish. I have seen many osprey growing up, but I had never seen one dip down barely above the water and clean his talons before returning to his spot in the trees. It was interesting to see and what made the trip for me was seeing another osprey sitting on the bridge leaving Sanibel, I drove right past him and had never been so close to one in my life.

The inside at Ding Darling was pretty neat too. They had different habitats set up and information about the animals in each. I personally liked the kids cartoon contest and all of Ding’s cartoons they had displayed.