Friday, October 30, 2009

Solution to Global Warming (Part 1)

I. GLOBAL WARMING IN PERSPECTIVE

Is there really a serious threat of Global Warming? If so, what would be the extent of damage it will inflict humanity? Is there a way to combat or delay its occurrence for say additional 100 years or 1,000 years?

1.1 GLARING EVIDENCES

The Greenhouse Gases enhanced the average global temperature favorable to life which is at the average temperature of the earth at 15 0C. Without it, the planet earth would be 33 0C cooler than what we have today and probably devoid of all living things. In a published report by the Inter-government Panel of Climate Change and Global Warming, particularly in its third assessment report released in 2001, it predicted that in 2100, the average global rise in temperature will be by 1.4 0C to 5.8 0C contrary to its previous prediction of 1.0 0C to 3.5 0C that was made five years earlier.

With this magnitude in the rise of Global Temperature, the water in the Ocean is estimated to raise its surface level by 2.39M to 9.85M. This rise is attributed to the thermal expansion of water in the ocean alone and does not include the melting of ice in the towering mountain ranges as well as that of the South Pole and the North Pole, Greenland and Artic Ocean which could add about 20.0 M more if melted. We can therefore imagine that Metro Manila as well as many important cities in many parts of the globe will be under water about 93 years from now.

Since 1861 to 1998 or within the span of 137 years, the average global temperature has reportedly risen by about 0.60C and the Ocean water surface level has correspondingly risen by about 1.035 M. In the same report, the 1990 decade registered the highest temperature and that year 1998 registered the highest temperature ever recorded.

In a separate report, U, S. Vice President Al Gore, in his presentation in video, entitled “The Inconvenient Truth”; he has shown several video footages of the actual collapse of ice bergs or crusts estimated at the thickness of 20 meters to 50 meters and surface area of 100 to 500 M2. Since the start of the satellite record in 1979, there has been a widespread retreat of the snow cover in the high altitude mountains which decreased in area by about ten percent since 1960 and the duration of lake and river ice cover has been reduced by two weeks. The amount of rainfall near the equator has been observed to increase by 0.2% to 0.3% per decade within the twentieth century. Over the high altitude areas along the equator, cloud cover has been observed to increase by 2.0%

As early as 1896 (the same year Dr. Jose P. Rizal was executed at Bagumbayan) Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius who concocted the term “greenhouse effect” estimated that the natural greenhouse effect of the atmosphere was responsible for keeping the temperature of the ground surface of the earth fit for life.

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Scientists in many parts of the world have carefully verified and confirmed that the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since 650,000 years ago results to corresponding rise in atmospheric temperature. They dug with mechanical boring machine and obtained some samples of ice up to the depth of more than a hundred meters in snow covered landmass. Different strata of ice in the polar region trapped some isotopes of oxygen in the form of bubbles which revealed the dates by which such molecules were trapped and also the exact temperature of the atmosphere at such point in time was also discovered. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at different periods was also revealed.

It is revealed that the concentration of CO2 during the pre-industrial period sometime in 1650 was in the vicinity of 240 parts per million “ppm” and it increased to 350 ppm in 1950 for an increase of 45.83%. The increase by 110 ppm within the 300 year period revealed that 474.11 gegatons of CO2 has been added into the atmosphere since 1650. One gegaton is equal to a billion tons or the weight of one cubic kilometer of water.

Since that a ton of diesel fuel emits 3.120567 tons of CO2, it means that 152.1793 gegatons of diesel equivalent of various types of fossil fuels have been burned since 1650. This translates to the annual average consumption of 0.5072643468 gegatons per year or 11,810,961 barrels/day. The average of present global consumption of Crude Oil that amounts to approximately 80 million barrels a day (3.4358 gegatons/year) is 6.78 times the average annual consumption since 1650.

During the span of 50 years, from 1950 to 2000, the concentration of carbon dioxide increased by 15 ppm, from 350 ppm to 365 ppm and the corresponding effect is greater air movement velocity, more evaporation in the ocean, more clouds and precipitation and; more rainfall and floods that resulted to more damages to property, human health and human lives. The number and magnitude of typhoons, hurricanes, tornados, heat waves, floods and landslides likewise increased and more human lives and billions worth of properties were lost.

In December 25, 1968, Apollo 2 satellite took the first picture of the earth from outer space. In December 11, 1972 the Apollo took thousands of pictures of the entire earth surface for 24 hours and Satellite Galileo took more than 3,000 pictures continuously for three days. Photographs were taken out of modern technological cameras, which are capable of registering the wavelengths and frequencies of photons or microwaves using colored photography. Topography of the land and water surface as well as temperatures were recorded and monitored.

However, the monitoring of global temperature and other relevant atmospheric data have been started and consistently pursued since 1958 with measurements taken from the top of the Volcano Mauna Loa in the island of Hawaii. Cherupongi, India, is the only place all over the world with highest record of rainfall with an average annual rainfall of 16 meters and at one time registered an annual rainfall of 26meters.

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In Humbai, also in India, there was an incident of 86 Cm of rainfall within the 24 hour period which raised the level of flood at 2.14 M within the city and more than a thousand died. On the other side of the picture, Lake Chad which is one of the largest lakes in the world got totally dried up in a matter of two decades.

These climatic changes directly affected not only human lives but also farm animal resources and vegetative growth resources in many parts of the earth surface. Some microscopic organisms became extinct and affected the food chain while some underwent mutation and developed into new species that are sometimes detrimental in many ways. Some new form of illness and diseases emerged.

THE EFFECT OF SNOW

Shrinking Greenland Ice Sheet

The Greenland ice sheet underwent extensive surface melting from 1992 to 2002, according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report released in 2004. Tinted areas in these satellite images show the extent of surface melting in 1992 and in 2002. The report warned that the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet and the melting of glaciers in Alaska and Canada are increasingly contributing to a rise in the world’s sea level.

Clifford Grabhorn/Courtesy of ACIA 2004

It has been found that the increase by 1.0 0C at the equator results to a corresponding rise by 12 0C at the North Pole and at the South Pole. Within the last 25 years, about 40% of inland snow areas melted resulting to a tremendous loss of reflection effect of solar radiation. Ice that that underwent melting included the inland ice of Kilimanjaro, Africa, Grinnell Glacier National Park, Columbia Glacier in Alaska, Glacier AX10 in Nepal, and lake in Argentina dried up. Approximately 6.99 million Km2 of ice disappeared and what remains is 10.48 million Km2According to Vice President Albert Gore of the United States, in his Special Report entitled “The Un-convenient Truth” that won for him International Award,

“Global Warming is not so much of a political issue; but a moral issue” He cited that the ten highest global temperature in human era happened within the last 14 years which were in 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005

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Analysis of ice of the Vostok ice core, an Old Russian Antarctic Outer Space Program Station, shows climate fluctuation dating as far back as 160,000 years ago. This record showed fluctuation between interglacial periods and glacial periods when, for example, a mile of ice lay atop what is now Manhattan Island. The Vostok core shows remarkable correlation between Global temperature and atmospheric concentration of CO2 and CH4. Most other cores analyzed showed similar but less dramatic results.

Computer simulation of climatic data showed that doubling the concentration of CO2, from 365 ppm to 730 ppm will increase the global temperature by 1.5 0C to 3.5 0C which could by thermal expansion raise the level of water in the ocean by 2.56 M to 5.96 M. This will happen if and when 1,573.18 gegatons of CO2 is added into the atmosphere by burning additional 504.1338 gegatons of diesel fuel equivalent. At the average of 1.5 ppm of CO2 that is presently added into the atmosphere which could double to 3 ppm at the end of 40 years and to 6 ppm at the end of 80 years from now, the doubling of 365 ppm to 730 ppm will be reached 100 years from now. If this happen, more than half of the world population will die of various calamitous events, famine and widespread diseases. If this happen, more than half of important cities all over the world will be under water.

While this book is being written more precisely on September 10 2007, there was a heavy rain that fell together with ice or sleets at the first drops of rainfall here in Quezon City. The rain lasted for about 40 minutes only but visibility was limited to 10 meters and the roadways were filled with water. This is the second time ice sleets fell in Quezon City within this decade which was never experienced for more than 50 years prior to these incidents. This climatic change is a clear indication that we are now at the rim of Global Warming.

Earth Summit, 1992The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also called the Earth Summit, was held for 12 days in June 1992. Representatives from 178 countries attended the summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In this photo then-United States senator and vice-presidential candidate Al Gore addressed the audience.Humberto/Woodfin Camp and Associates, Inc.

Prior to the falling of sleets and rainfall, it was highly humid, no air movement and the prevailing temperature on the ground level was probably about 40 0C or 41 0C. The mechanics of gases could be explained where there was an isolated high temperature on the ground probably a few kilometers in radius and all of a sudden a hot current of vertically upward air develops.

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Because the air is so hot it expanded and became lighter so that it continued its upward surge vertically until it probably reached somewhere at the altitude of 8,000 meters to 10,000 meters. The temperature at such height is minus (- 30 0C to - 40 0C) thirty to minus forty degrees Celsius that is more than enough to condense the humid content of air and frozen into ice sleets.

In view of the above facts and figures, there is no more doubt that Global Warming is sending the whole world inhabitants a clear message that there is not much time left to reverse the surge of climatic change. This is the concern not only of the rich and the privileged member of human population but much more so of the poor and less privileged members of the entire human society. Now is time to react and to do something to save mankind and we know that the very first step to avert this Global Catastrophe is awareness of the imminent danger in the global scale and dimension. With full awareness and deeper knowledge about the greatest threat of devastation and massive deaths to ever happen in the history of mankind, it is hoped that the global community will be imbued with unified, coherent and harmonious sense of existence to create a new destiny.

Just the other day, on the 12th of October, 2007, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, together with Inter-government Panel on Climate Change “IPCC” of the United Nation received the Nobel Price Award for their combined efforts to create an ever broader consensus about the connection between Human Activities and Global Warming. Some time last year, Al Gore also won an Oscar Award for producing a comprehensive report on Global Warming in Video tapes.

To provide ultimate solution and avert the disastrous effect of Global Warming, there is a need to remove extra load of Carbon Dioxide which weight is equivalent to the weight of 310 Cubic Kilometers of water (310 gegatons). Apart from the removal of extra load of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere, there is a need to either reduce or totally eliminate the addition of 17 million tons of Carbon dioxide that is added into the Atmosphere every day.

Every tick of a second, 196.76 tons of Carbon Dioxide is added into the Atmosphere and every day, approximately 2,823 tons of Carbon Dioxide is produced from the breathing or from the lungs of 6.2 billion people all over the world.

In view of accelerated population growth as brought about by scientific and technological advancement the global population doubles every period of 40 years during the last 200 years. Coupled with the demand of industrial economy and modern lifestyle, the projected emission of Carbon Dioxide in the next 40 years is almost exactly the same as what has been deposited in the Atmosphere during the last 200 years.

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To sequester the overload of 310 gegatons of Carbon Dioxide and another 310 gegatons to be emitted in the next 40 years, there is a need to plant 5 million square kilometers or 500 million hectares of forest timber trees within the span of ten years. This area being required is approximately 25 times the total area of the forest zone in the Philippines. To plant 20 million hectares of timber trees in the Philippines within ten years, the Filipinos have to plant 2 billion trees in 2 million hectares per year.

The only places that are suited for timber tree plantation are the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and such South American and African countries that lie within 25 degrees latitude from the equator.

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1.2 EXTENT OF DAMAGES

In June 2003, in India, the temperature went to as high as 50 0C and recorded more than 1,400 deaths. Heat wave happened in many parts of the globe with deaths recorded as follows:

Italy 20,000 Netherlands 1,400

France 15,000 United Kingdom 900

Portugal 13,000 Spain 100

Vice President Albert Gore of the United States made special mention of Hurricane Ivan that killed 1,717 people in Florida. Global Warming changes climatic conditions at the initial stage, in recent decades, it registered an increase incidence of drought and hundreds of thousands died of hunger world wide especially in Africa and in Bangladesh. There had been drought in some places and flooding in some other places where the death toll is added by landslide incidence.

The floods in Bangladesh killed 2,000 in 1974, 1,600 in 1987, 2,000 in 1988 and 300 in 1993. It rendered 3 million families homeless in 1974, 2 million families in 1987, 5 million in 1988 and 4 million in 1993. The flood in Brazil in 1974 killed more than 5,000, rendered 300,000 families homeless and destroyed $400 million worth of properties. In China 1998 flood, 2 million people died and 5 million homes were destroyed. Much greater rainfall and more frequent floods were experienced in many parts of the world due to climatic change in recent decades which is an indication that Global Warming started to show its symptom.

The most recent flood caused by monsoon rains in India which happened on the fist week of August 2007 claimed 1,100 lives and rendered and 19 million people were displaced and fled from their homes. The same monsoon rains killed 60 persons in Bangladesh and 84 persons due to landslide in Nepal. The flood destroyed rice plantation and other farm crops worth billions.

The significant increase of global temperature has been found to have allowed adaptation and mutation more especially among microscopic organisms. There are new diseases and new viruses that emerged in recent decades. The Foot and Mouth Disease, the Ebola Plague and the Bird Flu among others are resultants of the increased temperature of the environment that caused microorganism to mutate into new species of microscopic biological life. In the uplands that used to be free from any mosquito were now found to have been inhabited by several species of mosquitoes as resultant to a seemingly very small increase in temperature.

Even the prepared foodstuff left only for hours gets rotten much more easily and rapidly because bacteria and algae multiplies many times more at higher temperature. The change of Global Temperature although still in significant magnitude has increased hospital bills amounting to billions worldwide.

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Al Gore emphasized that the melting of Larson Ice Shell or floating ice in the ocean at the North Pole and South Pole will come abruptly and will fill the ocean to raise its present level by about 6 meters. He cited that the place where the former Trade Center is located in New York will be under water and the damage would be much greater than what the terrorists inflicted when the twin tower were demolished by suicide terrorist bombers.

He warned that hundred of million people will be affected by the rise of water in the Ocean to include Calcutta, India with 60 million population, Shanghai, China with over 40 million population and Beijing China with over 10 million population will be under water should Global Warming reached its critical point. From the above mentioned places, the residents of 110 million people would be underwater and to include all other nations in other places in the globe, no less than 150 million people would be affected.

The issue of Global Warming has been brought into several International Summits to Include the Montreal Protocol, held in Montreal, Canada in 1987; the Agenda 21 attended by 150 countries held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 1992 and the Tokyo Protocol attended by 160 countries held in Tokyo, Japan in 1997 among others. Al Gore quoted Winston Churchill of Great Britain who made this statement about Global Warming on November 12, 1938. “The era of procrastination of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients of delays, is coming to its close. In its place are entering a period of consequences.”

The summit in Montreal Protocol in 1987 tackled the problems affecting the Ozone Layer following some concerns when it was confirmed by scientists that a molecule of CFC can destroy as many as 100,000 molecules of Ozone. Reactions in many countries all over the world was to ban the use of Carbon Tetrachloride “CCl4” , Freon 11, “CFCl3” Freon 12 “CF2Cl2” and to avoid the formation of Methane Gas “CH4” among others.

More than a hundred countries worldwide signed their commitments to the Agenda 21 except the United States and Australia. To this ends, Al Gore quoted Stephen Pocola and Robert Socolow. August 23, 2004. “Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical and industrial know-how to solve the carbon dioxide and climatic change.”

For his comments regarding the postures of the United States and Australia for not signing the Global Accord on Environmental Issues, Al Gore quoted Upton Sinclair for the statement “ It is difficult to get a man understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

In the Philippines, there was that Ormoc Tragedy of flash flood in the province of Leyte, some time 2001, the Land Slide in Infanta, the province of Quezon in 2003, Cherry Hills Tragedy in 1999 and the Payatas Tragedy in Quezon City in 1995 which are attributed to climatic changes that claimed a total of no less than 3,000 lives.

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1.3 ASSESSMENTS AND RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS TO GLOBAL WARMING

For millions and millions of years that the earth exits, the amount of solar radiation it receives from the Sun every day amounts to the heat if and when 360 cubic kilometers of gasoline is burned but it does not get hotter beyond any limit. Its inherent property allows it to radiate the equivalent of 74.19 (20.81%) cubic kilometers of gasoline heat content into outer space within the 24 hour period by virtue of what scientists call irradiation of a black body. Approximately, the equivalent of 23.15663 Km3 gasoline heat content is used to evaporate 302.4246 Km3 of water every day. By virtue of water vapor expansion, precipitation follows and the same amount which is 23.15663 Km3 gasoline heat content is used to allow 302.4246 Km3 of water to precipitate and fall as rain. The thermodynamic reduction of heat expended for evaporation and precipitation of 302.4246 Km3 of water represents 12.86% of the total solar radiation.

The best guardian of the earth in matter of rising temperature is the atmosphere by virtue of its property of expansion at lower pressure and when heated that is followed by subsequent cooling. Working in tandem with the earth’s gravitation 239.8314 Km3 of gasoline heat equivalent is mechanically and thermodynamically lost to establish equilibrium.

Radiated to Outer Space 74.19111 Km3 20.5896 %

Evaporation of Water 23.15663 Km3 6.4264 %

Precipitation of Water 23.15663 Km3 6.4264 %

Plant Growth Intake

Expansion of Atmosphere 239.82923 Km3 66.5576 %

Total 360.3338 Km3 100.0000 %

The earth continues to evolve in accordance with an intelligent design until you and I came over to destroy it. From the time crude oil was extracted from the bosom of the earth to power the need of industrialization when it begun to flourish in the middle of the 17th century, mankind added Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere in the equivalent weight that is equal to the weight of 560 Km3 of water. Today, the total amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere is equal to the weight of 1,553 Km3 of water which is 56.25 % greater than what it was 400 years ago.

Other than the Sun as the principal source of heat, the interior of the earth contributes as much as the equivalent of heat contained in 0.4059 Km3 of gasoline if and when burned every day. Daily human activities that involve combustion and heating; and natural earth mechanism contribute as much as the equivalent contained in 0.052 Km3 of gasoline.

Within the 24 hour period the earth’s land and water surface temporarily absorb as much as the equivalent of 50.615 km3 of gasoline’s heat content but release the same into the atmosphere within 24 hours.

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The entire atmosphere of the earth also absorbs temporarily as much as the equivalent heat of 49.25 Km3 of gasoline heat equivalent but likewise release the same by the combination of air expansion and subsequent cooling and radiation to outer space during nighttime.

SOURCES OF GASOLINE HEAT INPUTS EQUIVALENT HEAT

· SOLAR RADIATION 360.333842982 Km3/day.

· HEAT FROM THE INTERIOR OF THE EARTH 0.4059445980 Km3/day

· COMBUSTION OF AGRICULTURAL WASTE 0.0523035448 Km3/day

· HUMAN AND ANIMAL BODIES 0.018401107 Km3/day

· COMBUSTION OF CRUDE OIL & DERIVATIVES 0.015768119 Km3/day

· COMBUSTION OF FIREWOODS & CHARCOAL 0.014970056 Km3 /day

· COMBUSTION OF NATURAL GAS 0.013033549 Km3/day

· COMBUSTION OF COAL 0.0097894549 Km3/day

· RUNNING ELECTRIC HEATING ELEMENTS 0.00535545 Km3/day

· FERMENTATION OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS 0.002607567 Km3/day

· REACTIONS OF CHEMICAL COMPOUND 0.000117312 Km3/day

· OPERATIONS OF GEOTHERMAL PLANTS 0.00001165 Km3/day

· LIGHTNING & THUNDERSTORMS 0.000004712 Km3/day

· HEAT OF FORMATION OF WATER 0.000003367 Km3/day

· FROM GLACIERS AND ACTIVE VOLCANOES 0.0000000106 Km3/day

· HEAT FROM EXPLOSIVES 0.000000063 Km3/day

· HEAT FROM FRICTIONS & MACHINERIES 0.000000011 Km3/day

TOTAL Km3/day

TEMPORARY DAYTIME HEAT STORAGE

· STORED HEAT FROM THE GROUND/WATER 50.615455093 Km3/day

· HEAT STORED IN THE ATMOPSERE 49.250631871 Km3/day

TOTAL 99.866086964 Km3/day

Every time we celebrate the New Year and the Season of Christmas, we deposit 3.92 million tons of Nitrogen Oxide into the atmosphere because we are not aware that the adverse effect of Nitrogen Oxide is 300 times more devastating than that of Carbon Dioxide in the matter aggravating the momentum of Global Warming.

Fireworks has become a part of modern culture in all parts of the world that provides the thrills, excitements, exhilarations and enjoyable moments of ecstasy and happiness but its adverse effect to the environment is tremendous that facilitates the accelerated momentum of Global Warming. Mankind is like a moth and fireworks are like candles that out of enthusiasm and excitement the moth dives into the flame to burn itself and eventually die in the same manner that mankind creates Global Warming out of fireworks that will eventually destroy itself.. Why can’t we see by ourselves what Dr. Jose P Rizal was able to imagine about the moth when he was still four years of age?

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