Apocalypse Now!

I know it’s old news now but a few weeks ago a chunk of the Arctic circle, 3 times the size of Manhattan fell into the sea, some 100 square miles of glacier couldn’t hang on any longer! This piece fell off the Petermann Glacier near Greenland and it is feared may be heading into the shipping lanes of the North Atlantic.

Bizarrely this coincided with my son Lewis (8) and I watching the disaster flick ‘ The Day After Tomorrow’. I decided best not to tell Lewis about this development, as he was quite uptight after watching the film.

You may recall the film explains how a rapid ice age may occur, the fresh water from the melting ice caps, desalinizing the Atlantic Ocean and preventing the circulation of the warming tropical currents which regulate the Earths temperate climate. I love the movie as it tackles some of the biggest climate puzzles and offers some reasonable answers, and just like the movie itself many scientists rubbish the films theories on global warming and climate change. What we must remember is that many scientists aren’t independent and receive funding from political organisations!

Lewis asked me if it was going to happen like the movie, to which i replied no-one really knows, I then explained to him the that the planet is getting hotter because of greenhouse gases and the importance of saving energy.

The debate rages on about whether global warming is fact or fiction, but there’s no doubt in my mind at all, it all makes perfect sense to me and the signs are there for us all to see; if we care to look!

Pakistan and China are witnessing disastrous amounts of rainfall, the ice caps are thinning and breaking up, Russia is suffering one of the driest summers on record, which is severely damaging their crops. The weather is changing and who knows where it’s heading?

In the film only one scientist understands the signs and makes his predictions for climate change, his warning is ignored and the disaster unfolds. The key word here is ignorance. Many scientists argue that global warming is real and happening, yet an equal amount argue that the opposite is true! Therefore many people don’t know who to believe and so choose to do nothing, placing their trust and hope in their governments; who really have the environment too far down on their agendas.

Ignorance is Bliss: Ignore the lot of em I say!

I know that our behavior, as a species, is detrimental to the planet and I don’t need a scientist to tell me why it’s bad to chop down the Amazon or pollute the air / sea / soil / outer space, because it’s bloody obvious! Come on surely we all understand this??

There’s a famous saying in my country ” You don’t bite the hand that feeds you!”  Well I’m afraid we are and pretty soon the planet will struggle to support human life!!! More and more famine will occur and in parts of the world that aren’t accustomed to it too! This will see migration of people and civil unrest will follow, wars over soil – not oil will ensue.

We mustn’t wait for the scientists to agree on this we must take this upon us to do our bit at home and work now, we must pressure our leaders into doing more! Insisting on more public transport, tax breaks for non car families, free cycles for people to ride in towns and cities, lobbying for more green energy (solar being a preference please). Etc Etc Etc.

I hate it when lazy bastards throw rubbish on the streets, rather than finding a dustbin! (think about how much energy we waste just picking up other peoples filth!!) Not to mention the horrid effect on our environment!

I haven’t seen Al Gore’s film the ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, why? I don’t think I need to see it because I’ve already accepted this truth and I fear it may upset me watching it…… maybe that’s the whole point of it? Well I think I’ll get a copy all the same……….

Good Luck wherever you are and I hope the weather is kind to you!

Respect and Peace!

@dam

Sunshine

I’ve been blogging since March, with no agenda other than to just document my thoughts at the time. One of the things that surfaced was my love of nature and how maddening it is to watch us abuse it, don’t get me wrong I’m no Eco-Warrior; just a concerned citizen.

Some of my posts recorded my learnings of many things green, some regarding energy, some regarding ecology and the plight of the worlds animals, some even rejoicing the amazing properties of Oyster mushrooms! Through this process of investigating alternative energy sources I happened across Roberts Blog (see Blogroll), this guy knows his onions!

Robert owns a company that produces solar heating systems and is fiercely passionate about his company and more importantly the planet and it’s ecology, he’s also a damn fine writer and his short stories are wickedly funny! Anyway, after reading this guys blog for a few months I feel far more knowledgeable on green issues and the other day It dawned on me….. This guy has systematically gone through all the methods of producing energy for human consumption, and given the pro’s and con’s in a balanced and objective manner.

I’ll admit at first I thought he’s plugging his business in a round about way, but I was wrong, this guys has thought about this problem and chosen solar power because it’s by far the best alternative. Here is a very short list of the alternative renewable energy sources along with their pro’s and con’s.

1. Wind Turbines – Pro’s: zero pollution, no greenhouse gasses, farming is not affected, site costs are low. Con’s: Wind is unpredictable and thus renders the process inefficient and  incapable of supporting communities solely.
2. Hydroelectric – Pro’s: Easily managed capacity, renewable energy, no primary pollution. Con’s: Dams cause a lot of damage to the surrounding ecology, reduce water supply down river, dams burst and can cause floods, flooding forests will cause greenhouse gasses through rotting process.
3. Geothermal – Pro’s : Cheap, high capacity, no pollution if performed correctly, zero emissions. Con’s: Locations are limited, geothermal stations can cause instability….Earthquakes!
4. Biomass – Pro’s : Biomass is abundant, burns organic by-products of agriculture, easy transition to veggie oil or bio-diesels. Con’s: Combustion of carbon based matter causes air pollution, production process uses more energy than it produces = net loss (no point), limited land – required to produce food for increasing populations, not enough land on the planet to meet current demands.
5. Tidal – Pro’s: Once dam is built it’s free energy, easy to manage capacity due to known tide times, renewable – uses gravity. Con’s: Costs of making dam are too expensive, only produce energy for 10 hours approx, affects the ecology of the sea and surrounding wildlife who rely on tidal activity for food.
6. Solar – Pro’s: No fuel costs, renewable, no pollution, no combustion, multiple applications, very efficient, technology is more affordable, zero greenhouse gasses, portable. Con’s: Currently more expensive than grid electricity, no night-time energy production, requires storage for off the grid applications.

Now you could, and many do, argue the toss on this subject, debating all the pro’s and con’s but why bother when nature has already given us the answer. Like I said it dawned on me, if you pardon the pun!

Natures most successful producers of energy (trees and plants) have chosen solar power as the preferred source of renewable energy; and who are we to argue with nature.  Hundreds of millions of years of evolution has gone into perfecting this choice, I’m convinced not by science but by nature, that this is the best choice available to us now.

Robert, I thank you for helping me get to this place, this understanding and I thank nature for convincing me that Sun is our best hope for clean energy.

Respect and Peace!

@dam

Barack Attack!

Well it’s the third day of pain since my operation and I feel like a rant, so todays victim is Barack Obama.

We had HIGH hopes...high hopes!!

I, like many, thought that with Baracks’ appointment as CEO of America that we’d be in for a positive change in politics over there, but I’m disappointed to report it’s business as usual. The way in which he’s handled the BP disaster has, in my opinion, given us Brits a valuable insight into the mans psyche and character.

Since the tragic events of the BP spill unfolded, Barack Obama has received much flak for not responding quickly enough and in turn has reacted to this by attacking British Petroleum. This company has not been called this for a decade yet when the heat is on Barack saw it correct to emphasize the British part of the companies name!

Forgetting the global financial implications of this spill (i couldn’t give a monkeys), I think it’s very disturbing, disrespectful and immature, for a world leader to go on the offensive (defensive action) in this fashion. Unfortunately there are many at fault for this spill, many would blame BP primarily, sounds obvious that they’re at fault here; I’m not so convinced.

BP has a poor track record on safety in the US, but I’m not aware of such a poor record anywhere else, this i concede maybe down to 2 reasons,

1: The majority of their work is in the US.

2: Lack of knowledge on the subject lol.

In 2005 BP had an explosion at the Texas City refinery which claimed the lives of 15 and injuring 180!! Which subsequently lead them to court and fined a meager $87 million for their bad practices regarding safety.

Texas City BP Refinery Explosion

BP were again in trouble for a spill in Alaska, March 2006 saw a relatively the small spill of 267,000 gallons leak out of a poorly maintained pipelines.

In the last five years BP has admitted to breaking U.S. environmental and safety laws and committing outright fraud. BP paid $373 million in fines to avoid prosecution.

So looking at these facts you’d be right to conclude that BP are unscrupulous and will do anything to avoid what’s right and just. But where is the determination to see what’s ‘right and the just’ being carried out!! Many Americans are outraged by BP’s actions but I’m afraid they operate in their country, under the jurisdiction of their governemnt!!

Bushwinked!!

The last US administration is to blame for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the corrupt US government let BP flaunt their environmental and safety regulations and abuse the legal system by paying fines instead of facing prosecution. It’s clear they looked after the oil companies and the gulf oil is on their hands not ours!!

So when Barack goes on attack he should pick his opponents more wisely, when the leak has stopped and the full-on inquiry has started, I wonder if Barack will haul up in court the previous administration and prosecute them as BP’s partners in crime!!

I’m hoping he’ll restore some reason on this matter and apologize to the British for the way in which he has conducted himself.

It’s ironic that on the eve of our countries meeting in the world cup that Barack has chosen to raise the temperature by squaring up with Cameron on this matter. Barack’s feeling the pressure and is lashing out, the trade marks of a child !!

He’s even said ” I need to know who’s ass to kick!!”, not exactly the language of  world leader, more a statement of intent to appease the natives and their need for retribution!!

Grow Up America – you let this happen not us !!

Come on England!!

Respect and Peace!

@dam.