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Writing about the climate crisis My slow awakening to climate change Climate sceptics answered: | From: Charles Perry [mailto:cperry @ perrymanagement.com] Sent: Thu 8/3/2006 9:38 PM To: Hydrocarbon Processing Editorial Subject: letter to the Editor I have read the Editorial by Tim Lloyd Wright in your July 2006 issue. I am sorry to hear his description about him "buying" the "global warming due to carbon dioxide story," and I do not think he has focused on what the real causes may be. Lets first consider the known facts: 1. Carbon dioxide concentrations have risen in the last 200 to 300 years. 2. Temperatures have risen for the past 50 years. But Mr. Wright, nor any scientist supporting the theory of global warming to be caused by carbon dioxide have offered any proof that there is any scientific relation whatsoever between these two phenomena. Instead, one scientist told me personally that, "Well, even though we have no proof, we just should not take a chance." In any physical mixture of gases and liquids, equilibrium eventually occurs. No one to my knowledge has made any effort to determine how high carbon dioxide will rise before it reaches an equilibrium. We know that carbon dioxide is consumed by green plants. Data from areas that have a high concentration of green plants have reported 20% increases in leafage as the carbon dioxide level rises. We also know that carbon dioxide is absorbed by water (oceans, lakes, rivers, and rain water.) We also know that the higher the concentration of carbon dioxide (or any other gas) in a mixture of gases and liquids, the more and faster it will be absorbed by the liquid -- a phenomena known as Boyle's Law. So where is the equilibrium point where there will be no further rise in carbon dioxide concentration in the air? Furthermore, what is the effect of other greenhouse gases on temperatures? Water vapor is a greenhouse gas. If you don't believe me -- then you haven't noticed how high humidity on a hot day seems to hold the heat at low levels? So why is no one leading a crusade to reduce the greenhouse gas, water vapor? There is a whole lot more water vapor in the air than carbon dioxide. And to be truthful, our entire atmosphere is a "greenhouse gas." How else would we stay warm when surrounding space is near absolute zero. The atmosphere holds radiant heat from the sun close to Earth, making this world inhabitable for us. Sequestration of carbon dioxide is enormously expensive. Countries who have fallen for the hysteria and signed the Kyoto protocol are now finding they cannot meet the 2012 emission levels they are committed to. Why? They are finding the costs to do so are way beyond what they can afford, or are willing to commit. The European Union committed to reduce their emissions by 8% during the 1990-2012 period. The European Environmental Agency reported last month that emissions of carbon dioxide had risen 0.4% between 2003 and 2004, and that 2004 emissions had climbed to 4.4% above the 1990 level. In short, the EU won't make it! And Canada which committed in 2002 to a 9% reduction by 2012 now estimate that their carbon dioxide emissions will be 35% above the 1990 levels in 2012. Sequestration of carbon emissions will be occurring in the near future regardless. Most experts feel that we are at, or near, peak production of hydrocarbons worldwide. Coal will then peak in less than 100 years. So carbon dioxide emissions will start reducing soon because we will no longer have carbon based fuels to burn. But this change will be gradual, allowing the world to switch to other sources of energy -- probably nuclear. There are so many unanswered questions on carbon dioxide emissions. Is it worth wrecking the world's economy based on an unproven theory? Or should more effort be put into trying to find proof of the relationship (or lack of a relationship) between carbon dioxide concentrations in the air and global temperatures. And what else may be causing changes in the temperature. We are told that around the year 1,000, Greenland was warm enough to support agricultural crops and a large population of Vikings. Then by 1600, a mini ice age was here, and most of those Vikings returned to Iceland which is warmed by the gulf stream. The point is that atmospheric temperatures over the eons have varied widely, and long before there was any significant carbon dioxide emissions. There were probably a number of causes, one of which is sun spots. So lets not go off the deep end until we are sure of what we are doing. Charles R. Perry, P.E. Chemical Engineer | |||||
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Wingo is the project we started here on the archipelago outside Gothenburg to create a model of winning sustainable local development. You can visit wingo's website here. The website of our wind park has only just been registered. | ||||||
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