Global warming is the most serious problem facing our world today. Each day, thousands of pounds of greenhouse gases are emitted into our atmosphere. The most harmful of these greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of burning fossil fuels and also is the result of large scale deforestation. Plants need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and then release beneficial oxygen as a byproduct. Because of the large scale deforestation and ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide being released, more carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere upsetting the delicate chemical balance of the atmosphere. This disturbance caused by the carbon dioxide causes the atmosphere to allow more light energy than needed from the sun to pass through. This extra light energy causes the temperature to rise all over the planet which can have extremely dire consequences.

These dire consequences include more frequent and more violent weather and costal flooding. Signs of more frequent and violent weather were evident it this past year. The 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season saw a record twenty seven storms including Hurricane Wilma, which was the strongest storm on record. Some scientists say that the storms are attributed fact that we are in a pattern of increased tropical activity. That may be true for the number of storms but not for the intensity of storms. How fast and how much a hurricane strengthens is due to two factors: water temperature and upper level winds. Calm upper level winds and warm water is the ideal recipe for tropical development. During the 2005 season, water temperature was much higher than the minimum eighty degrees Fahrenheit that is required for tropical development. The warmer water temperatures are likely attributed to the additional light energy from the sun. That contributed greatly to intensity and the speed of intensification. The 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season saw five Category Four hurricanes and three Category Five Hurricanes. The rapid intensification and the incredible fury of storms this pass hurricane season is unparalleled. Another dire consequence of global warming is costal flooding. Because ocean temperature is warmer than usual, it causes polar ice to melt which of course cause a rise in the level of the ocean. The 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season showed that global warming is real and the consequences are dire. But it is not too late too take action. But in order to succeed, everyone on this planet must work together and take action NOW!

The first course of action that must be taken is to at first severely limit and then completely eliminate the amount of greenhouse gases that are being released as a byproduct. A major “contributor” to the release of harmful gases is power plants. Sadly, even with wide array of technology available today, the vast majority of the world’s electricity is still generated by burning fossil fuels. In the United States, approximately fifty percent of electricity is generated by burning coal, twenty percent by nuclear power plants, twenty percent by natural gas, five percent by oil, and another five percent is generated by hydroelectric plants. Obviously, in other smaller less wealthy countries, the percentage of power generated by fossil fuels is far greater. France is arguably is cleanest country in the world in terms of the method used to generate electricity. Approximately eighty percent of electricity generated in France is produced by nuclear power plants. All of the world’s electricity should be generated through means other than burning fossil fuels. Some solutions are to produce electricity by nuclear, solar, wind, and hydro means. All of these methods are relatively safe if they are properly maintained and engineered. But above all these methods no do not release harmful gases. Cars are another major “contributor” to global warming. Because they burn fossil fuels, cars also emit harmful gases. Some measures, such as the catalytic converter, have already been implemented to help curb emissions of gasses from cars. Although the amount of gases emitted by cars nowadays is much less than in the seventies, it is till too much. Again technology is available to solve this problem. Many auto manufacturers have developed hybrid vehicles (combination gas and electric) and ethanol capable vehicles. Hybrid vehicles take advantage of a gas motor to help the vehicle to accelerate and an electric motor to power the vehicle during light load conditions. The electric motor is powered by a battery which is charged by the kinetic energy generated when the vehicle being braked. Ethanol is an alternative fuel made from corn. It is a very clean and renewable fuel.

If all this technology had been available for sometime, why is still not in large scale use? The answer is money. In the case of power plants, it is expensive to build nuclear plants. (Hydro, solar, and wind technologies are limited by geography). Although in the long run, nuclear power plants generates many times amount of power of burning fossil fuels which actually saves money in the long run. Cars are a different story. Hybrid vehicles have been available since 1999. They have become more popular recently due to the high gas prices. Engines that are ethanol capable have been available for some time. Although there are many vehicles that are ethanol capable, there are very few places where you can actually purchase ethanol.

The technology to solve our problems with global warming is readily available to us. Unfortunately, this technology is not in widespread use. But what can a nineteen year old college student do about this? It all starts with the government on all levels. New legislation should be proposed and passed to at first strictly limit the use of fossil fuels and then gradually (to allow for a transition period) use another cleaner fuel source. I plan to write to all levels of the government, and companies responsible to take swift and appropriate action to save our planet. And finally, I am due to get a new car soon. I will admit that I am one the guilty parties who enjoy large gas guzzling SUVs. My next car will be hybrid but at worst case a PZEV, or a Partial Zero Emission Vehicle.

Class Discussions

The history of archaeology dates back to the pilgrimages of the Byzantine and Crusaders who sought artifacts during their pilgrimages to the Holy Land. The definition of archaeology according to Bibledudes.com is the scientific study of the material remains from humans in the past. Archaeology is used in relationship to the Bible to prove or disprove whether the stories that it contains are fact or fiction. It would be very interesting to have an opportunity to excavate an archaeological site. The Bible is the arguably the most influential and controversial book in the history of the world. Some people take literally word for word and others are willing to take the words in the Bible in the context in which it was believed to be written. Any kind of artifact found in a Biblical dig site can go a long way into proving or disproving the stories in the Bible. Personally, I would jump at the opportunity to excavate a Biblical archaeological site. I am a practicing Catholic and have attended Catholic institutions of learning since third grade to the present. For years, I have heard that the Bible tells exactly what happened. I do not believe this true. Yes, the Bible contains many facts but it also contains some Hollywood caliber dramatizations. My intent if I am fortunate enough to have an opportunity to dig is not to prove whether something in the Bible is true or not although that would be interesting. My intent is to study the origins of my religion. Even though the chance finding an artifact to prove or disprove something happened exactly as it was told in the Bible, it would be interesting to learn more about the background information of the Bible. Vertical stratigraphy versus horizontal stratigraphy. Each has pros and each has its cons. Vertical stratigraphy is an archaeological method which according to Bibledudes.com was invented by archaeologist Dame Kathleen Kenyon. Vertical stratigraphy utilizes narrow trenches dug into the earth. This reveals the layers of civilization. Civilizations are sometimes built on top of one another. The vertical stratigraphy method reveals layers of civilization one on top on another. This can show how a civilization progressed from one time period to another. Horizontal stratigraphy is another archaeological method. With this method archaeologists pick an area, say like the walls of the room, and dig within the area of the perimeter. A common size of a horizontal dig is a ten meter square. In concurrence with Bibledudes.com, I believe that a combination of the vertical and horizontal methods would be the most optimal and give one the best of both worlds: the perimeter of the dig would be excavated with vertical method and the area would be excavated utilizing the horizontal method. This way one could glean the most information out of a particular site.

Creation stories: there are many of them out there. Creation stories were written to satisfy peoples’ curiosity about why present social and political orders are the way they are. In many creation stories, the author is spinning the story his way to justify the actions of his party (I am not referring to a political party; just a group of people). One way into scaring people into obeying is to “create” a higher being, which is another thing many creation stories have in common. The higher being is usually all powerful and had the ability to punish whoever dared to disobeyed. As evident in many religions, this is a very effective method to force people to obey.
My favorite creation story would probably be the Apache Indian creation story. It creates a very vivid imagery of how they believe how everything was created.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 1st, 2006 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Week 03: Your Project. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.