Tom Believes in Man-made Global Warming

I watched Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ last night, and I was impressed by it. BTW, Google has it available to watch online for free, while Comcast charges$4 for it. A movie of this importance, Comcast should not be charging any money for. But this aside, in today’s post I want to summarize the top three reasons why man-made Global Warming is true, and why we must immediately do something about it. The problem is a simple one. There is a clear correlation between the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere and Earth’s rising temperatures. The first question on this topic is whether or not the Earth is really getting warmer. The fact that the 10 hottest years ever measured have all been in the last 14 years makes this point obvious. NASA confirms that nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since the year 2000, including 2010 which tied for the warmest year ever measured. So yes, Earth is getting warmer. So this brings me to the next question, is this increase in Earth’s temperature caused by man? A couple of reasons suggest to me that it is: First, the huge strain caused on Earth by the world’s population increase. And second, the correlation between measured Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere and the Earth’s increased temperatures. First, to show the huge population growth on Earth, take a look at this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World-Population-1800-2100.png Graph from Wikipedia. In 1930, the Earth had 2 billion people. Today, there are over 7 Billion people. In just one lifetime, there has been a 350% increase in Earth’s population. I like how Al Gore put it – there is a collision of our civilization and the Earth. An important issue is the pressure that this massive increase in people upon the Earth upon the world’s food and water supply. But this population growth also increases electricity and fossil fuel consumption, which is one of the major components of the increase in Carbon Dioxide atmospheric levels. When there is more CO2 in the air, the atmosphere traps more of the sun’s heat instead of allowing it to escape. In other words, more pollution means higher temperatures on Earth. And all of this flows through the large population increase that has taken place over the past 80 years. On the second point that shows Global Warming is man-made, the correlation of Carbon Dioxide atmospheric levels and the Earth’s temperatures is firmly established. Scientists have been studying the CO2 levels for some time, and the when combined with the Earth temperatures measurements, there is an eerie connection between the two. Deforestation, use of fossil fuels, power plants, vehicle emissions, all plays a significant part in this rise of CO2 levels. Al Gore on a riser showed how scary the increasing Carbon Dioxide levels will become over the next 50 years. My final point is that the Earth is showing the effects of Global Warming. We see the retreat of the glaciers. We see oceans becoming warmer. We see the ice disappearing off of Kilimanjaro, the Alps, the Himalayas, and in the Glacier National Park. We can see with our own eyes the impact of Global Warming, and if it continues there will be a massive human displacement. Imagine if New York, San Francisco, Florida, Shanghai, and Calcutta all become flooded from melting ice caps. The world could not handle 100 million refugees, and the chaos that this would cause would be terrible. It is time for us to act before it is too late.

The Cell _ A Poem

Yes, some people are amazed at the vastness of the universe, the countless galaxies around us, with a tiny glimpse seen in the night sky above us. The magnitude of the space, the time it took to create all of this, and the likelihood that it all originated from a single point and at a single moment of time. Yes, the universe is an amazing creation, and humbling to the insignificance of man.

But for me, what is more of an attraction is the world of biology. The world of the cell is astounding in that there are soooo many cells in just the human body. Cells make up each organ and the tissue in the body and are the basic functioning piece of the organ or tissue. The human body has approximately 250 trillion cells with approximately 35,000 chemical reactions taking place per second within each of these cells. Think of what this means – 250 trillion cells each having 35,000 chemical reactions per second. And all of this takes place in the great majority of us for decades. We all like a fast processor for our computers, right? How about something that is faster than the world's fastest supercomputer? Interpreting a DNA program and translating it through a code into a physical molecule, the cells collectively function at almost a thousand times the processing speed of IBM's Blue Gene/L state-of-the-art supercomputer. This information processing in one human body for just one function exceeds by some 25 percent the total computing power of all the world's 200 million personal computers produced every year. Vast numbers of cells, incredible speed, incredible efficiency, and it all works seamlessly, effortlessly, and yes, beautifully for the life of its host. I think the cell has to be the most amazing piece of God's Creation. So give me the cell over the universe when you want to be amazed by the power, beauty and creativity of God the Creator.

But because we can't see the cell, like we can see the universe, it is hard for us to grasp how big and vast the cell and its activities are. I have always thought that a good way to help with this problem is to use some kind of an analogy, although is there any way to compare something to the cell's DNA structure? But even with this shortcoming, here is a nice "poem" that tries to compare a cell and its activities to a city:

Imagine miniature cities aswarm with bustling centers of activity, factories, powerhouses, post offices, libraries, trash collection and recycling, quality control, railroads and architecture, import/export centers, communication networks, and transport vehicles.

These cities organize themselves from seed cities, according to a complex negotiation process that assigns them their duties and location.

Some cities specialize in manufacture and export, some in signal processing, some in reclamation or storage, some in warfare, and some preserve the heritage of the whole nation and pass it on.

Each city has no mayor or aldermen or police.

Its multitudinous minions are self-directed, self-replicating wonders and each city cooperates with its neighbors to maintain balance, order, and peaceful exchange for the good of the nation.

Some cities pick up and move, patrolling the highways, some stretch enormous distances to maintain communication, and some link shields to form the nation's boundaries.

Some denude themselves and serve the rest by carrying oxygen to all.

Some live to divide, some adopt a fixed identity and never reproduce again.

All are altruistic in their focus, unless the encoded information in the library becomes corrupted, or signals snarl and warp the message, turning self-sacrifice into the endless hunger, rampage and self-aggrandizement of cancer.

Truly we are fearfully and wonderfully made.