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486 lines
29 KiB
Plaintext
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DEBUNKING MEDIA MITHS ABOUT THE OZONE HOLE AND GREENHOUSE WARMING
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The surface of this planet is covered by dry bits, called "land," and
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wet bits, called "water." Where these two bodies meet is termed a "beach,"
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which may be sandy, rocky, cliff face, or any one of many other types.
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Where these "beaches" occur, there is, to a greater or lesser extent, a
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certain amount of wave activity called "surf." Imagine you are strolling
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along a beach somewhere, minding your own business, and enjoying the view,
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when, out of nowhere, comes a demented, hysterical character who wants to
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enlist your help in freeing the beach of board-riders, because they are
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"wearing down the surf." He goes on to earnestly explain that the thin line
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of "surf" is the only thing "holding back" the ocean, and if the
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board-riders wear it out enough, the "layer of surf" will become so
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depleted that it can no longer "hold back" the ocean, and the ocean will
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flood over the land and destroy mankind. What would be your reaction to
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such a person? You'd quite possibly conclude, quite correctly, that such a
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person should be confined to the local "funny farm" as quickly as possible,
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wouldn't you?
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And yet, this is exactly the kind of logic being used to support the
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"hole in the ozone layer" scam. And erstwhile intelligent people are
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running around with varying versions of this Chicken Little story that the
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"sky is falling," without ever making even the slightest attempt to find
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out what is really happening, and why. As with the "greenhouse effect," it
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is only necessary to understand a few very simple scientific facts, to
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totally debunk this "scam." First of all, what exactly is the "ozone
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layer," or "ozone mantle" as it is now being called, which supposedly
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"protects" us from all that unwanted ultraviolet light? Well, quite simply
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and bluntly, there ISN'T one!! Just as the surf is not a magical barrier to
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the ocean flooding the land, and is, in reality simply an EFFECT of where
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land a water meet, so too is the so-called "ozone layer" merely an area
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where an effect can be detected, not a CAUSE. Let's start with a very
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basic chemistry lesson, which again can be confirmed with junior high
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school textbooks. First of all, existing on this planet Earth, and
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probably elsewhere, is an element called "oxygen." According to my
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dictionary, oxygen is an element, with the chemical symbol "O." Now,
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oxygen, for reasons I won't go into here, but which you can readily find
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out for yourself from the aforementioned junior high school chemistry book,
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rarely, if ever, exists as the single atom "O." Such a single atom of
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oxygen or most other "elements," is called an "ion," and it is very
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difficult for most substances to exist freely in their "ionic" state. What
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normally happens is that two atoms of "O" combine, or "stick" together, and
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form the molecule "O2," of "oxygen" as you and I know it. This is the
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stuff you and I and all other living creatures breathe in and expel as
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"carbon dioxide," or CO2 (one carbon atom, two oxygen atoms). In yet
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another of nature's wonderful balancing acts, green plants "breathe" in the
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CO2, extract the atom of carbon (C) as a "building block" in their cellular
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growth, and expel oxygen, or "O2." This is why it is so important that we
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stop destroying all the green stuff on the land by overclearing, and stop
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polluting up the oceans, and thereby killing all the little green plants
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known as "plankton."
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"O2," or two oxygen atoms "stuck together" if you like, is the
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"normal, or most prevalent form of oxygen in the atmosphere. But it is by
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no means the only one. If one applies various forms of energy to the "O2"
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molecule, it will break down to its ionic state and reform into another
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configuration, one where THREE, not two, atoms of oxygen "stick together"
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to form a new molecule called "O3," or "ozone." Now, the "energy" required
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to perform this little trick can come from a variety of sources. An
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electrical discharge through the air will do it. Unlike "oxygen" (O2),
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which is odorless, "ozone" has a distinct, pungent smell. Pick up your
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kid's electric train engine, or radio-controlled car, after it has been
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operating a while, and you will smell this odor. The electrical discharge
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where the bushes run on the motor turns a certain amount of "oxygen" (O2),
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into "ozone" (O3). Electrical storms, or at least the subsequent bolts of
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lightning, ionize a great deal of the surrounding air, and create a certain
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amount of "ozone."
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By far and away the biggest "source" of energy for the conversion of
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"oxygen" (O2) into "ozone" (O3), however, comes from the Sun, in the form
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of ultraviolet light. What happens is a cycle something like this: You
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and I breathe in oxygen (O2), and breathe out CO2, carbon dioxide. Plants
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on the other hand "breathe in" carbon dioxide, and expel oxygen (O2). This
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cycle is more or less endless. Oxygen (O2), however, is slightly lighter
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than the other elements which make up the "air" (nitrogen, carbon dioxide,
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and so on), and so a certain proportion of the molecules of oxygen drift
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upwards to the outer fringes of that blanket of gases that surround the
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planet, which we call our atmosphere. From the other direction, light from
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the Sun streams in. A certain amount of this light is absorbed or
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deflected by various elements, atoms, molecules, and particles of other
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matter. The bulk of this light from the Sun, however, continues its
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downward journey toward the planet's surface, until it encounters the
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oxygen (O2) molecules rising up from the surface. At the point where the
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sunlight reaches a sufficient concentration of O2 molecules, a "reaction"
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takes place. A certain portion of the light from the Sun, that portion
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known as the "ultraviolet" section, strikes the rising O2 molecules, and
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imparts its energy to the oxygen molecule it has struck. This has two
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effects. First, it greatly reduces the amount of ultraviolet light which
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would otherwise reach the Earth's surface, because the "ray," or unit, or
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"beam" of light loses energy and becomes light in the lower spectrums, the
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ones we call "colors." This is one of the causes of that spectacular light
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show called the "Southern," or "Northern" Lights. Second, it converts the
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"oxygen" molecules (O2), into "ozone" molecules (O3).
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There is a portion of the atmosphere, from 10, to 50 kilometers up,
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which does not, however, get this name because it contains some magical,
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mysterious "layer" of matter known as "ozone" which exists, and has
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existed, from the beginning of time to "protect" us from ultraviolet light,
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and which is now under "dire threat" from various man-made products. It is
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called this name because this is the region where rising O2 oxygen
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molecules are struck by incoming ultraviolet light, and convert to O3 ozone
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molecules, and it therefore has a higher proportion of "O3" molecules to
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"O2" molecules. There will continue to be an "ozonosphere," or, as it is
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incorrectly termed, an "ozone layer," for as long as the planet's surface
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continues to manufacture oxygen to rise, and for as long as the Sun
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continues to emit light to encounter that rising oxygen. Just as there
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will always be "surf," for as long as there are places where "water" meets
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"land." The misnamed "ozone layer" will continue to simply be the end
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result of where two opposing forces and systems meet, until such time as
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one or the other of those forces or systems ceases to exist. Just as there
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will always be "surf," for as long as there is "land" and "water," there
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will be an "ozonosphere" as long as there is "oxygen" and sunlight. If
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either one of these packs up, we will have long since suffocated, or frozen
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to death, before we develop skin cancer. As I said, this is stuff you can
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check out for yourself with the simplest of reference books.
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FACTS ABOUT THE OZONOSPHERE
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Okay. What about the so-called "holes" in the "ozone layer"? Well,
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as we have seen, there is no such thing as a magical, mysterious "ozone
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layer," so there can't be any "holes" in it. There IS however, a region
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called the "ozonosphere" which normally has a higher incidence of "O3" than
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"O2" simply and purely because it is a region where a segment of sunlight
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(ultraviolet light) strikes O2 molecules, and converts them into O2
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molecules. Now, given the chemical-physical explanation of the
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ozonosphere, as opposed to the "hysterical" version currently being peddled
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by the media, it becomes immensely easy to "predict" in said ozonosphere at
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certain times of the year. As has been demonstrated, the so-called "ozone
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layer" requires for its very existence, that oxygen (O2) molecules interact
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with incoming sunlight (ultraviolet light), in order to create "O3"
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molecules, which can then be measured and referred to as the magical "ozone
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mantle."
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Now, there are two places on the face of the planet where, for a
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portion of the year, NO ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT strikes rising O2 molecules, and
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therefore, where there can be NO large formation of O3 molecules (ozone).
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I am referring, of course, to the Northern (Arctic) Circle in the Northern
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Hemisphere winter, and to the Southern (Antarctic) Circle in the Southern
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Hemisphere winter. The Earth, thankfully, is not positioned exactly
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perpendicular to the rays of the Sun. If it was, the Sun would be overhead
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in the small place all the time, and the so-called tropical regions would
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just get hotter and hotter, until they became uninhabitable deserts, and
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the polar regions would just keep freezing. The bulk of the Earth's surface
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would either be too hot, or too cold, to live in with only a thin region
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where the two extremities met, capable of supporting life as we know it.
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Fortunately, this is not the case; the Earth is, in fact "tilted over"
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to one side with respect to the Sun, and it is this tilt that gives us our
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"seasons." In Figure 1 [figure deleted], we have a representation of the
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Earth at what is known in the Northern Hemisphere as the "summer solstice,"
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that is, when the Sun is directly "overhead" at the Tropic of Cancer. This
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is the height of the Northern Hemisphere summer. As can clearly be seen
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from the diagram, NO sunlight is contacting the atmosphere above the
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Antarctic Circle, and therefore there simply cannot be any conversion of
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"O2" into "O3." Hence, there is a measurable "hole" in the amount of ozone
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in the ozonosphere at that time. As the Sun's "overhead" position
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gradually changes, and the Sun "moves" back across the Equator, the amount
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of sunlight reaching the Antarctic Circle gradually increases, thus giving
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rise to an increase in the incidence of ultraviolet light striking the
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atmosphere, thus causing the "hole" to "shrink."
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In Figure 2 [figure deleted] we have the exact opposite conditions,
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the "summer solstice" for the Southern Hemisphere. This occurs on Dec. 22
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each year, when the Sun is directly "overhead" at the Tropic of Capricorn.
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Again, it can readily be seen that now the Arctic Circle lies completely in
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the dark, and, surprise, surprise, there is a measurable "hole" there in
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the amount of O3 in the ozonosphere. After the Southern Hemisphere
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solstice, the Sun begins its journey northward again, and as we here in
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Australia slip into our autumn, the "hole" at the Antarctic Circle starts
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to "grow" again, and the one at the Arctic Circle starts to "shrink." This
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is a natural cycle which has existed, and will continue to exist, for as
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long as the Earth is tilted, the atmosphere contains O2 molecules, and
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ultraviolet light continues to come from the Sun to convert them to O3
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molecules. There are no laws that puny men can pass to stop the awesome
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forces and cycles of Nature, as King Canute learned when he attempted to
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"order" the tides to turn back. "Laws" to attempt to prevent the natural
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cycle of "holes" in the ozonosphere, fall into the same category, and
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should be treated with equal contempt.
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So where did all this nonsense about "holes" in the ozone layer come
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from, anyway? Well, back in 1985, the British Climatological Team in
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Antarctica discovered the first "hole." There was a relatively short bout
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of hysteria, as always, whipped up by a compliant media because the whole
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thing was in "somebody's" interest; all front-page hype and speculation
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about how half the world's population would be dead from skin cancer by the
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year 2000, and similar preposterous stuff. If you think back to the late
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1985-early 1986, you should be able to remember it all. You should also be
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able to remember that it had all just died away by late 1986-early 1987,
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and you heard nothing more about "holes" in the ozone layer until quite
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recently. But do you know why? Well, I'll tell you. It all died away
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because by the time the British scientists at the South Pole had been
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studying the phenomenon long enough to realize that it was not some
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hideous, dire threat to mankind's future, but part of a natural, endless,
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repetitive cycle. This was actually reported in the papers, but naturally
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enough, not in screaming page-one headlines, but buried up on page 53 or
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so, somewhere between the comics and the obituaries.
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What was also reported at the time was that the scientists, who now
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know exactly what they were dealing with, were packing up in Antarctica,
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and moving camp to the Northern Polar regions to test their own prediction
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that there would be a similar "hole" there, at the opposite time of the
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year, thereby proving that the "holes" were not a new threat to the
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environment and to mankind, but part of a natural cycle. And that, of
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course, is exactly what they did, and that is exactly what they found. Of
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course, such a reassurance would not suit those who wish us to live our
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lives in a constant state of near panic, and therefore ever more prepared
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to hand over control of our lives to some form of "Big Brother" to save us
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from these imaginary "threats."
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And so, rather than the papers correctly reporting that the British
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team had discovered a second hole above the Arctic Circle, a hole they had
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already predicted and they had gone there specifically to confirm, thereby
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proving their theory that such phenomena were part of a natural cycle, the
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papers instead screamed out from their front pages, "Second Hole in Ozone
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Layer Discovered: Dire Double Threat to Mankind," and other similar
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hysterical drivel. And now, Maggie Thatcher, the head of government in
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Britain, the person who was ultimately responsible for the team that
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discovered the first "hole," and the person ultimately responsible for
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sending the team to the Arctic Circle to substantiate their theories, the
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person with access to ALL this information, and the person who should be
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leading the way in debunking this scam, is the person inviting scientists
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and leaders from all over the world, to formulate "policies," and
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"agreements," and if necessary, "world laws" to be administered by the
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United States, to tackle this new "threat." And there are STILL people
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trying to convince me she's one of the "good guys."
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Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not in favor of ANY strange
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laboratory-created substances polluting the air I have to breathe, and I
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wholeheartedly endorse the current campaign to rid the atmosphere of
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chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the atoms being blamed for the so-called
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"holes" in the ozone layer. But just stop for a minute and think: If CFCs
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caused the so-called "holes," why are they ONLY over the polar regions?
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Are the polar explorers and scientists using too much spray-on deodorant
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and fly-killer? Of course not. If CFCs had much to do at all with the
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so-called "holes," then the "holes" would be over New York, or Tokyo, or
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London, or at least somewhere relative to these places where it could be
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shown that the air currents were causing the CFCs to accumulate. But they
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are not. The "holes" only occur in two places, over the North and South
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Polar regions, exactly in accordance with natural forces which create the
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bulk of ozone, and exactly in accordance with the theories and predictions
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of the scientists who discovered them in the first place.
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AEROSOL CANS AND JET PLANES
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Think about something else for a moment. Imagine a can of spray. If
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you like, think about a whole supermarket shelf of cans of fly spray or
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even an entire supermarket full of nothing else but cans of fly-spray.
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Picture in you mind how much CFCs are involved, and will find their way
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into the atmosphere to somehow (never actually explained) "destroy" ozone
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(O3). Now picture in your mind a Boeing 747 jet, with its four massive
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engines. Now imagine that jet hurling through the sky at hundreds of miles
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an hour, scooping literally TONS of air into its jet engines every minute
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or so. Now, what those jet engines are doing with that air, is extracting
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the available oxygen, tons and tons of the stuff, and using it to burn
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kerosene, thereby using up the oxygen and creating carbonic gases. And
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where do these jets fly? Why, predominantly in the ozonosphere.
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That's right: The "oxygen" these jets destroy by the ton every minute
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or so, is not the "O2" variety you and I breathe, it's the "O3" variety
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which SUPPOSEDLY exists as some kind of "protective mantle" and which we
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must now "save" at all costs, even at the sacrifice of democracy and
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freedom. Every time a jet takes off and flies somewhere, it destroys more
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ozone than you or I could ever imagine, let alone use, as CFCs, in a
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lifetime. We're not talking about amounts that can even be conceived in
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terms of fly-spray cans; we're talking volumes of ozone similar to the
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amount of water in Sydney Harbor at any given time. And that's ONE Boeing.
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Thousands, if not tens of thousands of such flights occur all over the
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world each and every day (except in Australia at Christmas, when, as
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everybody knows, all the airline staff go on strike). But have you heard
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anybody suggest that jet flight be banned, or at least kept below the
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ozonosphere? No, of course not. You are supposed to believe that all this
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massive consumption, millions of tons of O3 (ozone) every day, is perfectly
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safe and poses no threat, but the next time you reach for the can of
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Mortein, you may just bring about the end of civilization as we know it.
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If you accept this, then you probably really do believe that the surf
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protects us from the ocean, and we should stop the board-riders from
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"wearing it away."
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Now, I ask you, just who is kidding whom?
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-------------------------------------------
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SCAM TWO: THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT
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-------------------------------------------
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The other current "scare" is based on the so-called "greenhouse
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effect." The scenario goes something like this; increases in the
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atmosphere of various gasses, principally carbon dioxide, will cause an
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increase in the Earth's mean atmospheric temperature. This, in turn, will
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cause amongst other things, a melting of the ice caps, making the ocean
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levels rise, thereby causing terrible coastal flooding; it will also turn
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currently arable farmlands into deserts, because there will be less rain in
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most places (but more in others). Now, just for a moment, forget all the
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hysterical garbage you've been reading in the papers, most written by
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"journalists" who can't even spell anymore, let alone actually "research" a
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story, and let's have a look at the cold, hard facts.
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First of all, it hasn't even been fully accepted by the mainstream
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scientific community, that levels of carbon dioxide are, in fact rising,
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or, if they have, that they are continuing to rise. There is a narrow band
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of statistical data that tends to suggest that this MAY be the case, but it
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has been collated over such a short period of time that it is impossible
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yet to accurately predict whether this is a "new" phenomenon, or part of a
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cycle. Even amongst supporters of the theory that there has been a
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significant increase, there is a sizable proportion who argue that the
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situation has already stabilized, and that there is no further increase to
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be expected. And even then, there is widespread scientific speculation as
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to whether such an increase in carbon dioxide, has actually caused an
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increase in temperatures. There is no doubt that such "increases" have
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been recorded at least in some places. But whether it is "global" or not,
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and regardless, whether increase in carbon dioxide have caused it or not,
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are still mere speculation. One highly respected scientist has already
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pointed out that these "high temperature" statistics have all been
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collected in, or near, major cities, which not only have significantly
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higher levels of many gases like carbon dioxide, but are also veritable
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concrete and bitumen "jungles," which act as "heat-sinks," and will
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invariably produce higher temperature readings than the surrounding rural
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areas. While they may be bad news for people living in the very big
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cities, it is hardly indicative of what is happening globally.
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For the moment, however, let us assume both factors needed to support
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the "greenhouse effect": that the level of carbon dioxide IS increasing,
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and that this WILL cause the Earth's mean temperature to rise, as accepted
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facts, rather than speculation. Does it follow that sometime in the future
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we will see our costal cities turned into new "Venices," and see the ocean
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"rise," or that our rural farmlands will become dust bowls? No, in fact,
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exactly the OPPOSITE would be true....
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To understand what WOULD happen, if the Earth's temperature increased,
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for whatever reason, one must first of all understand a few simple,
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scientific facts. The first is that there is only a certain, relatively
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fixed amount of "water" on the planet. This water exists in four physical
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or geographical states. The bulk, of course exists in a liquid state as
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oceans and seas. It also exists in its liquid state as lakes, rivers, and
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ground water, most of which, at any given time, is involved in an
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inexorable trip back to the oceans. Another large amount exists as vapor in
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the form of clouds, and a certain amount is locked up as a solid, in the
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form of ice, principally at the polar caps. Now, changes in the Earth's
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mean temperature will change the PROPORTION of water found in each of these
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states, but NOT the total amount.
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The second fact to understand is that three of these forms are in a
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constant state of movement. The waters of the oceans are constantly
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evaporated into clouds. The cloud move over the land, where, under certain
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circumstances, it falls as rain. The rain becomes ground water of one form
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or another, which starts its journey back to the oceans, where the process
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starts all over again. So, at any given moment, there is a certain amount
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of water lying in the oceans, a certain amount evaporate, on its way to
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become rain, and a certain amount on the land for the farmers to use. Now,
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the real scientific fact to understand, is that if you raise air
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temperatures, you INCREASE the rate of evaporation. If you doubt this,
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simply take two shallow beakers of tap water, put one in the refrigerator
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(not the freezer), and the other on the kitchen window sill. The one on
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the window sill will very quickly evaporate away; the one in the
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refrigerator will last significantly longer.
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So what does this mean in terms of the "greenhouse effect"? Simply,
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that if the Earth's temperature increases, it would rain MORE, not less.
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Marginal farmland would become more abundant, temperate climates would
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become subtropical, and so on. There would be far more fresh water in the
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rivers, and lakes, for irrigation, and, if you think about it, the ocean
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levels would drop (discounting for a moment, the "melting ice caps" which
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we will come to). Conversely, if the temperature were to decrease, there
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would be LESS evaporation, and therefore LESS rain, and therefore LESS
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agriculture. This is substantiated historically, as well as
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scientifically, in almost every major drought and famine in mankind's
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history has been accompanied by severe WINTERS, not summers. Historically,
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it is the COLD which destroys agriculture, not a rise in temperatures,
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principally for the reasons cited above. (Incidentally, we all know it
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rains a lot in the tropics, but do you know which is the driest--least
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precipitation--continent on the planet? Antarctica!!!)
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So, all things being equal, a slight rise in temperature would lead to
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a boom in world agriculture, not the desert wastelands scenario we are
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||
currently being fed. But is such a situation likely, even if temperatures
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are going up at the moment? As we have seen, if mean temperature goes up,
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evaporation goes up. That means a great increase in cloud cover. Now ask
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yourself, is it hotter on a sunny day or a cloudy day? You already know
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the answer. IF the temperature were to go up, for whatever reason, there
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would be a corresponding increase in cloud cover. This, in turn, would
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cause a corresponding DECREASE in mean temperature. Within certain very
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confined parameters, the overall "system" is self-regulating, and will
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||
remain so as long as we don't replace too much green with concrete, stop
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polluting the oceans with oil the interrupts the evaporation process, and
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refrain from blowing ourselves and the planet to oblivion. Whoever
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designed the place, howsoever you conceive Him, certainly knew what He was
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doing.
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Ahh, you say. That's all very well. Okay, the crops won't fail, but
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what about when the ice caps start to melt, and the oceans rise, and flood
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all of us living by the coast? Well, as I have said above, I doubt that
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such rises are sustainable over any period of time, and the polar regions
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||
are well capable of bearing significant temperature rises for limited
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periods. The Arctic regions of Alaska, for instance, enjoy temperatures of
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||
around 20-25 degrees in the "month of the midnight Sun" each year. This is
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||
comparable to a pleasant spring day. But even if the "greenhouse" scenario
|
||
were true, AND sustainable, and the ice caps melted, would that mean the
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||
ocean levels would rise sufficiently to "flood us out." Again, no. Let's
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||
look at the two ice caps separately, as they are very different.
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||
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE POLES
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First, the Northern ice cap, better known as Arctica. Contrary to
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||
what many people believe, there is no "land" under the Arctic ice cap, it
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||
consists entirely of frozen water, ice, "floating" on liquid water. Water
|
||
is a strange substance, in that instead of getting denser and denser as it
|
||
turns from a liquid to a solid, below 4 degrees C, which is just above
|
||
freezing, it begins to expand. Once it is "frozen" (becomes a solid), it
|
||
is actually 10% less dense than in its liquid form, and occupies 10% more
|
||
space. This is why ice cubes float, and bottles of beer explode in the
|
||
freezer. Taken in isolation, if the Northern ice-cap melted totally,
|
||
coupled to the increase in evaporation that would be associated with a
|
||
"greenhouse effect," the levels of the oceans would DROP. Of course, these
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||
things can't be taken in isolation, and this "drop" would, in fact be
|
||
almost exactly offset by the corresponding melting of all the ice currently
|
||
existing in the form of glaciers and snow. (The Northern ice cap, plus ALL
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||
the glaciers and snow on all the continents, together only account for 10%
|
||
of the Earth's frozen water. The other 90% in on Antarctica.)
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||
|
||
Now let's turn to the Southern ice-cap, Antarctica. Unlike Arctica,
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||
Antarctic IS a continent; the ice there is sitting out of the water "up" on
|
||
land. If it all melted, it WOULD affect water levels, and quite
|
||
significantly. But how likely is this? The average temperature at
|
||
Antarctica is -50 degrees, with temperatures as low as -88 degrees, being
|
||
recorded. Even the most ardent supporters of the "greenhouse effect" only
|
||
claim sustained mean rises of 2 to 4 degrees. That would mean Antarctica
|
||
would enjoy an average of -46 degrees. Not much ice melts at -46 degrees.
|
||
Even if by some extraordinary convolution of all the known laws of physics,
|
||
a full 10% of the Antarctic could be induced to melt, at an average
|
||
temperature of -46 degrees, the end result wouldn't even raise the average
|
||
height of the world's oceans two feet!!! And if, by some as yet
|
||
undiscovered means such a feat could be induced to happen, the subsequent
|
||
changes to the weight distribution on the Earth's surface would probably
|
||
mean a total realignment of our rotational axis, with consequent volcanoes,
|
||
earthquakes, and possibly even whole continents sinking. Somehow, under
|
||
those circumstances, I doubt that we would be worrying too much about an
|
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extra two feet of water where the beach at Surfer's Paradise used to be.
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"Inside News" is published by Cambaroora Publishing, P.O. Box 389,
|
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Tewamtom. Queensland, Australia. Subscriptions to the U.S. cost US $65.
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