Global Warming?

“The World's No.1 Science & Technology News Service



Jet trails make climate milder


19:00 07 August 02

NewScientist.com news service

Aeroplane vapour trails buffer the temperatures felt on Earth, according to a study made possible by the consequences of the terrorist attacks of September 11.

Scientists had suspected that the wispy condensation trails left by jumbo jets could behave like high altitude clouds and alter the climate. But constant air traffic had prevented them from testing the idea.

However, the three-day grounding of aeroplanes across North America after September 11, gave climatologist David Travis and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin the jet-free skies they needed.

With the contrails absent, they found that daytime high temperatures were higher and night-time low temperatures were lower at 4000 weather stations across North America.


Hot and cold


The team analysed the average daily temperature range for the three-day periods before, during and after the aircraft grounding, and compared them with the same periods from 1971 to 2000.

The temperature range both before and after the grounding showed little difference from the average. But during the three day aircraft grounding the temperature range was 1.1 °C greater than average.

The loss of cloud cover is known to have this effect and therefore supports the team's argument that contrails behave as artificial cirrus clouds, insulating the Earth by reflecting sunlight from above and retaining heat from below.

The study noted that the regions that usually have the greatest number of contrails, such as the northeast, midwest and pacific northwest, showed the greatest increase in temperature range during the aircraft grounding.


Local weather


However, John Mitchell from the UK's Met Office warns that this could simply be due to variations in local weather during the study period. "Whilst it's an intriguing study I'm not sure how much one can deduce from it since the effect of contrails is not clearly separated from that of natural cloud coverage", he says.

"We are not saying the temperature changes were solely due to absent contrails. Weather patterns across the country obviously contributed to our results," Travis replies.

"But even so the range of temperatures measured during the aircraft grounding was the largest for at least 30 years, which suggests that contrails are in someway enhancing the blanketing effect of clouds," he told New Scientist.


West Nile virus


The increased insulation from contrails may seem to be good news in terms of heating and cooling bills, but according to Travis even small changes in climate can have widespread affects.

Insect populations, for example, are kept in check by extremes of temperature. Less variable climates could potentially result in larger mosquito populations, with increased risks of malaria and West Nile virus. The latter is currently sweeping across the US.

Many plants are also affected by temperature extremes. For example, maple syrup can only be tapped after nights when the temperature drops to —3 °C.

Journal reference: Nature (vol 418, p 601)”

“Do you realize the chemicals given off by the vapor trails, the quantity generated by ONE jet airplane and the overall quantity of ALL airplanes, and the impact it has not just on our climate, but the air chemistry??? This is a kept secret the airline industry does not want let out of the bag, because the regulations, restrictions and changes that would have to be made would hurt them tremendously.

Put that on yer kite and fly it.”

“That thought has occurred to me more than once while looking off into the bright blue sky and seeing contrails criss-crossing in multiple layers for hundreds of miles into the distance. Yeah!”

“too much info. more coffee.
is that beneficial pollution”

“i'm posted in empty threads b/4. but not today, anyone want to sell me the secret?”

“probably dumb anyway. (sniff, sniff)”

“Velly interestink.”

“Yaz...

A guy I know works with the sister instrument Terra MODIS. Back in January it unexpectedly went into safe mode a couple of times and gave them all fits.

All better now, tho'!”

“Safe Mode is a gooooooood thing...otherwise you get things like this happening:

Ground Control: Viking, point your antenna at the ground.

Viking: Duuuhhhhh, okay!

<Viking goes off the air, never to be heard from again>”

“Yep... it's like W.C. Fields supposedly saying he'd actually rather be in Philadelphia, LOL.

I think they just would've liked to know Why a little sooner. I got the impression that they were relieved to find out the cause.”

“How come they never say that H20 is the dominant greenhouse gas in newspaper articles?”

“Never say never.”

“Cow flatulence is the culprit...”

“Gather you live close to a cow farm. ONCE it was a 100 feet from a pig farm. The air is much sweeter in Chicago, but perhaps more lethal! ENJOY!”

“Goodness me!

Goodness me!

Marvin Gardens' Disease!”

“Seriously. There was an article published a few years back where cow farts were blamed for global warming. I'll see if I can dig it up.”

“http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2000/10/25/113322

or;
http://rucus.ru.ac.za/~wolfman/Essays/Cow.html

or;
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_176.html

or;
http://www.canoe.ca/AllAboutCanoesNewsOct01/11_cow-par.html

and finally;
A Colorado State University animal nutrition professor named Donald Johnson has been studying cow flatulence for 20 years, and has determined that the average cow emits 200 to 400 quarts of methane gas PER DAY, resulting in a total annual world cow methane output of 50 million metric TONS! Don't light a match around a cow and never allow a cow inside your sleeping bag!!”

“One of the more interesting theories about some of the large dieoffs in Earth's prehistory is the one concerning the disturbance of the methane hydrate layer under the ocean floor. There is a thin layer of compressed methane hydrate buried under the floor of most of the world's oceans. Apparently, every few hundred million years or so, something disturbs this layer, and a gigantic belch of methane rises to the top of the ocean and is released into the atmosphere, causing an immediate greenhouse effect. Here's an article I found about this.”

“95% of the scientific community disagrees with the cowfart theory FG, and most of the remaining 5% are "on the payroll," if ya know what I mean.

Ever hear of the Western Fuels Association?

<GRIN>”

“Is that the guys who are running around scooping up cow pies and burning them?”

“"every few hundred million years or so, something disturbs this layer, and a gigantic belch of methane rises to the top of the ocean and is released into the atmosphere"

bitpusher
10:04:16 AM
08/16/02


Is this the "Earth Fart" Theory?”

“If that's not what they call it, they should.

The problem with most scientists is they have such lousy self-esteem that they have to make the simplest things sound complex so people will they they are smart. If they'd just call it the "Earth Fart" theory instead of something like "The Theory of Mass Extinction by Periodic Release of Benthic Methyl Hydrate" more people might get into science.”

“C'mon, Tilt. I didn't say I subscribe to the theory, I just said it was out there, LOL.
What bitpusher says makes sense. On a smaller scale, the same phemenon is observed in smaller bodies of water where eutrophication occurs. Methane is produced from the trapped layers of decomposing organic material at the bottom of a pond, or even an aquarium.
I can see the guy standing on the corner with his sign now; 'Repent! The Great Oceanic Fart is upon us!'”

“You mean like...





And the flip-side...



(Halloween 1999)”

“rats.”

“It's actually Psycho Squirrel f@rts that cause global warming. Gee, fence off those tomatoes!”

“Omigod, gotta get out to the hills while there still a shred of insanity left in my head. Cow farts? Ocean farts? Take a hike folks!”

“Uh, Tilt Old Hoss, that didn't work...”

“glad this thread dint degenerate......





my friend garfum (i think he's a scientist er sumpthin) was tellin me bout this theory...”

“'Boutcha, there, strat. What're you doin' up this late?”

“just chillin , had to work late cuz i watched my 4 yr old this mornin



fergot to buy beer though, BUMMAH!


seinfelds on!”

“Sorry about your lack of brew...I'll drink an extra Bacardi Limon just for you...cheers!”

“e-mail me one ya bogart!”

“How's 'bout if'n I just sends ya one of the holes in my liver, LOL?”

“Citron!

(Mandrin's pretty tasty, Also)



Liver? What liver?”

“"Liver alone! Cheese mine!"”

“Mornin', Tilt!”

“Remember when climate threads were fun?”

“I have fun on climate threads”

“And there you have it.”

“mainly because of the antics of others.”

“A recently published UN report has come to my attention. This report contains information that I, personally, find quite amazing and I’d like to share it with you. The report (Livestock’s Long Shadow) contains one clear message; it states that the single most effective act that any individual can currently do to lessen the effects of global warming is to become vegetarian. That this message comes directly from an authoritative body such as the UN (whose member states, it should be remembered, are not generally considered vegetarian) rather than an organisation committed to vegetarianism is significant.

You may know that for over 30 years I have been interested in the promotion of vegetarianism and my own feelings were sparked by a simple compassion for animals. What I think is especially compelling, is that this report should now encourage everybody to ‘do their bit’ for the planet. The evidence that the report gives is, frankly, stunning. It points directly to the striking detrimental effects of excessive livestock farming on the environment.

For instance:

Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems of today” says Henning Steinfeld of the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). “Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”
70% of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing.”
Livestock now use 30% of the entire world’s land surface.”
Cattle rearing is also a major source of land and water degradation.” (FAO report Livestock’s Long Shadow- Environmental Issues & Options).
When emissions from land use and land use change are included (i.e. deforestation), the livestock sector accounts for 9% of CO2 deriving from human-related activities, but produces a much larger share of even more harmful greenhouse gases. It generates 65% of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of CO2.”
The livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the earth’s increasingly scarce water resources, contributing among other things to water pollution…from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to sprayed crops.”
Ok, this may sound like me banging on about vegetarianism again but this time, these facts come straight from the UN and I wonder if you, like me, think that they are significant enough to be taken seriously. By simply considering altering eating habits people can strike a blow for the environment, our children and the future. Such facts and data as those listed above can’t be ignored.

I hope this statement doesn’t seem too heavy-handed but I think this recent news is important enough to take notice of.

Many thanks for reading this.

Cheers,

Paul McCartney”

“It's the beatles that live under the livestock that release the gases.”

“Wouldn’t eating the critters reduce the population and their emissions? Save the planet eat a cow.”

“The U.N. is so full of intellect.


last edited: 2/01/08 9:47:29 AM”