POST # 153
Six years plus one day ago, on January 27th 2009, I completed my last shift at work at Aquabus in Vancouver. Now of all the things that I have done over my working life, which amounts to over forty different "careers", working at Aquabus was without a doubt the most enjoyable time I have ever had at work.
However, by 2009, it was time to move on, so in spite of the fact that I was closing the door on what had been a very enjoyable time in my work life, I walked away.
Since that time, life has been a fascinating journey, with the usual ups and downs, however I certainly don't regret that my life has taken on this new direction.
Of course, some would think that I am just an unemployed bum, and they're entitled to their own opinion, but I'm long past the age where I get too concerned about other people's opinion of how I should live my life. I made the decision to move on, and I must live with the consequences of that decision.
Back in 2009, I was quite convinced that the whole system we call industrial civilization was on the verge of collapse, but I guess with enough duct tape, bailing wire, financial shenanigans, and a constant stream of "circuses" via the media to distract the masses, somehow, at least on the surface, things seem to be cruising along about the same as before.
But with a little investigation, it's easy to find the chinks in the armor. Perhaps this is the year that the whole thing begins to unravel. It's kind of like the story about the guy who went broke, and when asked how that had happened, his reply was, slowly at first, and then all at once. I feel that we are in the "slowly at first" part but that the "all at once" part can't be too far off. Time will tell.
With this in mind, late last year I made a promise to myself, that before everything collapsed, I would like to make one last trip to Australia, and one last trip to the Yukon.
Well I'm half way through my list, as I type these words while sitting in the library in Coolum Beach Queensland, where I have been situated now since about the middle of January. In my care is Chloe the furball and she'll be my sidekick for about two more weeks. We've sweated through the sticky Queensland summer so far. I was talking to a local in one of the shops the other day. He has lived here for 19 years, and he told me that this was the worst that he could ever remember with regards to heat and humidity. And I thought it was just me.
I certainly couldn't have imagined back in 2009 that I would be here in 2015. However, after six years plus one day, here I sit.
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
THOUGHTFUL: showing consideration for others; occupied with or given to thought; contemplative; meditative. WANDERER: moving from place to place without a fixed plan; or having no permanent residence; nomadic.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
METHANE AND MADONNA
POST # 152
In an effort to continue the theme from last week's post, that being, the melting of the Arctic sea ice in the near future, I thought that I would write about methane today.
Whether the sea ice disappears this year, or a little later, the bottom line is that the Arctic is warming up at a significant rate. One of the many side effects of this warming is the release of methane gas from both the permafrost and the sea bed. In particular, there is an area on the northern coast of Russia which is called the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS for short). Here, the water is relatively shallow, so the escaping methane gas doesn't have far to travel to be released into the atmosphere. In the short term, methane is approximately 105 times more powerful a greenhouse gas on a 20 year time scale than carbon dioxide. One of the scientists who has spent years studying what is happening on the ESAS is Dr. Natalia Shakhova. (see this link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx1Jxk6kjbQ
She has warned that a 50 gigaton "burp" of methane is "highly possible at any time." This would be the equivalent of at least 1000 gigatons of carbon dioxide. To put this amount into perspective, we have released approximately 1475 gigatons of carbon dioxide since 1850. In other words, if, or more likely, when this "burp"escapes it will have a tremendous heating effect. It's just a matter of time, really. Perhaps in 2015, we'll get two for two, total sea ice loss AND a 50 gigaton release of methane.
Another scientist who has been studying the Arctic for decades is Dr. Peter Wadhams, Professor of Ocean Physics at Cambridge University. When asked recently, "do you think civilization could survive a release of 50 gigatons of methane" his answer was short and to the point, "No, I do not think it can."
If Mr. Spock from Star Trek fame was to be observing what is going on, he would probably just say to Captain Kirk, "Fascinating Captain". He would be looking at it from a physics and chemistry point of view, and being a Vulcan, he wouldn't have to contend with any emotion to cloud the facts.
So that's it in a nutshell for today's methane lesson. There's plenty more detail that can be found online for anyone who has the curiosity to look, however I doubt that many will. A good article that highlights the methane situation is written by Dahr Jamail and can be found here.
http://truth-out.org/news/item/28490-the-methane-monster-roars
And finally, today's post wouldn't be complete without mentioning Madonna, aka my mom as this would have been her 99th birthday. She exited the planetary stage around about the time that the methane began to be noticed by the scientists. Perhaps she knew something. :-)
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
In an effort to continue the theme from last week's post, that being, the melting of the Arctic sea ice in the near future, I thought that I would write about methane today.
Whether the sea ice disappears this year, or a little later, the bottom line is that the Arctic is warming up at a significant rate. One of the many side effects of this warming is the release of methane gas from both the permafrost and the sea bed. In particular, there is an area on the northern coast of Russia which is called the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS for short). Here, the water is relatively shallow, so the escaping methane gas doesn't have far to travel to be released into the atmosphere. In the short term, methane is approximately 105 times more powerful a greenhouse gas on a 20 year time scale than carbon dioxide. One of the scientists who has spent years studying what is happening on the ESAS is Dr. Natalia Shakhova. (see this link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx1Jxk6kjbQ
She has warned that a 50 gigaton "burp" of methane is "highly possible at any time." This would be the equivalent of at least 1000 gigatons of carbon dioxide. To put this amount into perspective, we have released approximately 1475 gigatons of carbon dioxide since 1850. In other words, if, or more likely, when this "burp"escapes it will have a tremendous heating effect. It's just a matter of time, really. Perhaps in 2015, we'll get two for two, total sea ice loss AND a 50 gigaton release of methane.
Another scientist who has been studying the Arctic for decades is Dr. Peter Wadhams, Professor of Ocean Physics at Cambridge University. When asked recently, "do you think civilization could survive a release of 50 gigatons of methane" his answer was short and to the point, "No, I do not think it can."
If Mr. Spock from Star Trek fame was to be observing what is going on, he would probably just say to Captain Kirk, "Fascinating Captain". He would be looking at it from a physics and chemistry point of view, and being a Vulcan, he wouldn't have to contend with any emotion to cloud the facts.
So that's it in a nutshell for today's methane lesson. There's plenty more detail that can be found online for anyone who has the curiosity to look, however I doubt that many will. A good article that highlights the methane situation is written by Dahr Jamail and can be found here.
http://truth-out.org/news/item/28490-the-methane-monster-roars
And finally, today's post wouldn't be complete without mentioning Madonna, aka my mom as this would have been her 99th birthday. She exited the planetary stage around about the time that the methane began to be noticed by the scientists. Perhaps she knew something. :-)
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
2015- WILL THIS BE THE YEAR???
POST # 151
Lack of computer access last week resulted in missing out on writing my first post for 2015. Since then, I have settled in at my new housesit which has a library close by with wifi, so I should be good for the next few weeks at least.
2015, will this be the year? The year for what? This could be the first year in literally millions of years, that the earth experiences an ice free Arctic Ocean. This is a BIG DEAL. The Arctic has been the earth's air conditioning unit for all this time, and once the ice goes, the heating really begins. The process has been accelerating for many years now, and the people in the know, who study this, have speculated that we could be ice free in September of this year, or at the latest next year.
How significant is the loss of sea ice? VERY SIGNIFICANT. The easiest way to understand this is to see what happens to a gram of ice at 0 ° C when energy is applied to it. It takes 80 calories of energy to melt this one gram of ice. However, if the same 80 calories of energy is added to the resultant water, the temperature of that water is raised to 80 ° C. In other words, once the ice goes away (and it will go away), all the energy of the sun will go directly into heating the ocean, instead of into melting ice, and the result will be a much warmer Arctic Ocean. If we think we've had some weird weather issues up to now, just wait. It's going to be quite a ride, and it could start as early as this September.
RECYCLING WON'T STOP THIS.
VOTING GREEN WON'T STOP THIS.
USING "GREEN" ENERGY WON'T STOP THIS.
SUPPORTING GREENPEACE WON'T STOP THIS.
SUPPORTING 350.ORG WON'T STOP THIS.
EVEN STOPPING ALL EMISSIONS IMMEDIATELY WON'T STOP THIS.
This process is already way too far advanced, and along with another 46 positive feedback loops* it really doesn't matter now, what we do or don't do as a society regarding climate change. Our goose is already cooked. Oh yes, the politicians will continue to talk, talk, talk, and there will be another meeting in Paris later this year to "hammer out some solutions," but they've been talking since the Earth Summit at Rio in 1992 and things have only become worse as each year passes.
And so it goes. The TV will continue to be the main outlet in which people get their information and there will be plenty of news items to distract them. Like for instance, the latest news from Paris (Charlie Hebdo) which with only a small amount of research, appears to be yet another staged event to achieve some political ends, and keep the population enveloped in a state of terror. The loss of Arctic ice won't even come close to being on the radar of the average person because "we have terrorists to fight."
In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on what's going on and report on it here from time to time. I know it won't make a difference, but it feels good to write about it anyway, and it gives me something to do.
Now I think I'll head to the beach and take a dip in the surf, and do my best to appreciate the day at hand.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
*for the latest on these positive feedback loops, please go to my friend Guy's website at guymcpherson.com and click on the link "monster climate-change essay"
Also, if you really want something to ponder, Guy has produced two short videos titled "Edge of Extinction", the first on January 2nd and the next one on January 4th.
Lack of computer access last week resulted in missing out on writing my first post for 2015. Since then, I have settled in at my new housesit which has a library close by with wifi, so I should be good for the next few weeks at least.
2015, will this be the year? The year for what? This could be the first year in literally millions of years, that the earth experiences an ice free Arctic Ocean. This is a BIG DEAL. The Arctic has been the earth's air conditioning unit for all this time, and once the ice goes, the heating really begins. The process has been accelerating for many years now, and the people in the know, who study this, have speculated that we could be ice free in September of this year, or at the latest next year.
How significant is the loss of sea ice? VERY SIGNIFICANT. The easiest way to understand this is to see what happens to a gram of ice at 0 ° C when energy is applied to it. It takes 80 calories of energy to melt this one gram of ice. However, if the same 80 calories of energy is added to the resultant water, the temperature of that water is raised to 80 ° C. In other words, once the ice goes away (and it will go away), all the energy of the sun will go directly into heating the ocean, instead of into melting ice, and the result will be a much warmer Arctic Ocean. If we think we've had some weird weather issues up to now, just wait. It's going to be quite a ride, and it could start as early as this September.
RECYCLING WON'T STOP THIS.
VOTING GREEN WON'T STOP THIS.
USING "GREEN" ENERGY WON'T STOP THIS.
SUPPORTING GREENPEACE WON'T STOP THIS.
SUPPORTING 350.ORG WON'T STOP THIS.
EVEN STOPPING ALL EMISSIONS IMMEDIATELY WON'T STOP THIS.
This process is already way too far advanced, and along with another 46 positive feedback loops* it really doesn't matter now, what we do or don't do as a society regarding climate change. Our goose is already cooked. Oh yes, the politicians will continue to talk, talk, talk, and there will be another meeting in Paris later this year to "hammer out some solutions," but they've been talking since the Earth Summit at Rio in 1992 and things have only become worse as each year passes.
And so it goes. The TV will continue to be the main outlet in which people get their information and there will be plenty of news items to distract them. Like for instance, the latest news from Paris (Charlie Hebdo) which with only a small amount of research, appears to be yet another staged event to achieve some political ends, and keep the population enveloped in a state of terror. The loss of Arctic ice won't even come close to being on the radar of the average person because "we have terrorists to fight."
In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on what's going on and report on it here from time to time. I know it won't make a difference, but it feels good to write about it anyway, and it gives me something to do.
Now I think I'll head to the beach and take a dip in the surf, and do my best to appreciate the day at hand.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
*for the latest on these positive feedback loops, please go to my friend Guy's website at guymcpherson.com and click on the link "monster climate-change essay"
Also, if you really want something to ponder, Guy has produced two short videos titled "Edge of Extinction", the first on January 2nd and the next one on January 4th.
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