The Mechanics of World Weather Storm Systems
A lot has been said, lately, about the increased activity and severity of storm systems around the World in the last 30 years.. Most will tell you it is because of the increased amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere, some would even hazard the aberrations are caused by deities seeking retribution for our collective sins…
But the truth is, the balance maintained for millions of years in the weather patterns of this planet have been dented, impacted, and thrown off kilter by our own change of tastes.. The larger homes of today’s tastes often include “Exotic Hardwood” floors from non-domestic species imported from third World countries, just trying to make a dime from their only primary crop,.. timber.. Another reason for the felling of trees was to create farmland for the Third World’s bulging populations.. This has led to the clear-cutting of massive stands of Equatorial Forests on the order of hundreds of square miles, of of these massive trees, at a time..
One must consider the impact of this act.. The average large tree, in North America, has the cooling effect of 15 room-size air conditioners… The average large tree in the Amazon or Indonesian Archipelago can has the cooling effect of 100 or more air conditioners…
To demonstrate the physics, 1 pound of water, heated to increase the temperature one degree Fahrenheit, would take 1 BTU of energy… This is an even measurement throughout the change from a solid (ice) to a gas (steam), or, 212 degrees, Fahrenheit, OR, 180 BTU.. The amount of energy necessary to change the state of that 1 pound of water to steam, is 965 BTU… If you can imagine that an average North American tree can evaporate 30 gallons of water, an hour, or, remove 231,600 BTU’s per hour of heat energy from the atmosphere, and, an an average Equatorial Forest tree can remove as much as 180 gallons of water per hour, or, 1,389,600 BTU per hour.., THEN, you can imagine the effect of the removal of a Million of these trees on the stability of the moderation in the balancing of storm systems that these important Equatorial Forests have…
The loss of this amount of Equatorial Forest has had a devastating affect on the World’s weather systems over the last 25 years
Storms, particularly in Europe and the U.S., have been dramatically more severe… One never, ever, heard of a thunderstorm in Europe, some 30 years ago, packing winds of up to 125 miles per hour.. Now, they are almost a common occurrence.. One storm, in the South of France, in the Autumn of 1997, destroyed a forest of ancient oak and ash trees that were planted by workers under the auspices of King Louis the thirteenth..
Though a large part of the felled trees were salvaged by sawyers cutting board stock out of the logs, the forest was destroyed, and, only lately replanting efforts have made an impact on the landscape…
“WE are known by our acts, but suffer, our choices..”
For the Silo, Bill Stewart.
Bill has it right on.
The shift in our economy has taken us in Canada to an Industry of supplying natural resources to those that now make 90% of the products we purchase, in virtually any sector.
Raw materials are shipped to these countries , where Goods are manufactured cheaply in countries where wages are low , with no thought to any industrial environmental or human impact. No safe practices , no social services . Almost all companies , from Department stores to grocery stores have taken advantage of higher profits by having products made or food grown in these countries .
The shift to crops being used for other things other than food have also created an environmental disaster as Forests are cleared for more land.
Our main issues facing us in the years to come are:
Overpopulation , Deforestation , Global Consumerism and Crops for fuel.
The rest is fluff.
Trees are natures air filter. They are as important as water to life.
Canada contribtes 2% of the globes GHGs. With a population of 34 Million. Ontario is at approx. 14 Million.
You have emerging nations like Africa at 1 Billion , China at 1.3 Billion , India at 1.5 Billion and then there countries like South America and Mexico. All low wage countries where there is little or no environmental protection or consideration for human impact. This is why the bulk of the globes goods are manufactured there.
In the long term , for our own children sakes , the shift should be away from the “Global economy way “.
The focus should not be massive growth but a slow , natural self sustaining economy. Which includes population growth .
Where our demand , and our consumption is based on a steady even demand all tied to population.
Our water will not lasr forever at this rate.
We have to look to the times when our grandchildren have kids.
Will there still be clean fresh water ? Will there still be natural resources ? Heck will there be any good paying jobs left ?
As it stands the only provinces left that are doing well are those into narural resources and gas and oil.
We sell all this in a generation ? What then ?
I first me Bill at a meeting of a local environmental group, H.O.P.E. about 22 years ago. At the time we were fighting the building of a massive incinerator here in Haldimand County which was a proposed site for ridding Toronto of it’s garbage. I can vouch for Bill’s being “adamantly green” both then and now and have always found him to be a man worth listening to. This morning I forwarded him an article written in the Financial Post declaring that humans are in no way responsible for climate change, rather it is changes in the sun’s emissions that are causing the changes we are experiencing. I think the name of the paper itself holds the strongest clue to why they would take that stance. The richness of our planet is being sacrificed for the greed of a few. It’s time all the talking heads stopped arguing over who or what is at fault and started making efforts to alter the changes we are experiencing in our weather while we still have a planet which will sustain human life. Planting a few trees each, in my opinion is a good place to start.