Global Warming/Climate Change/Global Weirding?

[Conan71]

That would probably take a very large tank of liquid nitrogen.  And there were more than one that have been found over the years.

The tankers are buried under the ark on Mt. Arrarat.

[heironymouspasparagus]

The tankers are buried under the ark on Mt. Arrarat.

I've been wondering where they hid those things!  That's great!  Maybe Noah's Ark has been preserved near there, too!  Wouldn't that be cool?

[Red Arrow]

I've been wondering where they hid those things!  That's great!  Maybe Noah's Ark has been preserved near there, too!  Wouldn't that be cool?

You will have to dig through the ark to get to the LN2 tanks.  Historians may not like that.

[heironymouspasparagus]

You will have to dig through the ark to get to the LN2 tanks.  Historians may not like that.

I have never been politically correct - why start now??

[heironymouspasparagus]

Resurrection.  Just had to throw this in for grins and giggles - from my early years.  And in the name of the effort to clean up the state, I would recommend a mandatory deposit on bottles.  I still get cranky trying to find double edge blades for my old Gillette razor.  And can you even find cloth diapers now??


The Green Thing:

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today.. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind.  We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days.  Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.  But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room.  And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just
to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.  We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

[dbacks fan]

Resurrection.  Just had to throw this in for grins and giggles - from my early years.  And in the name of the effort to clean up the state, I would recommend a mandatory deposit on bottles.  

Oregon has done this for years. They tack on an extra $0.05 for soda and beer bottles and cans including two litre bottles at the time of purchase as an incentive to return them.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Resurrection.

Here is a real world example of a solar system that was installed in 1998.  
http://www.mrsharkey.com/blog

He shows the energy produced from this setup.  
http://www.mrsharkey.com/solar.htm

This is in Oregon, where the energy usage profile is much different from here.  Like no air conditioning required.  So not an example of what might work here, just one way that solar is being done rather successfully in one place.

About 1/3 of the electricity there is hydroelectric (WAY more than we have) and about 5% is 'renewable'.  Kilowatt hour there costs about 9 cents - similar to here.  So he has saved about $750 since installation.  His consumption profile is such that it is a much greater proportion of his usage than anyone around here.  Lots of intentional conservation actions, for example.  Fewer expectations from electric usage.

Interesting point is that the average power coming from his system is declining over the last year - data collection started May 2007.  That points to reduced solar insolation for whatever reason.  More cloud cover?  Haze in the atmosphere?  Who knows.  The peaks on clear sunny days seem to still be the same, so it is not likely to be a cell degradation issue - at least not to any detectable level.

Could climate change be causing more cloud cover?  More dust particles reducing light to surface?  14 months is too short to say.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Oregon has done this for years. They tack on an extra $0.05 for soda and beer bottles and cans including two litre bottles at the time of purchase as an incentive to return them.

We should, too.  Why don't we??

[dbacks fan]

Resurrection.

This is in Oregon, where the energy usage profile is much different from here.  Like no air conditioning required.  So not an example of what might work here, just one way that solar is being done rather successfully in one place.

Tell that to the people that live on the eastern side of the Cascade Range where temps in the summer hit the high 90's to low 100's from June through August.

Oh, that's right, "The Day After Tomorrow" is a documentary. Mind explaining to me how the air temp can drop below -80 degrees F fast enough to freeze the fuel and hydraulics in a helicopter instantly?

[Red Arrow]

Tell that to the people that live on the eastern side of the Cascade Range where temps in the summer hit the high 90's to low 100's from June through August.

All the people that really count live by the coast. 

[Breadburner]

New Age Ice Age on the way again....!!!

[dbacks fan]

All the people that really count live by the coast.  

Well, when you have beaches like this, I guess you're right.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Tell that to the people that live on the eastern side of the Cascade Range where temps in the summer hit the high 90's to low 100's from June through August.

Oh, that's right, "The Day After Tomorrow" is a documentary. Mind explaining to me how the air temp can drop below -80 degrees F fast enough to freeze the fuel and hydraulics in a helicopter instantly?

Should have added the west side - which is where he is.  Yeah, east Oregon and Washington are different worlds.


I don't know how that happens.  How did Nowata get to -32 last winter when Tulsa stayed at about -10?  And all the surrounding area stayed 20 degrees and more warmer.  Seems like I remember about -10 or 12 for Bartlesville that night, too.  And up into Kansas, over to Miami, etc.

I think the movie does a better job explaining that than anyone here has done explaining how the frozen mammoth occurred (and not just once, but several times).  So, I have given an explanation for one way the mammoth could freeze - the movie explanation.  

So, your turn; How did the mammoths freeze solid in minutes??

[dbacks fan]

 So, your turn; How did the mammoths freeze solid in minutes??

There is no direct evidence that any wooly mammoth froze to death.
In fact, the
healthy, robust condition of the cadavers and their full stomachs argue
against death by _slow_ freezing. [their emphasis] On the other hand, the
large size of their warm-blooded bodies is not compatable with _sudden_ freez-
ing. In addition, all the frozen specimens were rotten...only dogs showed
any appetite for [the flesh]...'the stench [of decay]...was unbearable.'

"Histological examination of the fat and flesh of the Berezovka mammoth show-
ed, "deep, penetrating chemical alteration as a result of the very slow
decay," and even the frozen ground surrounding a mammoth had the same putrid
odor, implying decay before freezing [actually, no--the ground could have
thawed after the mammoth was frozen and permitted decay, then refrozen. ERE]
Furthermore, the stories of a banquet on the flesh of the Berazovka mammoth
were, "a hundred per cent invention."

"...The only direct evidence of the mode of death indicates that at least
some of the frozen mammoths (and frozen wooly rhinoceroses as well) died of
asphyxia, either by drowning or by being buried alive by a cavein or mud-
flow...Asphyxia is indicated by the erection of the penis in the case of the
Berazovka mammoth and by the blood vessels of the head of a wooly rhinoceros
from the River Vilyui, which were still filled with red, coagulated blood.

http://www.skeptictank.org/files//evolut/mammoth0.htm

[Red Arrow]

So, your turn; How did the mammoths freeze solid in minutes??

Space aliens.  They have a freeze ray.  I'm surprised you don't know that.