Global Warming?

According to April and Becky, it was snowing in Beaver Creek this morning. Not only that, it was snowing hard. Global warming? I don't know... It kind of appears that Colorado is cooling, though scientists think it's getting warmer. In my opinion, I think we should just all start putting lots of pollution into the atmosphere so that it will snow. That would cool things down. Don't like the idea? Okay, maybe it's not such a great idea. Looking at some arguments from both sides, I have come to some conclusions on global warming. I don't want to look at each argument for and against global warming because that would literally take hours, but I just want to point out some obvious things wrong with the global warming idea.

First, scientists love to blame people for 99% of all global warming problems. In fact, one lady, who had been convinced people were the sole problem of global warming, even aborted her child so that she could help save the planet. I was not only shocked but horrified that such measures should be taken in the name of "saving the planet." Back on topic, however. One of the very common phrases used with global warming is the phrase "the greenhouse effect." The greenhouse effect is simply the process by which certain gasses (principally water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) trap heat that would otherwise escape the earth and radiate into space. Basically, we can't live without it, but scientists seem to think it's just about the worst thing that has ever happened. There are a few basic facts about the greenhouse effect.

1) Because of the industrial revolution, huge quantities of coal, wood, natural gas, and gasoline have been burned to generate electrical power to keep society running. As a result, we have, indeed, been generating a lot more carbon dioxide and putting it into the air.
2) The population of the earth is greater than it has ever been. All these "extra" people have produced a lot of carbon dioxide.
3) Humans only produce approximately 3% of the carbon dioxide produced by natural processes on the earth.

Because of the first two facts, worries about global warming have been generated. We know that carbon dioxide is a big participant of the greenhouse effect, which helps to warm and maintain this planet. We also know that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been increasing steadily over the last seventy years. Since carbon dioxide is a big factor in the greenhouse effect and the greenhouse effect warms the planet, won't that result in global warming? Not exactly. Although all of the conclusions are based on sound scientific reasoning, reality hasn't happened quite like that. See the two figures below to see what I mean. Notice that the carbon dioxide concentration is in parts per million (ppm).

The top figure does, indeed, tell us that the carbon dioxide concentration has been increasing in concentration. Now look at the second figure, but before you get panicked about all those spikes, look at the y-axis. Notice how the temperature is going up by increments of tenths of a degree. In total, this graph shows 1.2 degrees Celsius. That's not much. Also notice how the temperature change doesn't match the change in carbon dioxide concentration. Once the second graph hits about 1925, it averages out to be about the same temperatures every year.
A more accurate graph of the temperatures would look something like this:
It seems that this is a much better way to graph temperatures. Twenty degrees Celsius is going to make a difference. 1.2 degrees Celsius is not. The way in which the carbon dioxide is added to the air is also important. When we burn fossil fuels, carbon dioxide is not the only gas that is released. There are many others also. In fact, some of these gases reflect the light instead of absorbing it. This actually reduces the amount of energy absorbed by the earth, causing a cooling effect (maybe that is what happened in Colorado).

We know for sure that the greenhouse effect is not being enhanced enough to cause global warming. Because of this, the majority of atmospheric scientists believe that global warming isn't a problem. A poll conducted at the Institute of Science, Technology shows that only 17% of all the atmospheric scientists believe that global warming is a problem. The majority (53%) said that global warming is not a problem, and the rest (30%) said that there was not enough information to make that decision.

So, why is global warming made such a big deal? My guess is that politicians choose it as a popular thing to talk about to show their debating skills. Unfortunately, it seems to me that most politicians don't even realise that global warming isn't a problem. I think it's just another one of those great debate topics that people throw into the pot of things for politicians to argue about. It's a shame that people aren't more educated on the topic and that innocent lives are lost because of their ignorance.
~~~
Dr. Jay L. Wile. Exploring Creation with Physical Science. Indiana: Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc., 2000
Natasha Courtenay-Smith and Morag Turner. URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-495495/Meet-women-wont-babies--theyre-eco-friendly.html (11 June 2008)

Vintage Indy!

Well, Ryan had a great idea. A post on Vintage Indy!

First of all, I would like to know how many stunt doubles he has. I'm not totally convinced that someone 65 years old could do all that he did...

There was a "magnetic box" close to the beginning. It was so magnetic, in fact, that Indy could throw bullets from across the warehouse, and the bullets would go directly to the box. Do you know how magnetic of a box that would have had to be? VERY. And the really stupid part? Once they finally got "the box," they could pull off magnetic items that stuck to it. It seems to me that the Russians, who were looking for the box, would most likely have some metal in their shoes or that they would have metal in their mouths. They didn't stick to the box at all. Very odd.

The human-dragging ants were rather funny. Just crawling over the guy, these ants could drag him into their hole. Impressive.

Some things I learned from the movie-

1. Did you know that if you climb into a lead-lined refrigerator right before an atomic explosion, you'll survive?
2. Did you know that you can survive riding down three water falls in an open car?
3. Did you know that you can sword fight with someone on two separate cars, going quite fast, and through the jungle?
4. Did you know that if you comb your hair, it's easier to die?
5. Did you know that a plastic skull full of plastic wrap is highly magnetic?
6. Did you know that magnets only work if they're visible?
7. Did you know that cutting open a mummy looks like cutting open a burlap sack?
8. Did you know that people can swing from trees like monkeys?
9. Did you know that all Indians set up secret entrances?
10. Did you know that all lakes were previous UFO landing sights?

I found it rather disappointing to find out that the whole thing *surprise, surprise* had to do with aliens. Like there aren't enough alien movies around all ready...

Is the movie worth seeing?
No comment.

Okay, yes, I will comment. It was a lot of fun to see a dumb movie that you can laugh about, but, like Steve says, you could debate whether Pirates of the Caribbean or Vintage Indy was better. It was fun, though.

Need Help!

In case no one has noticed, I haven't been posting as frequently as I would like to. One great excuse is that I simply haven't had a whole lot of time to post. Another reason is because I don't know what to post about. Any ideas of things I could write on? Any serious ideas? I know I have enough funny ones coming...

The Art of Studying History

The past couple of years I have been doing a history curriculum in which the author teaches history with a much different approach than most. I wasn't too sure about it at first, but I'm liking it more and more. The difference? Instead of having to memorize random facts, people, places, and dates, it gives you a huge overview of history. Within each subject, it narrows down on specific aspects, but it still keeps history in the broad sense. Why would this make any difference? It sure cuts down on memorization! After doing this, I feel like I can remember more than if I did history with just the traditional approach, and history just makes a whole lot more sense. Instead of pointlessly memorizing random things, it puts everything into a huge picture which can't be understood unless if you're looking at everything that happened before it and at the time. I guess this history program could be called a study of humanism. With each person you're leaning about, it makes you ask two questions. 1) Who (to the person that you're studying) is God? 2) Who, then, is man? Each of these questions is very easily answered after studying their lifestyle, occupation, and impact.

For example, if you were to look at a painting from the Reformation period and this particular person was of the reformed mindset, you would most likely see some everyday, ordinary things. Chances are, you would also see nature in the picture. Before the Reformation when the Catholic church had so much control, the only thing people thought should be painted were important things such as high positions in the Church and Madonna and Child. This was because the people living then were under such an illusion that they thought the ordinary, everyday man didn't have any importance. The only people who were very important were people that had positions in the Church. After all, to them, the Church was the gateway to Heaven. With this mind set, everything earthly was considered bad. Thus, nature and ordinary things were never painted. During the Reformation time period, the truth was starting to be made known. What a shock it must have been to those people to hear that the only way to Heaven was through the Son! The church started to lose their power and authority. The ordinary man and activities were painted. God created nature, so that, too, was painted. As the Reformation was getting underway, the Catholic church started to realise they were no longer the top dog, so they started commissioning people to paint them again to try to get the people to once again believe the Church was the only way. This is only one example of how much you can tell about a person's beliefs through the art of painting and sculpting.

Another way you can tell a person's beliefs is by what music they write. During the Middle Ages when the Catholic church had so much control, people weren't really aloud to sing in church. The monks in monasteries were the ones and only ones to sing. They had the "right way" of doing things, and they were the important people. Ordinary people weren't going to sing at their services. As the Reformation rolled around, however, people like Luther and Zwingli started writing hymns that the ordinary person could sing. They were also in languages that the ordinary people spoke - not Latin. Coming through and out of the Reformation, people started writing pieces and songs that also reflected their beliefs. Because I know how many of you love Bach (or should...), I'll pick on him. Because Schaeffer can say it a whole lot better than I ever could, I'll just write a quote from his book, How Should Then We Live?.

"JS Bach (1685-1750) was certainly the zenith of the composers coming out of the Reformation. His music was a direct result of the Reformation culture and the biblical Christianity of the time, which was so much a part of Bach himself. There would have been no Bach had there been no Luther. Bach wrote on his score initials representing such phrases as: "With the help of Jesus" - "To God alone be the glory" - "In the name of Jesus." It was appropriate that the last thing Bach the Christian wrote was "Before Thy Throne I Now Appear." Bach consciously related both the form and the words of his music to biblical truth. Out of the biblical context came a rich combination of music and words and a diversity with unity. This rested on the fact that the Bible gives unity to the universal and the particulars, and therefore the particulars have meaning. Expressed musically, there can be endless variety and diversity without chaos. There is variety yet resolution."

Throughout my study of history, I have found it extremely interesting to follow all these ideas through. Because of this history I have done, the different theological ideas and practices started making sense as far as why they did what they did. Nobody just wakes up one morning and decides to start a reformation. There has to be something leading up to it. This happens all through history. After doing just a little bit of history, it becomes evident that, to steal the expression, nothing happens in a vacuum. Everything that happens is a direct result of what has happened before and what people did in response to that.

I would strongly suggest that if you haven't already, read Francis A. Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live?. It is a very easy-to-read book, it's not dry, and it has plenty of pictures. It basically follows these ideas through Rome all the way to modern times, and it says it much better than I do.

History has continuity! Wow, I learned something this year...

Interesting Article

I just recently ran across this article about problems with short-term mission programs. I have long seen that there were problems with it, but I haven't been able to nail it on the head. This article does, and I would highly recommend that you read it.

http://www.csm.org/articlewhymost.php

My Thoughts on Hawaii

Wow, finally a post!

Before I say anything, I have to clear my name on the "neighbor" picture. That was actually taken at the Polynesian Cultural Center with people I didn't even know. We walked in the gate, they put the leis on us, they posed, someone snapped a picture, they walked off and did it with the next person. No choice in the matter, and it all happened within probably about thirty seconds. Everyone gets it done to them. Notice in my post I never said that the people in the picture were my neighbors. :)

Here is a picture of our neighbors and me:


The yacht club:

Sailing!

Sailing again!

"Scenic Picture"

Overlooking Honolulu and the tall ship (Falls of Clyde)

The tall ship
A place for cannibalistic activities

Overlooking Honolulu again

Wild chickens (they're everywhere there!)
Some beach

Another picture of the tall ship

A stingray

A model of the USS Constitution

An outdoor emergency warning system - on a fake palm tree

USS Missouri

Hawaii struck me as a very laid back place. People don't really have much to do (at least from what I saw), so as soon as they finish work, they all head down to the beach where they surf/sail/canoe/snorkel until the sun goes down. At that point, they all tromp up to the grocery store (still with beach attire) where they buy dinner. They then head home where they go to bed and do the same thing the next day. Surfing and being Hawaiian is their religion. I sometimes think that they take their surfing more seriously than Coloradans take skiing or riding (if that's possible). Caucasians are by far the minority. I felt like I was albino there. Everyone that we came across was very nice. Even the security guards in the airport were cracking jokes. I was starting to get a little skeptical of all the "aloha-ing" and "mahalo-ing" thinking that they were putting it all on for the tourists. Though this is probably part of the reason, they really do truly say that in everyday life. It seems to me that many of the native Hawaiians are poor. The "real Hawaii" behind the tourist Hawaii isn't really all that kept up. Unlike here, there are hardly any new cars. If there is a new car, it's probably a tourist who rented it. There are hardly any bikers there. I think I probably saw five professional bikers (spandex and all) in the time I was there. All the roads are 35 mph unless it's a highway. If that's the case, the speed limit gets bumped up to a whole...55 mph. Wow! Something that struck me while I was there was the fact that the poor people who live there really don't get to travel anywhere. They could drive across the island (probably takes 1.5 hours) and stay there, or they could pay $600 for an airplane ticket. They're pretty stuck there. Would I go back? I haven't decided yet. I loved it there, but if I went back, I think I would like to take up surfing and do a whole lot more sailing. If any of you ever get a chance to try sailing, go for it! It's well worth it.

May Day Pictures (like no one has seen enough...)!

I'm sure that no one has seen enough May Day pictures, so here are some more.

"Mommy! They're walking a robot down the sidewalk!"

"You do the hockey-pokey and you turn..."

Mark looks on in disgust.

The Johnsons laugh at our failure.

Beth still can't quite believe we didn't see them on the roof.

Becky vows never to have anything to do with May Day again.