This and That
It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything, so I’ve had lots of time to think. Now it’s time to put some of it on paper, so to speak.
Firstly, I have been in touch with the composer of the song on this blog. She is a beautiful person! She has graciously sent the sheet music to me for our church choir. She is very interested in having the piece performed. At this point, I don’t know when we will be singing it. Our choir director is so busy with Easter music that she hasn’t had time to review the piece. I am so looking forward to singing it though!
Unfortunately, my children have been sick for the last week. Fortunately, they are both feeling better now. But this also means that I have not left the house for over a week. During my sons adoption, while we were waiting for ICPC, I felt more homesick than I ever thought I could be. I’m beginning to think that it had a large part of ”cooped up” in it now. I need to get out of this house! Thankfully, we’re all well enough for church tomorrow. I think we need to go shopping for something tomorrow. Anything!
I’m going to start the next part of my random thoughts with a single question: Who came up with the lame brained idea that our planet has ever had a stable climate? Or a stable anything? And now for the more scientific part of our program. Just for reference, I am a degreed Chemical Engineer from a highly regarded university.
Let’s start at the beginning of an experiment. I want to measure how long it takes water to come to a boil from 70 degrees F on the front right burner of my stove. The first thing I must do is make sure the water is stable at 70 degrees. I must also know the barometric pressure and the humidity, for they will have an influence. These bench marks are my steady state, the foundation for my experiment. Without a steady state, there is no experiment. If there are too many variables, there is no experiment. In fact, there can be only one variable in a true experiment. In my example, I could either run the test at different flame heights, or I could run the test on days of different humidity, but I could not change both variables at the same time or my results would be invalid.
So my question about “Climate Change” is where is the steady state? Where is the basis? The starting date used by “everyone” seems to be 1880 when temperature records began to be kept. And yes there has been a small increase in the earth’s temperature since then. But what was going on before then? Was it steady until 1880 and then suddenly started increasing? Could there have been a decrease in global temperatures in the hundred years before 1880? And a question that has truly been bothering me: Have these temperatures been measured at exactly the same locations with the exact same methods continuously since 1880? Because if they’re not being measured in the sames places, and they’re not using the same methods (or equipment), you’ve added more variables into the experiment. And speaking of variables, just how many variables are there besides industrial manmade “greenhouse gases” which could change the earth’s temperature? (By the way, we create “greenhouse gas” everytime we breathe out.) Gas production variables: population change since 1880, volcanoes, the ocean and livestock “gas” are some off the top of my head. Other variables that would change the earth’s temperature: sunspots, or more precisely solar flares from sun spots, and the sun’s changing diameter. So there are just too many variables for a conclusive experiment.
And I must add before I go, that I find the fact that the term “greenhouse gases” has become a scare word extremely upsetting. Without these “greenhouse gases”, there would be no life on this planet. These gases, which include water vapor, are what maintain our life supporting atmosphere. They are what filter out the excess radiation from the sun, and what keeps enough warmth on our planet for life to survive. Without them, Earth would be as cold and barren as the moon. I, for one, am thankful for Greenhouse Gases!
Goodnight!
