[Grovenet] Celebrate Independence Day, buy some foreign oil

[David Morelli]

Today we started our day with the Hillsboro parade, we attended a  
block party ( Forest Grove will allow streets to be temporarily  
closed for block parties - ask first ), and then after dinner we went  
for a movie.  ( The sulfur in fireworks is an allergy issue for our  
family. )

We went to see Al Gore in "An Inconvenient Truth".  There were some  
interesting items in it.  My personal favorite was the data from the  
Antarctic ice cores.  650,000 years of atmospheric CO2 and methane,  
and a similar length of 02 measurements.  The prior work provides a  
calibration to allow measurements of atmospheric CO2 and average  
atmospheric temperature from those records.

I checked the data from the ice cores.  There is little surprise  
here.  A bunch of ice ages and warm periods comprising six glacial  
cycles.  The article released by the American Association for the  
Advancement of Science (SCIENCE magazine) indicates that CO2 and  
temperature track each other over the millennium.  It also indicates  
that the CO2 level is 27% higher now than any peak in the last  
650,000 years.  And the variation over the last two centuries has  
been a change from 280 ppm to 380 ppm.  We are operating  
significantly outside of the normal range.  Since there is no  
competing evidence from any other sources, this speaks to a  
qualitative change in the last few centuries affecting CO2 levels  
that was not present in the preceding 650,000 years.  Personally I  
suspect human behavior.

http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2005/1128ice.shtml

We do know about the effect of CO2 on the planetary heat balance, and  
we do have 650,000 years of records that indicate that the planet's  
temperature corresponds to CO2 levels, so I am guessing that we are  
headed for a few more degrees of average temperature caused by human  
activities.

So what do we do with an additional 20 feet of water in the oceans?   
That really doesn't sound too bad except for the effect on ocean  
currents and atmospheric currents.  Which plays into climate and  
weather.  Which only affects our food supply and water supply.   
Nothing much.

Denial is a proper solution, no doubt.  Or pray for Armageddon, if  
you are certain that you will be one of the elect.

David