Powerful Crazy in the House--Bachmann is Clueless

It was recently Earth Day, so many had to "think green" because of environmental concerns. The biggest concern recently has been with the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. There is usually some level of equilibrium on sufficiently large scales of the gas in the atmosphere between production and consumption by things on earth, both biological and geological. If such an equilibrium were to be thrown off enough, it could lead to a warming trend in world temperatures which can lead to significant climatological problems for things that depend on its current state, including us humans. Human activity with the burning of fossil fuels, which return much of the stored carbon in the earth back into the atmosphere , has raised CO2 levels to a higher level than has been seen in history and far into prehistory.

It is the strong consensus of climatological scientists that CO2 levels have increased and are causing changes in the climate, that humans are a primary cause in the increase of CO2 levels, and that the effects will bring harm. However, the scenarios of what could happen do not include Armageddon. There may be increases of famine do to drying conditions, loss of property due to rising water levels, etc. Humans will survive the climate change; we just won't be happy, and the costs of such warming could very well outweigh any costs in trying to prevent or weaken this fate.

So, what the hell is up with Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-Minnesota)?



That is some powerful stupid.

CO2 is natural from nature, etc. Yeah, so is radium. So are tornadoes. So are plagues. What an example of the naturalistic fallacy.

No study to show that CO2 is harmful. Um, the problem isn't that CO2 levels will get to high to be poisonous. That would be a problem with something like mercury. (If the levels of CO2 were high enough, there would be problems, but that isn't the case for what industrialization is being blames for.) CO2 levels on the rise lead to problems with the environment, which then affects us. And if you want to see that CO2 can be harmful in itself, why do you think plastic bags say "Keep away from infants"? Because they will suffocate!

CO2 makes up ~3% of the atmosphere. Rep. Bachmann, ever hear of Wikipedia? If you had, you would know that you are off by two orders of magnitude. Not a trivial error. If she was right, we would all be dead.


Humans have increases CO2 by only 3%. Try ~30%.



And what is the most probable source?
CO2 levels are well away from natural levels for the last ~million years. Human activity is the most likely source, and the effects are becoming known.

So, which this many pictures, I have to include one more, taken from Bad Astronomy.

Weddings!

So far, January has been nice and crazy. The new President certainly is worth talking about, and already the politics is getting hot. The winter storms recently have certainly made life a bit odd, considering the university actually closed yesterday. That never happened when I was at MSU, and the last time it did in 1994 was when the wind chill was 40F below, considered possibly lethal to walking students. It wasn't that bad here in Ohio, but the roads were supposed to have been aweful.

But what is making this month eventful for me are weddings. There are two this month, and in both I'm a groomsman. The first was a couple of weeks ago, and the next is on the last day of the month. This means a lot of tux fitting and a lot of driving. Not to mention lots of bachelor parties, including in other nations--Canada. Of course, I do like looking nice and dancing crazy with my girlfriend, but there is a lot of running around to be done, especially when I have to drive for more than four hours just to get to any one location I need to be in for Michigan events. But, in the end, it is worth it.

Also, the newest issue of Sky & Telescope has hit news stands, so my letter to the editor should be in there, but I haven't checked yet. I wonder what responses I can expect. I bet this will make an interesting February.

Fun Times For Me

I haven't written too much personal stuff, so why not start now?

Over the last few weeks, I have been receiving letters of acceptance (or rejection) from universities across the country for graduate school. Unfortunately, the vast majority have been negative. However, I only needed one positive response, and I have that--thank you Ohio State. There are still a few other universities I am waiting on, but I am suspecting that the turnout will not be the best, so my sites are looking towards Columbus right now.

In other news, the weather has been a bit crazy here in Michigan. The other day a large snowfall hit East Lansing, and the word on the street is that the county has used up almost all the salt because of the large levels of snowfall and icy conditions during this winter. So the roads were really bad when I was picking up my girlfriend. Actually, it caused by first collision with another car!

It was an unusual experience when I was coming to a red light, one care already stopped there about 20 feet ahead of me and my brakes fail to slow me down in time--anti-lock brakes are great, but you just can't beat ice's low coefficient of friction. So, I hit the guy in front of me . . . with less that bumper car momentum. Whew. No damage was done; in fact, the guy in front that I bumped never even looked back. Things would have been a lot worse if he hit me from the back since I have a trailer hitch that would screw up his bumper so bad.

Otherwise, things are good. Spring Break starts Friday (and ends next Friday because I have to work at the planetarium), classes are going well, and I'm havin' the time of my life with by feminine acquaintance. And in case she is reading: Ich liebe Dich, mein Schatz!