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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Agent Barnes

Mini story for your reading pleasure, by Yours Truly.

   There was a serene sky outside the sleek, stainless-clad windows, which beheld a view of a poor neighborhood with a river winding through it. Elevated several stories from the ground, the office itself was posh. Several steel file cabinets set in one corner, adorned with silver edging. The floor was a cool, off-white marble tile with black and white veins running through. A skinny, pale man in a light gray suit sat in a plush, white leather chair, seemingly preoccupied with his silver computer monitor and keyboard, and not the burlesque, well-built man in the chair across the modern style desk. He wore a darker suit, sitting rigidly in his chair and running his eyes across the room constantly, as if scanning for hazards.
   "Let's run over the mission again, Agent Blake," said the pale man. "Your job is to plant the nuke in the southern Syrian town, and avoid getting caught before then. You'll have all the resources and men you need."
   "I don't like this, Agent Barnes. Innocent people are going to die, just to scathe ISIL," said Blake worriedly.
   "I don't care if you have a problem with it. We both know why you're actually here." He turned the sleek computer monitor so Blake could see his own file. There was red lettering to one side. Blake's expression didn't change, but his face paled slightly under his short beard as he eyed Barnes.
   "If you don't, someone else will. But you're the best man for the job. So, if you don't..." Barnes raised his eyebrow and planted his leather dress shoes on the desk, while turning the monitor back toward himself.
   Blake hesitated further, jaw working with no sound emerging. His hands clenched his suit, wrinkling the corner. Perspiration beaded around his forehead. Finally,
   "I'll do it."

   Agent Barnes smiled, his skinny finger lightly tapping "delete" on the keyboard. 

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Why Republicans are More Likely to Reject Climate Science

   So, first off I get ready to insult a few people! However, if you're actually reading this, it means either you've already been insulted by the headline, or  you're likely a liberal and reading this post will just reaffirm your beliefs. (Usually I like to keep beliefs out of climate science, but since beliefs are mostly what prevents the public from accepting climate science, we will be talking about beliefs. It's rather like Bones' dislike of physchology on the popular TV show Bones.)
   So, why are Republicans more likely to think climate science is quackery and several thousand respected scientists have been paid off by some socialistic scheme to control the entire planet? I believe that issue is extremely complicated, and involves many variables, such as peer pressure and ideology identification, to name a few. These terms refer to the fact that people are inclined to believe in a set standard of beliefs and morals that match with the people and ideologies that they associate with. In other words, if you're a conservative listening to Rush Limbaugh, every time he jokes that hybrid drivers are "morally superior financially illiterate hippies," or some such, it reaffirms the ideology set that you've associated with, whether or not you actually think that hybrid drivers fall into that category.
   So, doesn't everyone have certain disagreements with the people that they hang out with? Maybe - but only about 53% of the public believe that scientists agree on climate change. The reality is that 97% of climatologists agree that the data confirms that climate change is a reality. Notice that I did not saw they "believe" it is happening. This is not a matter of beliefs; believing climate change is not an issue is essentially like believing the earth is flat; it really doesn't matter what you believe, because it's there. However, due to propaganda and such, likely on part of the oil industry, the public and politicians have turned the issue into a political issue.
   This is understandable, in a way. Since it will involve policy changes and decisions, it automatically becomes a political issue as soon as scientists suggest that we attempt to make changes. Thus, people then hear from the politicians - who freely admit that they are not scientists, which somehow excuses them from not understanding basic scientific principles. Senator Inhofe throwing a snowball in the Senate is a prime example of scientific ignorance and a poor understanding of the issues. A blizzard, even across the whole US, does not negate climate change, because not only must we think globally, we must think of the whole earth - because data has now shown that the oceans are likely to be responsible for absorbing the bulk of the heat from climate change. [1]
   The recent temperature slowdown is proof of at least two things. 1. It shows that scientists are not fudging data, which is a rather absurd belief to begin with, since they would likely just continue to increase their numbers, and 2. There are still a lot of things we don't understand. This is something scientists are willing to admit - unlike many politicians and citizens.
   This is also understandable. People do not like being told they are wrong. It rubs them the wrong way, damages their ego, and causes them to second guess themselves. We shouldn't be going after the general public. We need to be going after the main culprits - politicians with monetary agendas and oil and other anti-environmental businesses. These businesses resist at every opportunity, and are deeply ingrained in how the world works right now. However, and this is speculation, I suspect that it would not be entirely too difficult for these companies to jump into wind, solar, nuclear, and other cleaner sources of energy. We need to let people, businesses, and politicians know that the status quo is inherently dangerous, and that it is going to severely damage the planet if we don't make meaningful change, and soon.
  We can do this in a variety of ways. The new "slacktivism" may even be able to help - this entails sharing environmental posts to your friends, signing petitions online, and other things that pop up. Like your local environmentally conscious groups on Facebook so they show up in your feeds. If you feel inspired, go out and get active.
   I realize I've strayed quite severely from the original topic, so I apologize for that. Ultimately, party differences don't paint a very good line in the general public - but Congress has been highly polarized on a variety of issues for quite some time, and it is not surprising that climate change has similarly been polarized. Let's try to wade across party differences and make some meaningful change for each other, the country, and the world.

Why Global Warming Can't Be True

It might seem impractical to say something like this, but it actually has good potential to be quite practical. For example, we will be able to focus almost exclusively on business as usual once we show why climate change can't be true. It's what we all really want; to know the reasons why it can't be right, and how we can continue living our lives exactly the way we were before. So, this article is meant to empower those individuals who were searching for that loophole. It's not really a way out. It's just affirmation of what we knew, deep down, was correct.

Tip #1: Realize the scientists are probably wrong.
But don't 97% of scientists agree it's a problem? Sure. But did you know we don't have reliable temperature records from before the thermometer was invented? How can scientists honestly tell us how historic climates were when Rome didn't even keep temperature records? We've only got about a century of very reliable records, never mind that the global average temp keeps going up! The climate fluctuates all the time anyways, which you well know if you ever tried to plan a camping trip.

Tip #2: It's their fault for building there in the first place.
Rising sea levels? Don't worry - Antartica gains ice every winter! Or, wait, does it gain ice in the summer, since the earth tilts away from the sun during summer? Or it is during winter, I can't seem to remember. Anyways, they built in the lowlands, it's their fault for getting flooded routinely! If Florida disappears, we'll just send the snowbirds to Canada for their summer bake.

Tip #3: The economy needs to keep expanding. Climate change would get in the way!
You're absolutely right, you know. If climate change continues on it's current course, there could be a massive amount of legislature in place preventing businesses from working the way they want to. There may not be an natural resources left after baking, but that was probably from all those chemtrails.

Tip #4: This would be incredibly inconvenient! You might have to change, even radically.
So don't! Realize that your opinions and views trump science from around the globe. Respected scientists from many fields are unworthy of your attention - you have responsibilities to the status quo. Eventually you'll make enough money to buy that gas guzzling V12 Jaguar, and then people will respect you. No one will respect you if you cut back on consumption. By the way, we happen to have an unlimited amount of resources for infinite expansion. We will never have to fight a war over resources to keep the economy growing. Just look at the stock market for proof. Always going up (and down and up and down again, but that's beside the point).

Tip #5: Realize there are some highly vocal people who agree with you!
Some of them even wear lab coats. I doubt the label inside has a Big Oil sponsor printed on it - that's only something Wind and Solar do, because they have all the money. Just look at the Upside Down Fortune 500 list for proof.

Tip #6: Realize Al Gore invented the internet.
We don't trust Al Gore! He's just a slimy politician, and we also don't like him, so everything he says must be false. Never mind all the scientists and universities and everything - they just invented reason and logic, which would be disastrous to this argument.

For further reading, check out this Big Think article on how to deny scientific consensus on just about any subject:

5 Easy Tips for Denying Scientific Consensus

Very helpful stuff there! For an in depth explanation of what will almost certainly NOT happen if we keep up with Business As usual, read:

The Next Genocide

That's all for now! I'll be selling Portable Buckets of Sand very soon, which are quite useful in the event you don't live next to a handy desert. Yet.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Cave Ecosystems - Fragility

   Recently my speleology class was covering biology of caves, and so I thought making it into my next blog post would be a good idea. In search for topics to write about, this one seemed like a logical next step, since I'm in biology as my field of study, and this is my environmentalist blog. Further, it might help some people learn some better ways to care for caves. As usual, I always encourage trying to think with the conservation ethic - namely, even if no one has said it, it should be done in a protective manner. For example, is that dinner party in the mouth of that local cave really worth damaging the fragile cave ecosystem?
   Obviously, some caves are quite sturdy and have no conservation requirements. Limited wildlife, no strange artifacts, maybe already thoroughly damaged by humans (although in that case, restoration might be in hand), or it's just an ugly rock hole. (Nothing warrants graffiti, however. I find the recent social media explosion where some person graffitied National Parks disgusting.) Other caves, however, have strange and bizarre animals and insect living within them, which are easily disrupted and damaged by humans activities. In France, there is a secret cave that contains hundreds of large, super-fragile spikes of minerals. A single touch could destroy one, and set off a chain reaction as well.
   Closer to home, everyone knows not to touch the fragile stalactites and stalagmites, sometimes much to the consternation of cave geologists. The oils on our skin coat the surface of the mineral, and the water avoids the oil stain, and no longer leaves mineral deposits in the touched areas. Needless to say, a touched cone will eventually "die" if touched enough.
   Types of animals: Troglobites (not to be confused with Star Trek's Tribbles), are animals that dwell in caves permanently. (The tribbles were space-faring grain munchers, in case you were wondering.) These are animals that have permanent adaptations for cave life, and they typically spend all of their time in the caves. These animals are typically rather bizarre, lacking in pigments as pigmentation does them no good in a no-light environment. Troglophiles are animals that may spend some of their life in the cave, and the rest out of the cave. Examples include cave crickets, small insects that use the caves for refuge, but spend other parts of the day outside. 
   Trogloxenes include everything else, and may or may not use the cave on a regular basis. Humans are examples of trogloxenes, and are particularly good at damaging the habitats of the other species that use caves for permanent habitats. It's really not that hard to disrupt caves, however. Other common ways of damaging caves, is to find one that has a nice big opening and party in it. This is apparently popular for younger people to do. Personally, I usually refrain from punching people like that. The caves can be damaged, and typically there is little that can repair the interior of a cave. Bats may be disturbed as well, and bats tend to congregate in large nunbers in small areas, which makes them particularly vulnerable. This is why we see the cave gates on some caves that are deemed fragile. 
   Some interesting cave beetles were recently studied by scientists, and they didn't have any eyes. (The beetles, not the scientists.) Oddly, however, they had the genes for eye-sight, suggesting that after long periods of cave life, the beetle may at one point have been able to see, but since natural selection had no need for eyes, they disappeared - but not entirely.

Moral of the story is, be nice to caves.

http://www.edwardsaquifer.net/faults.html - examples of cave graffiti at bottom.

http://www.batcon.org - lots of info about bats, bat conservation, and - hm - Ebola.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

American Football and Why Time is Already Dead

Here is a brief rambling on football, and the American concept of time; namely, the idea that we're constantly running out of it. 
I should have written about China, just because of the fact that I'm experienced with Chinese cultures somewhat and also the diverse amount of products they send us, mostly cheap stuff like tins, nick knacks, and iPhones. The Chinese do not have near as much freedom as we do, and I regularly hear stories about how one family member or another flees China to come live here. They (the stories) usually end on a screechy note, lamenting the fact that America's freedoms are fast disappearing. The scary part of that may be, even though Chinese sometimes want to come live here, eventually it might not be that much more free. They are sort of a hybrid of a market based culture and a communist culture, and as far as I know they are the only working example of a rich communist country (as in healthy middle class). Still, the Chinese do not have as much say as we do. The Internet there is tightly policed, and forums and everything on the Chinese Internet is monitored and censored if not in line with what Big Brother wants. Well, that's not entirely true: The censors will usually let people rail against politicians, but any attempt to organize resistance in any way is immediately stifled and the people are subject to correction.[1] 
Also I'd really like to join the Football-bashing bandwagon (where there is one): I've never even really liked sports, usually favoring crafts, carpentry, and outdoor activities to sports and other large social gatherings. One might label me as anti-social for that reason, but I can be quite amiable when I need to be, and I also sell quite a few things, so that makes me have to come out of my shell. However, I know of quite a few people who don't like football, and quite a few people who do. Really, I think it's a personal preference - although, as the text points out, it's basically more celebrated than Christmas. Here's what other people think of the Super Bowl:
Belgium: "A welcome excuse to invest millions in commercials. Sadly, there's no bowling involved. Also, some diva sings "God Save the Queen" – the American version."
So here's to Belgium, the other part of our class this week. Yes, of course my post is about America! Mostly...
Americans rush around, constantly thinking that they are running out of time. Personally, I hate clocks. My natural rhythm is to wake up at 8 and go to sleep at 12: now, how the heck am I supposed to survive in a country of morning people? Jokes aside, America really does suffer from clock hysteria. Personally, I think it may be at least part of the reason so many of us are on antidepressants, that and a very large ad campaign to convince Americans' that their lot in life is not enough. I typically don't handle very much TV, because after watching a full 1/4 of my show taken up by ads, I'm about ready to go buy a Mercedes, a BMW, a Ford, and some pain pills for good measure - likely for my pocket book. However, even I have invited the time-is-money concept into my life. When working, it feels like a part of my life is being taken away from me as I pay my tabs. Time is money, and I've fully integrated this into my business practices. (I build sheds, so eventually, the more tools I own, the faster I am and the more money I make.) However, sometimes this takes away from my enjoyment of the simpler stuff - while working, I feel like my time should be spent creating stuff, and while doing crafts, I feel like I should be working hard. Not enough time, that little voice says, not enough time!
Cited here is a great article by the Business Insider detailing the different views that each culture has on time. [3] Personally, I show up on time because everyone else does; at home, I tend to approach a task with an apparently more Asian view, that is, my task is rather like a pool, and there is time in my pool, and perhaps I may walk around it before realizing I must do G and H before starting A, and that does not bother me. Other people, I've noticed, tend to be driven insane by this. I enjoy that.
References:
1. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6199/1251722.abstract
2. http://mic.com/articles/80855/what-people-from-other-countries-think-of-america-s-obsession-with-the-super-bowl
3. http://www.businessinsider.com/how-different-cultures-understand-time-2014-5

Why is Antarctic Sea Ice Exceeding the Models? Isn't Stuff Supposed to be Melting?

   This week I'll be taking a look at recent assertions that antarctic sea ice extent, which is currently not in line with global warming climate models, and examine why this may be, and whether or not it gives us adequate reason to reject the climate change theory. [1]
    Recent evidence from the National Snow and Ice Data Center shows that on Sep 22 2014, Antarctic sea ice went to a record breaking level of 7.76 million sq mi, which is the highest level since records began for sea ice extent. [2]
    Unfortunately, while this is certainly actually good news for the planet, it was somewhat bad news for climate scientists, whose models predicted that sea ice should be decreasing, not increasing. However, the article from NASA's Goddard Space Center points out that it's really not practical to expect the entire globe to warm and in other words behave in the same manner. If it did, everywhere would be hot already and we would be in trouble. Thus, extra sea ice, overall, it's not going to destroy the scientific community, and it's not actually much for the skeptical community to go on, either. While the sea ice extent is record breaking, there are several practical ideas for why the ice broke records. 
   There is also the primary point that while Antarctic ice broke records, Arctic sea ice continues to decline much more rapidly than Antarctic sea ice is gaining. A recent report by NOAA concludes that Arctic sea ice is unlikely to return to it's previous levels. [3]
   Another thing that the skeptical sources fail to take into consideration [1] is that continental ice is still receding. [4] The article in citation 4, an article by the Science magazine, says that "The short answer is that while the overall climate is warming, it’s a complicated system..." A reference is also made to melting of the actual continent itself - this freshwater, when melted, has a higher freezing point than the surrounding sea water and is thus more easily frozen. This may seem counter intuitive, but just think about it for the moment: If something freezes at 50 F, and something else freezes at 10 F, it has to be much colder to freeze the material at 10 F. Thus, the material that freezes at 50 F is said to have a higher freezing point. Saltwater has a lower freezing point than freshwater; thus it is harder to freeze. 
   It is very important to be able to think globally. This can be difficult when most people don't usually think beyond their town or county. Global climate reporting relies on the whole world's temperatures to make accurate assertions about the past, present, and future. Sometimes these models are not entirely accurate, but it in no way makes them wrong. As a case in point, global average temperatures have actually been going up faster than models suggested. Obviously, the models are not perfect, but this does not mean they should be thrown out the window.
   While it does seem like this event, which is not in line with climate models, should be shaking the scientific community, it is not. Scientists are well aware of the problems they face in predicting such massive data quantities, they are quite confident about their science. Meanwhile, while the ice on the pond is growing, the ice on the land is still plummeting into the ocean. 
   While we are worried about individual things that scientists miss that can discredit the scientific community, the reality is that the science behind this is quite solid. Personally, I am more willing to put my weight behind science, rather than cherry picked facts. While scientific skepticism is healthy, and indeed, a mark of the scientific community itself, we no longer believe in things like "the earth is flat," because we have the mountain of data to show that the earth is round. Ish.

References

1. Bastasch, Michael. "Climate FAIL: Antarctic Sea Ice Did The Exact Opposite Of What Models Predicted." Watts Up With That. Watts Up With That, 03 Mar. 2015. Web. 05 Mar. 2015. <http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/03/03/climate-fail-antarctic-sea-ice-did-the-exact-opposite-of-what-models-predicted/>.

2. "Antarctic Sea Ice Reaches New Record Maximum." NASA. NASA, 7 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Mar. 2015. <https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/antarctic-sea-ice-reaches-new-record-maximum/index.html#.VPiU0sbqN6p>.


3. "National Snow and Ice Data Center." Climate Change in the Arctic. NSIDC, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. <https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/arctic-meteorology/climate_change.html>.


4. Gramling, Carolyn. "What's Going on with Antarctic Sea Ice?" What's Going on with Antarctic Sea Ice? Science, 10 Oct. 2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. <http://news.sciencemag.org/climate/2014/10/whats-going-antarctic-sea-ice>.

Friday, February 27, 2015

A Tribute To Tyrone, MO: Small Town Tragedy

    I suppose I could use some of that mantra from the news. "Lots of people dead, world ends." - Bad News Tribune. But I'm not the news. I'll let them handle the bad news hawking. It's their ware, after all. It's what they sell. I don't want to sell it. Someone else can do that. I suppose I do have bad news, though it's all bad news you've already heard, so technically I can't sell it to you. The bad news is news created by the world, this physical manifestation that we live in. We have to live here. We deal with this. Right?
   Some people don't. This is an unfortunate, but true aspect of regular life. There is always a silver lining, but if it can't be found, there seems to be no point. We try to keep going, we strive, we try. We really do. And to be honest, I herald all of you who just try. That's actually much more impressive than the people at the news are willing to concede. If you're trying, congratulations. The battle is already half won. Keep going, I beseech you.
   But not everyone can do it. Not everyone can make that leap and say, "Hey, here's that silver lining. That's good. Now let's keep going, so maybe I can find another silver lining, and perhaps, just maybe, someday I'll get rid of the cloud. But the lining is there, so this is progress." Not everyone has that valor, that courage. The courage to merely withstand this world can be so forlorn, so hard to hang on to. Life is hard. We get that. I get that.
   But don't take it out on everyone else. Please, don't. It doesn't work that way. This world is hard, and harsh. It really is. But we have to hang in there. When we let go, when we actually just lose control, we lose what little benefit we can offer this world, to ourselves. We can't let go. We have to keep going.
   If, by now, you don't know what I'm talking about, let's talk about that. I spent a good part of my childhood in a small, remote community named Elk Creek. Up the road from there was another, small, remote community named Tyrone. On Thursday even, Feb 26 2015, a man named Joseph Aldridge gunned down seven of his neighbors after coming home to find his mother dead. It is not currently known if this is what sparked the incident, as he was involved in some drugs. For seven neighbors to be taken away from this tiny neighborhood, where everyone literally knows everyone else, and for this atrocity to happen literally beneath their noses, is something that will send anything to the world-rattler cage. These people, through a cruel twist of fate, were taken out of our lives, for worse. No one deserves to die in that manner. It just stinks for uselessness, as if nothing better could be dished out from the Petri Dish of Fate for them.
   Of course, it's not useless. It's so complicated, this world we live in. They didn't deserve to die this way. But, one way or another, and this is very complicated to say without it sounding negative, their lives were not lost in futility and their lives were, I believe, not taken away from us to torment us. I believe that, even in this horror, we can find meaning in life still. We have to keep going.
   We live in a world that is full of uncertainties. We try to take care of some of these uncertainties. To show: We don't know when it will rain, so we build a roof. We don't know if that substance is actually  bad or not, but we remove it anyway; we remove an uncertainty. We obtain education to try to secure better jobs; we try to remove as many uncertainties as we can. But nothing can prepare a small town community, normally used to leaving their doors unlocked because they know everyone, to defend itself against bombardment from an insane neighbor.
   We can try to make the world a better place, and we should. There are a lot of specifics I can throw out there, but few specifics are ever actually that helpful. Perhaps abstractions are better. Blunt abstractions. Let's try this one: "Stop worshipping the self and acknowledge the other." Abstract because it applies to much, blunt because "stop" is used. Stop what? Chasing money, personal fame, sex? You decide. Who is the "other," you ask? Just anyone aside from yourself. Our society glamorizes success and personal achievement. Stop forcing people to think they have to do it all. We don't have to. We have to live. If we stop living, when we stop having the desire to live, we lose. Hang on. Stay strong. Keep going. I sound like a self help book now, but it's true. Just don't give up. Even when all is lost, there's still something. There's always something. That doesn't mean it isn't hard. Of course it's hard. Maybe it's supposed to be. I don't know why, and I don't expect you to either, but there it is.
   So, what do you say? Let's remember the dead, and honor them by doing the right things, beautiful things. Let's go make the world a better place together.

References
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/us/gunman-kills-7-people-in-tyrone-missouri.html?_r=0