THE DUST STORM MENACE: GLOBAL COOLING!

This article from "New Scientist" is highly amusing -- because it such a mixture of fact and fiction. The claim that the Greenland icecap is melting is pure fiction, for instance. And we can discount the "explanation" for the African dust-storms. Putting the prime blame on a few SUV's instead of desertification due to chronic overgrazing is laughable. But the claim that dust-storms fertilize plankton which then absorb lots of that wicked carbon dioxide that Greenies hate is reasonable enough. So if that is causing the oceans to cool down and oceans are 70% of the earth's surface, where does that leave global warming? We seem to have a case here of Greenies being at war with one-another. Excerpts:

"Dust storms are increasing globally with far-reaching consequences for the environment and human health, scientists are warning. Up to three billion tonnes of dust is blown around the world annually, says Andrew Goudie at the University of Oxford, UK. Dust storms originating in Saharan Africa have increased ten-fold over the past 50 years, threatening human health and coral reefs thousands of miles away, and contributing to climate change, he warns.

The problem is far worse than previously believed, he says after studying 50-years-worth of global satellite imagery. A major cause, he says, is the increasing use of four-wheel drive vehicles to replace camels to cross the deserts. "Toyota-isation" - a term Goudie coined to describe the constant desert journeys made by Toyota Land Cruisers - is scarring the desert's protective surface layer, releasing dust into passing winds. "If I had my way, I would ban them from driving off-road," he said.....

Deforestation, overgrazing, and the shrinking of lakes, such as Lake Chad and the Aral Sea, have also contributed to the problem. Dust storms, measuring an average 200 kilometres across and carrying up to 100 tonnes of dust, are carried as far away as Greenland or the US by winds at the base of storms. The effects have been wide-ranging - coral reefs 3000 km away in the Caribbean have been destroyed by Saharan dust. Ice caps in Greenland are melting, causing raised sea levels, because the dark dust deposited there absorbs heat from the sun rather than reflecting it in the way pure ice does....

Dust storms will increasingly effect climate change, although experts are unsure exactly how. Airborne dust reflects sunlight back, while also insulating the earth's heat. In a vicious cycle, particles landing in the seas encourage plankton growth, which absorb carbon dioxide - a major greenhouse gas - and so cool the ocean surface...."




Kyoto global warming treaty proving unworkable: "Recent developments in Japan, Russia, and Canada suggest the international Kyoto Protocol is doomed to failure ... with or without U.S. participation. In Japan and Canada, both of which came very close to rejecting the treaty, meeting emission reduction targets is proving extremely difficult. Canadian conservatives are pledging to pull the nation out of Kyoto if they attain victory in future national elections. In Russia, government officials continue to publicly deride the lack of scientific and economic justification for the treaty."

*****************************************

Many people would like to be kind to others so Leftists exploit that with their nonsense about equality. Most people want a clean, green environment so Greenies exploit that by inventing all sorts of far-fetched threats to the environment. But for both, the real motive is to promote themselves as wiser and better than everyone else, truth regardless.

Comments? Email me or here. My Home Page is here or here. For times when blogger.com is playing up, there is a mirror of this site (viewable even in China!) here

*****************************************