Global Dimming

In simple terms- it is when clouds reflect the sunlight back to space before it can reach the ground. Man made pollutants such as aerosols particles are the primary suspects. This phenomena is suspected to have been reducing evaporation leading to reduced rainfall and the failure of the monsoon in sub-Saharan Africa during the 1970s and 1980s which has lead to famine and the Sahel drought. Pacific regions like here in the Philippines also depend on the arrival of the monsoon rains for agriculture.

Scientists now are considering that global dimming may have been reducing the effects of global warming and that solving the problem of global dimming will therefore lead to the further increase of temperature higher than forecasted by global warming models. Who may have thougt that some pollutants we put in the air are also helping in a way by delaying the effects of global warming.

 Please watch this BBC documentary
 

On Climate Change

A great standing debate of our age is the reality and nature of climate change. Scientists debating about it, are now being labeled as either deniers or believers. But to me this is not an issue of denying or believing like it's an issue of Faith. So, I prefer to refer to them as either proponents or skeptics. of climate change. The proponents now holds the consensus and the attention of the UN.

Proponents of global warming holds that man made Co2 is the cause of the warming that started in the mid 70's. Skeptics on the other hand while agreeing that the global temperature is rising, are disagreeing on the cause. They say that is something more natural and not man made.

I first heard about the global warming issue while in high school. One of my teachers even explained the behavior of Co2 using an old nursery rhyme which goes - "Pataas! Pababa! Paikot-ikot pa"

But I never really bothered to look deeper until I saw that famous film by Al Gore.
The "An Inconvenient Truth" has been a successful propaganda film for the proponents, or at least to me.

I never really doubted the film, to me it was convincing. Not until another film came up in response for the side of the skeptics. The film "The Great Global Warming Swindle" also brought good points about the issue to my attention.
[Please find and watch both films I embedded below]

As a young kid,  I made myself interested about of incoming typhoons - wind speeds, locations and directions. I read about it in books and I remember always listening to the radio and watching TV weather reports from the weather report icon Ernie Baron, whenever there is one coming.

If you would notice, the most destructive typhoons are almost all happening in the past recent decade. Hotter days and hotter nights have become more frequent even climate in Baguio City which used to be cooler have never been the same. Extreme weather events have also occurred more frequently since the 1980's. These include deadly and damaging typhoons, floods, landslides, severe El Niño(abnomal warming of the Pacific waters) and La Niña(opposite of El Nino) events. A few case in point are Pepeng(2009), Pedring (2011), Sendong (2012) and who could forget Ondoy (2009). All of them has caused billions worth of destruction if not lost of lives. And while 1st world countries are in the  front line on the research, as a local response Deparnment of Energy has a Presidential Task Force on Climate Change, which i think focuses more on the local economic/agricultural effects of the issue.

The Most Astounding Fact

Caught this yesterday from a post of the Bad Astronomer. Its about Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson answering a question from a reader "What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?" This is his answer.

The way this video was put together, made me remember how it felt like when I first learned about the same fact from reading a book years ago.

Credits and thanks to the maker and uploader: Max Schlickenmeyer

Great graphics and perfect music. Please watch in full screen to appreciate.

The Universe Doesn't Care

Did you ever feel like nobody cares about you and like the whole universe hates you?

We all kinda get this once in a while. Today, it is what is prompting me to write. But don't worry I am not writing about my feelings and why so.

Instead, let me just tell you why I think the universe is such cold hearted place.

True, I am now contradicting what I said from a previous post that the universe is a loving place. This universe has no partiality to us or to life in general. Sometimes we could even think that it hates us and it wants to kill us.

Now, how is that?

1. The Earth doesn't really care about us.

The earth is not perfect for life like many would say. In fact it wants to kill us. Earth and nature are conspiring to constantly create natural disasters to kill us. Volcanoes explosions, tsunamis, typhoons, floods,  landslides, and others. Its all over the news everyday.

Fossil records would tell that 99% of all species that has ever lived are now extinct. And while we are now enjoying our time under the sun, that doesn't mean that the Earth will not eventually succeed in trying to kill us .

2. The Sun doesn't care either.

It makes life on earth possible but it doesn't shine for that purpose. It does so, because it is its physics. In fact it radiates solar flares that endangers us  with radiations. Just late last year its has started spewing solar flares from its badest sunspots and  the in  movie 2012 the sun's solar flares can cause earth's core to boil and give us earthquakes and tsunamis. In the movie it killed all life except those who were saved getting in the ships.

In its next 4 billion year the Sun will bloat itself, grow red hot, and kill whatever life Earth will be harboring at that time. That doesn't seem like a very loving Sun, is it?


3. And the universe doesn't care about us or about the Earth.

Earth is just an insignificant speck in the vastness. If it would disappear now, it wouldn't even slightly change the picture of the universe. On the other hand the universe is a life-threatening place. Explosions and collision are everywhere, everytime. If you would look at the Moon's surface, you would see how aften it would get hit by space rocks. Our earth recieves just about the same frequency. Only that it is able to hide and heal the impact craters (like probably how you hide or heal a pimple in your face).

The dinosaurs that has existed for millions of years certainly not expected that this angry universe will throw a rock to earth one day. And of course that is not an exemption. There are billions of other space rocks just floating and waiting to be pushed out of their orbit in the asteriod and kuiper belt. And almost certainly will impact Earth sooner or later. Actualy we have one treathening to hit by 2036. Read about Apophis here.

There are also supernovas. Any nearby supernova that is close enough will wipe out our protective atmoshere with high-energy radiation. Radiation emitted would fry the Earth in instant.

Gamma Ray Burst. Some scientists hypothesized such an event caused the mass planetary extinction on Earth about 444 million years ago. Gamma ray bursts (GRB) are flashes of gamma rays  usually coming from outside our galaxy.

There are lots more, like blackholes, pulsars emitting radiation, galaxy collisions, the Big Rip- the point is the whole universe doesn't care about our existence. We can even think that it wants to kill us. In fact the majority of the universe is full of either vacuum or deadly gasses and other stuffs. If just go little higher or above our atmosphere you will surely die without a spacesuit and air tank.

In a pragmatic view, the universe doesn't care whether it has life on it or not and it will always do its thing whether it will please us or or hurt us. So the next time you feel lonely and the feel the universe around you doesn't give a damn- well, live with it, that is true . Don't ask for any compassion. You are the only one who can only care that you exist.