Monday, February 27, 2017

SOME LIKE IT HOT, ALL OVER AGAIN

A recent published report states that the year 2016 was the warmest year on Earth since 1880, when record keeping began.* The article asserts that the global average surface temperature in 2016 was 1.69F degrees higher than the 20th Century average of 57F degrees.

The article also asserts that human activities, such as fossil fuel burning, increased temperatures, but also blames the effects of a strong El Nino which released heat from the ocean. The article does not allocate the temperature increases as between the two mentioned causes.

Interestingly, another report in the same publication states that Earth's ocean surface temperatures 125,000 years ago were comparable to the current reported temperatures.** In fact, it is estimated that the prior global warm period was 2C degrees warmer than today. According to the article, average global ocean surface temperatures 125,000 years ago were "indistinguishable" from the 1995-2014 average. Although the report does not mention it, one presumes human activity contributions to global warming 125,000 years ago would have been modest.

About ten days ago, my midwest area experienced several February days of record-breaking temperatures of at least 60F degrees. This warm period was, of course, quite unusual. But, before I could hyperventilate over climate change, I heard on local television news that this warm period could not hold a candle to a more extensive similar unusually warm period in February of 1898.

So, it was hot 125,000 years ago, it was hot in February, 1898, and it was hot in February, 2017. I put away the snow shovel and windshield ice scraper, watched daffodils pop up and snow drops bloom sooner than usual, noticed honey bees burdened with pollen from somewhere, and dared to exit the house without a coat. Maybe, some of us like it hot.

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* Sumner,"2016 Shattered Earth's Heat Record,"
Science News, February 18,2017, P.9

** Sumner,"Earth's Last Major Warm Period Was
As Hot As Today",Science News, February 18,
2017, p.19


© Daniel J. Kucera 2017

Friday, February 3, 2017

IS WATER AGELESS?

One of my current winter projects is to sort through hundreds of inherited old photographs squirreled away in foaming grocery bags and shoe boxes. Most have spent decades gathering dust in seldom opened closets, behind those shoes that have not be worn since schooldays but are just too good to discard.

The problem is this is no easy task. Many of the photos are not only old but also are of assumed ancestors which I cannot identify. You know, people are dressed in unfashionable black clothing of the sort seen in dull PBS documentaries and historic coffee table books that no one looks at. But--I dare not throw away a single photo because it may be of an unknown great grandfather or his third wife. So, photos go back into bags and boxes to live on.

A few years ago, a producer of a brand of whiskey advertised its virtues as having both age and ancestry. My futility with old photographs of unknown ancestors caused me to think about water. Does water have age and ancestry? When I fill a glass of water from a tap, is that water "new" or "old." Does the water in my glass have ancestor water?

Yes, water as a general substance is tied to Earth history, although there is no single agreed scientific explanation as to how it got here. But is the water in my glass water that dates back to the formation of Earth? And, yes the polar and glacial areas contain water frozen at some prior time. And yes, aquifers may contain water from a prior time but also may contain water from more recent surface water inflows.

So, what makes water "old". What makes water "new"? Is old water any different from new water? Is old water like a vintage wine that has matured into a fine taste or has turned sour from too much age? Is old water somehow an ancestor of new water?

Thinking about the age and ancestry of water has given me a headache. It has been as fruitful as sorting through old photos of grumpy looking unknown assumed relatives or almost relatives. So, I am going to put these water thoughts with the photos going into the dusty closet of my mind. Frankly, water in this regard is no different from my photos--it may have age and ancestry, but I cannot identify them.

© 2017 Daniel J. Kucera