Solution for the extreme cold weather we are experiencing across the country

[Richard Koch]

I have been noticing a that a significant portion of the United States has been experiencing an extremely cold winter in spite of all the "global warming" predictions which have been talked about by "climate experts".


I have a theory about why we are currently having such extreme weather and a solution to get things warmed back up.


My theory is that Toyota has over-engineered the Prius into a machine which not only combats "global warming" but it is actually cooling the planet. When there were only a small number of them it didn't cause much of a problem, but it is obvious that now they are collectively plunging our country into a small Ice Age. I have to say that I am neither a climate expert or an automotive engineer, but in spite of my lack of credentials I have come up with solutions to this problem.


1. Knowing that Prius owners are very concerned about the environment, I call upon them to take 25% of their cars off the road till things warm up. They can put them in the garage and let them rest for a while. After it thaws they can come back out and help save the world again.

2. I am also asking people owning large carbon footprint vehicles to break them out and put them to work warming the country back up till we melt all the ice and free up the highways. Think about how the Hummers and heavy duty pickups can save the climate. Instead of being the problem you have a chance to be part of the solution.


3. Florida is experiencing extreme conditions in the orange producing areas and they need some Prius owners to step up and make an even larger sacrifice. I am asking large numbers of Florida area Prius owners to drive their cars to the orange groves and set them on fire to serve as smudge pots which will eliminate the freezing temperatures and save the orange crop. I know that it is a huge sacrifice, but I really enjoy my orange juice here in Washington State and this will allow me to continue drinking it. Who knows you may even get a nice letter from Nobel Prize winner Al Gore.

Thank you for your help in this very serious matter.

 

[RTTTTed]

I think that if Al Gore got a Nobel, it should be impeached! We're not setting any new records, merely equalling ones set during the 20th century (100 year cycle). Scientists know this, but so called "Government Scientists" get paid to make New Tax Excuses.

Prius's are full of Toxic Chemicals and a lot of Toxic metal. Batteries that need to be replaced every 5-10 years. Not eco friendly. We pay eco taxes on everything now. Batteries, chemicals, gas, oils, Tvs, computers, etc. They've pretty much got us by the 'buds'.

Ted

 

[mikelet]

Get real ... I am a physicist and global warming is a problem. It's not due to a Prius or any other car ... it's due to all the emissions that are coming from all the cars and energy producing sites. It may not be your problem but it will be with future generations. Get the facts.

 

[ViperGTS]

Glonal warming theory = religion.
Believe it or not.
Stay warm in these ice cold days!

 

[Richard Koch]

Mike, I hope that you realized that I was making light of the cold weather and came up with what I expected most people to see as a rather bizzare theory and a crazy solution. I wanted to go to the extreme on what people thought about how to save the world.

As far as climate change, I belive that we need to do everything possible and practical to decrease pollution and production of waste products which can harm our environment.

I have studied geology long enough to know that the normal situation for the earth is to have no glaciers. 20,000 years ago we were in one of several ice ages and there was 1,400 feet of ice right here. It is interesting to study maps of what Florida looked like during the last ice age. It was a lot larger because of all the water being stored in the ice sheets. What we will have is continuing warming until a normal warmer climate is attained as has happened so many times before. We cannot stop the earth from going through cycles. I am not of the opinion that the warming is entirely caused by man, but I agree it is a contributing factor.

Sorry that my humor upset you.

 

[kcobean]

Get real ... I am a physicist and global warming is a problem. It's not due to a Prius or any other car ... it's due to all the emissions that are coming from all the cars and energy producing sites. It may not be your problem but it will be with future generations. Get the facts.

2 questions for ya then.

1.) How does being a physicist make you an expert on a climatological problem? That's not me being a wise-guy, I really am curious to know how your field of study makes you an authority here...I'm not one to buy into the 'science is science, so as a physicist you must be qualified to give me "the truth"' rhetoric.

2.) Assuming your input is based on some specialized knowledge of the issue at hand, what are your feelings regarding the 'outing' of the political agenda that occurred recently, and the proof that effectively debunked the data that gave validity to the claims of man-made climate change?

 

[mikelet]

Climate change is part of the normal change in the environment ... but how can anyone believe that current emissions from cars and energy production believe that that is not contributing to climate change? You do not understand the science. Get knowledgeable, Politics has nothing to about global warming. It's not your problem just your ancestors.

 

[kcobean]

Climate change is part of the normal change in the environment ... but how can anyone believe that current emissions from cars and energy production believe that that is not contributing to climate change? You do not understand the science. Get knowledgeable, Politics has nothing to about global warming. It's not your problem just your ancestors.

Problem is, in the process of 'getting knowledgeable', you have to ask someone who is an 'expert'. There are as many scientists out there who believe man made global warming is hog-wash as there are scientists who believe otherwise. I'm sure man made pollutants are affecting the climate, the argument is whether it is a measurable affect or not compared to normal cycles.

I'm not one to run around with my car belching out smoke just to thumb my nose at the establishment, I'm also not one to trade in my Viper for Prius just to save the planet. This is a big, big ball of mud we're on and while we're certainly the most intelligent beings on it, I think we often give ourselves too much credit for our capability to do good or bad on a global scale.

That said, I'm all for Prius owners lighting their cars on fire in orange groves tonight so that I don't have to pay 8 bucks for a carton of OJ come spring time.

 

[RTTTTed]

Hmmm, so Mt St. Helens didn't create more problem than all the cars in the world? The constant Volcanic emmissions that built Hawaii and the other on-going emmissions of the active Volcanos are what - equal to allt he world's cars for 100 years PER EACH Volcano is what several Scientists said.

Scinetists also said that North America is cooler the last 4 years and several records were set equal to the 09s (snowfall) and rain (early 1900s).

Personally, I kept the heat on all summer for the last 2 summers (3600' altitude) and pay hug taxes that doewn't save anything. $1,000,000 fines for a truck driver if he spills more than 25gls is also a joke and unrealistic. Politics.

Just my opinion of course. I live where the biggest pollution to the earth is the Beavers. Water can have "****** Fever" in many rivers, otherwise it's OK for drinking. Pine Beetles killed off a large percentage of the forest in BC.

Ted

 

[the_postman]

I found this interesting: REPORT: Pollution from 15 of world's biggest ships equal that of world's 760m cars — Autoblog

Basically talks about the worlds 15 biggest ships polluting as much as the entire number of cars in the world. I don't know the facts behind the article, but it seems plausible. Seems the gubberment would do more good regulating these than shoving the Prius down our throats.

 

[bluesrt]

i have a theory of this cold weather, its just cold!! good lord as a kid this was nothin-- every tom dick and harry has some bs statement to brain wash people on for thier own little pocketbook bank account,ya the pollution is not good,but we have done alot in 20 years in reduceing pollution.the politicians are a bunch of money hording clowns.

 

[Richard Koch]

Per the postman I have also read that the giants of pollution are the huge ships and the incredible number of commercial aircraft flying all over the world.

Why do they keep squeezing the cars to milk out better mileage and less pollutants?

Because they can.

 

[BigBadViper]

Per the postman I have also read that the giants of pollution are the huge ships and the incredible number of commercial aircraft flying all over the world.

Why do they keep squeezing the cars to milk out better mileage and less pollutants?

Because they can.

If you have ever been on a Navy ship, all you see is trash trailing the ship for miles and miles. Where do you think they dump the trash from 5000 people per day?

 

[RTTTTed]

China had to shut down Industry to host the Olympics becase THEY pollute so much. All of BC has 4 million population in a province that is larger than most counties in the world. Highest taxes I've heard of in the world too. Sure have a lot of GREEN taxes. Like over 40% taxes on fuel and expecting the new 12% Sales tax to add another 7% to the cost of all fuels and another 3% "Carbon Tax" in 6 months!

 

[RTTTTed]

Here's part of an email I just received ...

This story should have been in every Canwest paper, not just the Calgary Herald. Better yet, this should be in everyone's snailmailbox.


Fairy Godmother
by Licia Corbella, Calgary Herald

Closing down Alberta's oil industry would immediately stop the production of 1.8 million barrels of oil a day. Supply and demand being what it is, oil prices will go up and therefore the cost at the pump will go up, too, increasing the cost of everything else.
But lost jobs in Alberta and across the country along with higher gas prices are a small price to pay to save the world and not "embarrass" Quebecers on the world stage. Not to worry though, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Nigeria can come to the rescue. You know, the guys who pump money into al-Qaeda and help Osama bin Laden target those Canadian Van Doos fighting in Afghanistan. Bloody oil is so much nicer than dirty tarsands oil.
Shutting down the oilsands will reduce Canada's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 38.4 Mt (megatonnes). Hooray! It's so fun to be a fairy godmother! While that sounds like a lot, Canada only produces two per cent of the world's man-made GHGs and the oilsands only produce five per cent of Canada's total emissions or 0.1 per cent of the world's emissions. By comparison, the U. S. produces 20.2 per cent of the world's GHG emissions -- 27 per cent of which comes from coal-fired electricity.




The 530 sq.-km piece of land currently disturbed by the tarsands (which is smaller than the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 570 sq. km) must be reclaimed by law and will return to Alberta's 381,000 sq. km of boreal forest, a huge carbon sink. Quebec, of course, has clean hydro power, but more than 13,000 sq. km were drowned for the James Bay hydroelectric project, permanently removing that forest from acting as a carbon sink.
But fairy godmother is digressing all over the place. While the oilsands only produce five per cent of Canada's GHGs, it contributes much more to Canada's economy, with oil and gas making up one-quarter of the value on the TSX alone. Alberta is also the largest net contributor per capita by far to Confederation and there are only two more -- B. C. and Ontario.



Ted

Guess why Gas is more expensive in he Pacific Northwest.

 

[ViperGTS]

Yeah, we are all screwed over.

Speaking for Germany and Bavaria - after WWII and with the economy growing fast the rivers and lakes here were a "mess". But people had work and money and something to eat. Since the 50's/60's/70's there was a lot of work and money involved and poured into less pollution techniques etc. For now the rivers and lakes are CLEAN and CLEAR again and taking a bath or even drinking is allowed (controlled). Most fish came back also.

Nowadays, the remaining pollution is strictly controlled and we have the tightest laws controlling industry and private people. Home heating, car exhaust fumes, plant wastewater, .... other fast growing industries/countries like China (being in the shoes of Germany in the 1950's/1960's now) have NO protection of the environment compared to Germany - for example.

I did a rough calculation a year or two back and came up with 12,000,000:1 speaking about the volume of the atmosphere (up to 65 miles only) and what all of Germany blows up in one year.

Nothing.

 

[mikelet]

So was Mt. St Helena's a people problem? Some things happen in nature that we do not have control over. But the fact remains that pollution is a problem and we are contributing ... period.

 

[kcobean]

So was Mt. St Helena's a people problem? Some things happen in nature that we do not have control over. But the fact remains that pollution is a problem and we are contributing ... period.

How much are we contributing? If our total contributions to airborne pollutants are 1% of what the volcanoes of the world produce, then 'who cares' is an legitimate response. Industrialized mankind has been around measuring climate change in a way that is technically usable for just a blink of an eye in the history of the world. I don't think we have any clue what happens on this planet on a much larger time scale.

And this ruckus of CO2 is laughable...the skeptics have always said that if the government could it would tax the air we breathe....well guess what....here we are!

When the scientific community at large agrees that it's a problem, I'll trade in my Viper for a bicycle. Until then, the politics governing the debate nullify the whole thing. When the "panel of international scientists" was assembled to publish the findings on global warming, any scientist that said "I believe it's real" was invited to the panel, any scientist who disbelieved (regardless of why), was not. Thus you ended up with the segment of the scientific community who believed one specific way (despite what others claim to be flawed evidence) being touted as 'the experts on climate change'. Guess who assembled the panel...

 

[mikelet]

Geesh ... come on ... we live on a planet that may very well be the most beautiful in the universe - which contains billions of galaxies each with billions of stars in each galaxy. Our planet is just the right distance from a star with just the right distance and temperature and we are at just the right angle (23 degrees) to provide seasons and moderate temperatures throughout the year - we have a magnetic field that protects us from solar radiation. And we have a moon which is just the right size and distance to provide just the right tides. It has water which our life depends upon and the necessary elements for our existence. And then we have plants and trees that produce oxygen for us to survive (yup, they give us oxygen).

So I guess you are saying so what ... lets screw it up for our future generations. Ninety nine point nine percent of knowledgeable scientists agree that global warming is a problem ... the Conservatives find the .1 percent to disagree and claim that it is not a problem.

I'm not saying that we should give up our life styles ... just be aware of the problem and help reduce emissions.

 

[Two R/Ts]

Just wondering why someone so passionate about the subject would own a car with the worst environmental footprint?

 

[mikelet]

Everything is not what it seems to be. I am selling it. Currently I don't drive it. It's eight years old and only has 17,000 miles on it. Anyone want to buy it. But I'm sure that the mediator will delete this message.

 

[Slypopsracing]

I've got a Toyota Yaris 2006 I ll trade you dead even. We both pay for our own shipping. You will sleep better at night and I m tired of saving the planet. 1 850 995 0766

 

[RTTTTed]

Well actually I would guess that the Amazon Forest being chopped down makes a lot more difference that the car emmissions and maybe you'd agree with that?

Then what about the Pine Beetle destruction of the Pacific Northwest? Stinkin' Gov. threw up their hands and said, "It's God's responsibility". Destroyed most of the forests of BC ... and did it naturally.

Local epxerts here told the Politicians to do cpontrolled Forest Fires before the largest Park in Canada was engulfed and destroyed but Gov policy is "leave it to nature". I guess I should say collect taxes and leave any action to God. 2004 that theory cost BC taxpayers $200,000,000 because "the rain would put it out". About 3 weeks later it became the largest Forest Fire in history.

Ted