Way back in the 1960s, I said that by time we get proof positive of global warming
it would be too late to act. The reasoning for this postulate goes like this:
When the industrial revolution started in the 1800s mankind had already been burning
fuel for several hundred years, mostly in the form of wood, when the IR got started
in earnest, wood was being turned in go coke, and use of coal had increased
significantly as steel-making and steam engines came into use. Okay, forload the sake
of brevity let's say that up until 1800 we had added 1 heat unit to the global atmosphere.
Let us again say that we doubled the addition of heat units every decade. So we get:
2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024 and that takes care of the 1800s. Now we come
to the 20 century and we only then begin to notice the effects because they've finally
become dramatic enough to notice, rivers not freezing over completely as before and
milder winters with longer growing seasons such and the like, but still not enough
to cause any alarm and faint enough to be disputed and refused. Well, now we
add our twentieth-century load to the mix and we go from 1024 at 1899 to
2048 at 1910, then it's doubling every decade from there 4000, 8000, 16000,
32000, 64000, 128000, 256000, 512000, 1,002,400 and so that's how many
heat units we've added during the 20th century, quite enough to now notice
concerning effects not seen before like Hurricane Sandy and such with sea
ice retreats at the poles and mountain glaciers. So we start on the 21st century
and in the first decade, we add 2,000,000 in the oughts, and 4,000,000 in the
teens, we are now in the twenties and we are on our way to adding 8,000,000
heat units and now we're seeing rather dramatic and very concerning heating
effects, almost enough to convince all that there is something foul afoot, but still
not enough to concern all. There2 is no panic but the third decade 16,000,000
heat units will be added and the effect will be so terribly dramatic we may lose
our ability to operate at our highest intelligence levels due to an ensuing turmoil.
Once in the embrace of a clear and present disaster the ability to think clearly
and operate collectively in a cohesive fashion usually is beyond reach. So the
next decade may be about all we really have left. Hopefully, we will pull through
but it remains to be seen. So, Good Luck to all.
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