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From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: The Hamaker Hypothesis (2 of 7)
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"Too Hot, Too Cold -- or Both?"
by
Norman Cousins
in
The Christian Science Monitor
July 3, 1990
page 18
An interesting difference of opinion -- not quite a sharply
defined public debate -- is emerging in the scientific
community over the threat to life on this planet from the
destabilization of the world's climate.
One group of scientists contends the planet is steadily moving
towards a condition of over-heating. A buildup of
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) is causing ozone depletion in the
atmosphere. The depletion allows increased ultraviolet radiation
from the sun to enter the atmosphere. Adding to the danger is
the concentration of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels.
Heat is being trapped on the surface of the earth -- the
"greenhouse effect" -- that would otherwise be irradiated back
to space.
Far less familiar to the public are arguments about a serious
earth cooling. Scientists calling attention to this danger don't
necessarily argue against the effects of CFC's and carbon
dioxide. More insistent, they say, is the danger of a rapid
cooling produced by a buildup of billions of tons of ice in the
Arctic and Antarctic. They assert that the same greenhouse
effect that produces a temperature increase in the equatorial
regions also sucks moisture from the tropics. The moisture
condenses into snow at the two Poles and adds to the vast burden
of ice cooling the polar oceans. The mass quantities of cold air
are then distributed by oceans and wind over the entire globe.
Thus, the same increase of solar radiation that causes regional
warming is believed to have the ultimate effect of producing a
drastic cooling, with the realistic danger of a modern ice age.
Backing this view is a report prepared by the U.S. Office of
Research and Development. The main finding is that the world is
cooling with possibly disastrous effects. "If the cooling
continues for several decades," the report said, "there would
almost certainly be an absolute shortage of food ... (with)
increasingly desperate attempts on the part of powerful but
hungry nations to get grain any way they could."
As though their grim forecasts were not enough, scientists are
finding correlations between cold weather and the increase in
earthquakes. Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, in "Secret of
the Soil," published last year by Harper and Row, write that "ice
and snow, accumulating at the Poles, press down on the planet,
causing it to bulge at the seams like a balloon. This triggers
the pre-stressed earthquake faults into slipping. Hence
earthquakes. It also causes volcanism -- potentially even more
dangerous -- by squeezing the molten magma and causing
eruptions. The colder it gets and the more snow presses down on
the Poles, the more magma is compressed, and volcanoes act up."
What is more interesting about these ominous forecasts is
widespread agreement that humans need not be victims of them.
Tompkins and Bird cite a 1982 book, "The Survival of
Civilization," by John Hamaker and Don Weaver. The authors
called for a "mosaic program of world-wide remineralization and
re-forestation." Glacial gravel, of which there seems an
infinite supply, could be ground up for this purpose. Tree
planting would have the highest priority. Meanwhile, the
National Resources Defense Council has scored a victory in its
lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The
NRDC contended the new EPA regulations for protecting the ozone
layer against ozone-depleting chemicals were too lenient. EPA
agreed to issue more stringent regulations on the use of CFC's.
Most encouraging is a bill introduced in Congress by Rep. Ron
Dellums. Titled the "Emergency Climate Stabilization and Earth
Regeneration Act," it recognizes the threat of temperature change
and calls for the reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide from
the present 350 parts per million to 280 ppm.
The bill also aims at world-wide soil remineralization in order
to support regeneration of vegetation and to produce "natural
carbon sinks that can reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide." The
Act seeks to accomplish its purpose within 10 to 15 years and
calls on the president to put the problem and proposed resolution
before the world.
What the ecological crisis dramatizes is how primitive our living
still is. We are locked into national sovereignties. It may not
be enough for the U.S. president to propose an ecology program.
We need a world conference to make the great crossing from
national tribalism to world community. It's not just the
environment that requires attention. The way we think of
ourselves and our common destiny is critical.
The big question is whether we can recognize our common interests
as a species ahead of our obsessions as national warriors. How
we identify ourselves may be the ultimate test of survival.
# # #
========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness
B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine
tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night
email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.2 on 586 CPU
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ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best
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As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall
not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal.
========================================================================
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