Global Warming – Climate Change

[Traveler]

2 hours ago, Carborendum said:

The principle you are describing is indeed correct.  But I have some objections to the application.

The phenomenon of dollars going out happens everywhere.  But it is exaggerated in smaller communities because less money comes into the community.  At least this has been the historical norm.  But your application to transportation/commuting is still misplaced.

1. Smaller communities which have no money coming in automatically means that they would not be commuting.  If one commutes, they are going to sell their goods/services to someone in the city.  They then bring money into the community.  But if they're not commuting, then your utopian idea of bicycling doesn't help.

2. Virtually all commerce nowadays causes money to drain out of a community.  Gasoline is one such commodity.  Other things like food, clothing, home maintenance, bicycles, home furnishings, etc. are no different.

The issue here is collecting that power.

Tesla didn't have a dependable way of measuring it with the technology available to him at the time.  So, he made an educated guess based on what was available at the time.  Since then we've developed the technology to measure it more accurately.

It turns out that the reality was quite disappointing. The total energy is, indeed, quite significant.  But that energy is spread out over so much of the earth that you'd have to cover hundreds of square miles to generate the energy at a rate required to light up a 100W light bulb. 

It's even worse at the poles.  The magnetic field lines are up and down.  Electric field would necessarily be bent to the horizontal.   And then the direction varies throughout the day because the magnetic lines change orientation as the earth rotates.

But let's say that we can get past all that.  Forget cost.  Forget technology.  The sheer size of such an installation would be impossible to secure.  It would be too easy for terrorists or other bad actors to cripple the infrastructure of an entire nation.

There are many reasons why Tesla could never get it to work, even when his overall theory was correct.

Two thoughts.  First. If you use your household as an example (assuming your house uses powered transportation for commuting).  Consider if every trip under 20 miles one way was taken by a method without using gasoline powered vehicle but rather a human powered device.  You would discover that a large amount of your travel costs would no longer require the use of as many cars.  Most households could survive on less than half the cars in their household.  On average, the second largest expenditure in most households is transportation and if you could cut that cost for 15% of households.  I am quite surprised that you cannot see any possible financial benefits.  So far, we are talking about finances alone.  The difference in the health is even more staggering.  The number one health issue in the USA is obesity.  There is a financial liability with obesity, but I am no sure how that could be calculated accurately.  There are many additional benefits that I have enjoyed.  For example, I have a much broader comfort zone for temperatures (I believe this come from being outdoors year around) which means I can comfortably use less $$$ to heat and cool my living space.  

I admit that I have limited sampling of myself and other in my very limited cycling community.   Though it seems that those that commute via of bicycle has increased greatly in my lifetime – I do not think it has surpassed even 1% so I am not sure what you are comparing what would happen in an existing economy where overnight the travel expenses shifted.  There is one drawback – the auto industry drives much of the economy – it would be most interesting to see what could happen.  As one last side note.  I believe fit individuals are more productive contributors in an economy.

 

As per electronic current in the earth.  I was a part of studies done by the Defense Department.  These currents tend to follow the path of least resistance.  Most go through the earth’s core but there are many places where currents can collect and create an electrical river near the surface.  I have often wondered if some UFO’s (note the term some) seem to defy physics and may be related to an electrical phenomenon.   It is also possible that our government conducts classified experiments related to electrical phenomenon of our planet and more is known than what can be found with Google or published white papers.

 

The Traveler

[JohnsonJones]

I think the problem with Global Warming is that the opposite sides have made ridiculous and extreme claims.  The Climate Change deniers say it doesn't happen...ever.  That there is nothing happening.  The Climate Change enthusiasts make claims that are ridiculous and do not happen (For example...isn't New York supposed to be underwater right now.  I think Al Gore made that argument and even gave dates on when it was going to happen!).

Because of how extreme the claims are that some of those who are a little too enthusiastic about Climate Change, it tarnishes the entire science behind it.

I think Climate Change is occurring and think the scientists know what they are talking about, but I with all the extreme information about it on both sides, normally from those who know nothing on the science but jump on board of one extreme or another, it can be hard to figure out what exactly is occurring with it at times. 

[Traveler]

I recently was talking to a fellow scientist about climate change, and he brought up some interesting facts that I had not encountered before.  He pointed out that at the equator the angle of the sun is orthogonal to the earth’s atmosphere which gives the greatest possibility for climate change based on greenhouse CO2 gas.  At the polls the angel of the sun approaches zero or a minimum which gives the least possibility for climate change based on greenhouse CO2 gas.  In addition, CO2 is heavier than most other atmospheric molecules.  Because the earth is rotating the heaver molecules will congregate at the equator.  All of this would indicate that the effects of greenhouse gases casing global warming or climate change would be greatest at the equator and less at the polls.  However, what is happening is the exact opposite.  There is zero climate change at the equator and the greatest climate change is at the polls.

 

The Traveler