The Grass Is Always Greener Just Before…

According to a recent NASA study, thanks to higher amounts of carbon dioxide on our planet, the earth is getting greener as a result of a phenomenon called “CO2 fertilization.” The boost in growth and greenery happens because the increase in CO2 gas causes more sugar to be produced by plants.

This has fueled a greening of our planet in areas that were once icebound, barren or sandy and the report says that an area about twice the size of the continental United States is now green when only a few decades ago it wasn’t. The report concluded that about 70 percent of the Earth’s new greening could be attributed to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations

Unfortunately, the report also tells us that this effect while pretty to behold, is only temporary. Eventually rising CO2 levels, should they continue to rise in the Earth’s atmosphere as they have been doing for over 100 years, will lead to the continued melting of glaciers, rising sea levels and more dangerous weather.

The photo above is of the planet Venus, named for the most beautiful of the ancient gods because it shone the brightest of the five planets known to ancient astronomers. Venus, sometimes called Earth’s sister planet because it is so similar in size, mass, density, composition, and gravity to Earth, is however surrounded by an atmosphere that is mostly Carbon Dioxide.

Planetary scientists believe that Venus once had an atmosphere similar to Earth’s. Now on Venus it’s a toasty 880 degrees at the beach. That’s if Venus had one. But not to worry because we’re not as close to the sun as Venus is and our CO2 levels have a long way to go before they reach the levels found on the “Morning Star”.

And besides, our beaches will all be under water way before it gets that hot here…but that’s only if you believe in such things. In any event we can all enjoy the greener greenery while it’s here… I suppose.

 

Happy Belated B-Earth Day

Happy Birthday once again to Mother Earth! Even though Earth Day is not Earth’s official birthday perhaps this would be a good time to celebrate it anyway. After all the earth is now 6,060 years old…give or take, and deserves a birthday celebration…don’t you think?

I only mention the Earth’s young age because according to Gallup surveys  30% of Americans say the Bible is the actual word of God and should be interpreted literally, including 54% of those who attend church weekly and 46% of those with a High School education or less. And 60% of all Americans believe that evolution has has little or nothing to do with the development of the human species.

So according to the Bible, and those who study it carefully, and literally, the Earth and all of it’s carefully designed creatures have been around for only a little over 6,000 years. So actually Earth Day would be the celebration or birthday of everything Earth related…including us.

But since the earth was set awash during the Great Flood of Noah’s time perhaps we should be celebrating the Re-Birth of Earth which literal Biblical scholars put at around 4,200 years ago. So happy Grand Re-Opening Mother earth!

And while we’re at it we should get ready to celebrate Mother’s day and the four mothers who gave birth to us all…Bible speaking, of course. Because after the Great Flood and the landing of Noah’s Ark there were only 4 mothers left alive on Earth. And they would be…

• Emzara…The wife of Noah
• Sedeqetelebab…The wife of Shem
  
• Ne’elatama’uk…The wife of Ham
• ‘Adataneses…The wife of Japheth
  

Names you don’t often hear anymore and names never even mentioned in the bible! Imagine that: The 4 mothers of all Earthlings and not even a mention in the Bible? Go figure. We have since learned their names from other ancient texts, like the Book of Jubilees but isn’t it odd that Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth get all of the credit for inseminating the women but the women get nary a mention for having carried and given  birth to all of our Earthly ancestors. That’s like saying you watched Gilligan’s Island because of Gilligan and the Skipper and not Mary Ann and Ginger.

And what a job that must have been, nurturing and caring for all of Earth’s forefathers… and fore-mothers. You’d think that with all of the Americans who faithfully believe in the bible and who faithfully disbelieve in evolution there would be more respect and recognition paid to the mothers…I guess they figure that if God didn’t bother to mention them in the Bible, then how important could they be?

Oh well, life is funny that way I guess.

Anyway,  Just thought I’d give another shout out to the planet Earth. Happy Birthday and many more! Because, No matter how old you are, you’re all we’ve got. I’m sure you’ll be letting us know in the future if you need anything. And I sure hope we’ll be listening!

Another day on our home planet, Earth

I posted this for the first time back in 2013…It’s been 3 years since then and 46 years since the very first Earth Day…that is if you don’t count the original birth of the earth, whenever that was. Anyway, how are we Earthlings doing with our home? Is it getting more hospitable for us humans or less so?

I remember the first Earth Day back in 1970 and I remember the sense of urgency that people were feeling about the planet and air and water pollution and the overuse of fossil fuels and cars and oil and gasoline and carcinogens being everywhere and in everything etc…

We were all worried that if we didn’t change our ways then the future for ourselves and our loved ones would be bleak and filled with more pollution and harder times and wars over oil and…then… what happened? We seemed to just forget about it.
I blame my generation, which was in college at the time, for dropping the ball. We all graduated got jobs, got married, had children and joined the rat race and stopped paying attention and started shopping, eating out and driving SUVs…how did that happen?

Now the Earth is 1 and a half degrees warmer, (3 degrees warmer in NJ!) our cars get only 25 miles per gallon, everything is made in China where the sun never breaks through the industrial haze, we still go to war to protect our oil interests, drill the oceans and frack the very core of our planet in search of more of the same old fossil fuels… and cows are force fed corn until their stomachs explode.

And that poor old Native American with the tear running down his cheek is now crying bankruptcy in his casino…

I wonder what the odds were of that happening?

And still we pay little attention to the health and well being of our most precious and pale blue island floating solemnly amidst the enormity of the universe.

My apologies Earth day… Mother Earth… Your prodigal sons and daughters, even though we don’t seem to think about you very often, still hope you live a long and happy life, (at least until the sun explodes)

Where would we ever be without you?

Guns and Diapers

Gun sales in the USA are through the roof with 23 million new gun permits applied for in 2015! Americans, apparently, are nervous. Here in the land of plenty, the most prosperous and powerful nation on the Earth, the nation that extends its imperial arm across the globe like no other nation in the history of the planet…we, the people, are afraid…of something.

But what is it that we are afraid of? An eventual gun shortage? A mob of Mexicans flooding across the border to take our jobs before the great wall gets built? Isis and the Muslim horde come to take revenge for our Middle East transgressions? An LGBT explosion accompanied by forced mass gay marriage? An abortion epidemic? The possible election of a woman named Hillary? Our own government gone mad with regulation?

You’d think we’d be happy… ruling the world, kicking ass and taking names, using 25% of the world’s everything while being only 5% of the world’s anybodies… having 500 channels to choose from…plus the internet… and Netflix…and all at our phone fingertips!

So why all the guns? Is it because we really need to make America great again and this time America needs our help? Is it because Donald Trump is everywhere…telling us that we’re not great? I know that the media can’t figure it out. Our trained professional journalists keep putting him on television and then, quite disingenuously,  can’t  seem to figure out why he’s always on television.

And then whenever he says something incorrect or untrue, rather than challenge him or point out to the American people that what he has said is completely false…they simply move on to the next question.

But you have to admit that Mr. Trump does put on a good show. He’s been in the television business for quite sometime now and he understands all too well the power of outrageous spectacle and a populous that can’t get enough of unrealistic “reality” programming. He’s created a larger than life character that’s helped turn the Republican party into a late night infomercial and he has most Republicans running scared too.

Republicans have been selling hate, bigotry, fear and misogyny for quite sometime now but apparently they didn’t want to sell it right out in the open and so cheaply like “The Donald” is doing it. I do believe they prefer the more subtle, back alley, smoke filled room approach.

In any event many American citizens are now finding themselves frightened and fixing for a fight as guns are flying off the shelves in a country that already has the most guns per capita in the history of the world! Even the patriotic 17th century American militia minuteman would be hard pressed to interpret the 2nd Amendment this liberally (or is it conservatively?)

But where do the diapers fit into this story? Well along with guns, diapers have seen a 43% rise in sales since last year! Everybody’s buying them! Are we having more children in the USA hence we need more guns? Nope the diapers that I am referring to are of the adult variety! Yep, guns and adult diaper sales are surging all over America.

And so it’s come to this: An aging American population, living in the greatest democracy in the history of the world, is sitting at home, staring out the window, with guns in hands, irrationally frightened of impending doom…and literally crapping their pants!?

Perhaps it’s also finally come time in America… to turn off the TV? Because if we’ve learned anything about a good television program, we know that it’s the suspense that’s going to kill us. Unfortunately we also know that we just can’t wait to see how it ends.

So have fun crapping your pants everybody! And try not to shoot yourself in the process!

Goodnight…and good luck.