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Survival Will Require Drastic Change
By
Austin I. Weber

Drastic changes throughout the world will have to be instituted - not next week - not next year - but immediately - if we are to continue to exist.  If worldly wealth is so important to us that we cannot do without, then all life (both plant and animal) will likely disappear from planet Earth - consumed by global “roasting.”  This is not mere speculation, but is strongly indicated by scientific studies.

Solar and wind power must be improved and increased dramatically wherever resources and dependability are available - and without regard to scenic beauty.  Next, and only as a stop-gap measure - is to expand nuclear power efficiently and extensively.  In spite of the fact that it will pollute (nuclear waste), and we have very limited resources for its fuel, its pollution will not add to global warming

Most importantly, every country whose government is financially capable must start an energy project to explore, develop and set up non-polluting, reliable and constantly available energy sources.  This might even be more important than the Manhattan Project was to the United States.

The sun delivers to the Earth all the energy that makes possible our lives - the winds, the growth of food, the waves and ripples in all our waters, the stored energy in fossil fuels, etc.  By itself, the sun can deliver enough energy to sustain the world's population of six billion people--and still growing despite AIDS, cancer, natural disasters and wars.  By the year 2040 it is estimated there will be about nine billion human inhabitants crowding this small planet.

We must invest in energy from the waves and ripples in our oceans. One half percent of their energy content is more than sufficient to satisfy the whole world’s energy needs. 

Another prime objective has to be a drastic reduction in polluting our atmosphere with gases that cause global warming.  The primary culprit and the one which we produce in tremendous quantities is carbon dioxide.

This means any vehicle burning any kind of fuel will have to be eliminated.  Power plants consuming fossil fuels will have to be converted.  Where fossil fuels are used for heating buildings and homes, the heating systems will have to be converted to electricity.  Any equipment operating off of internal combustion engines must also be converted to electricity.

Fireworks are one of the worst pollutants as they put not only dangerous gases into the atmosphere, but also a variety of poisonous heavy metals.  Munitions of any type run second to fireworks as dangerous pollutants.  This means we would have to eliminate all wars - a most beneficial and welcome side effect.

Whenever fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide is produced.  This means that in the burning process oxygen is taken from the air.  The result is that instead of an oxygen-rich atmosphere, the amount of oxygen is reduced, carbon dioxide is increased and nitrogen remains the same.  The amount of oxygen required for breathing is thereby lessened.

In my article, The Energy Crisis (see www.weberscosmos.com/otherwritings.htm), I strongly suggest that world governments should sponsor energy projects with a possible chemical research division.  Here research could be done to find a chemical means of using carbon dioxide in reactions to yield oxygen as one of the products.  This is what nature does with plants to keep the balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen constant.  If successful, multiple locations should be set up to carry out, on a 24-hour basis, such a solution - remembering at all times that cost is not the foremost consideration - survival is.

There are two ways that we can simulate nature in its utilization of carbon dioxide to produce oxygen. They will take time to implement, however, they are very important and must be pursued.

The first is to expand the installation of Green Roofs and the second is to plant, continuously, millions of trees.

To date, the installation of green roofs has been limited to very few locations.  With some government funding, this could and should be increased to our cities worldwide.  Their great success and advantages in places where they have been installed can be attributed to the following facts:

1. They absorb carbon dioxide and generate oxygen.
2. They absorb pollutants and purify the air.
3. They retain stormwater, returning moisture to the air and reducing the load on the sewer system.
4. In hot weather, they help cool the buildings on which they are installed.  When they are installed across a city, the green roofs reduce the overall temperature of the city, reducing the urban heat island effect.
5. They beautify what might otherwise be a rather unattractive roof.
6. They can add new outdoor space to a building.
7. They provide more space for wildlife to flourish.

What a great idea George H.W. Bush had when he advocated planting one million trees!  It is time to make good on his promise and go even further by making it an ongoing process.  We can never have too many trees.

In another research endeavor, carbon dioxide, water and ammonia should be used to produce basic aliphatic hydrocarbons, basic aromatic hydrocarbons and other compounds needed in the chemical industry.

The bottom line is that man will have to live a simple life for many years until the major vital adjustments are made.  Then, hopefully, there would be generations that could look forward to a future.

Revised:  October 2006
May 2006