OT - Global Warming/malaria/DDT

aaron floden aaron_floden@yahoo.com
Tue, 24 Jan 2006 19:50:36 PST
Hello, 
 
 I have not written in before, and will provide and
intro when I get time to download some Polygonatum
photos to the wiki. (P.species, un-ID'd on the wiki is
zanlanscianense.)

> with diseases like malaria occurring in
> places like Italy.

 Italy had huge problems with malaria in Roman times
and also  during WW2. Italy was only recently(2002?)
declared malaria free. People used to be dusted with
DDT to to keep themselves free of the mosquitoes and
other vectors of the disease. There are also a few
books about Italy's history with malaria. Contrary to
Carsons claims in the Silent Spring, DDT was found to
be relatively harmless. Theobromine, Caffeine, and
Nicotine are all more or equally harmful in comparable
sized doses(ld50). 

 Climates change, weather changes. Russia is currently
experiencing record cold as is other parts of Europe.
Some other places are experiencing abnormal warmth.
Humans have only really kept records for about 150
years in a minimum of places in comparison to the
whole of the world. Extremes in weather seem common in
researching weather data for many areas. Here in
Manhattan, KS at the turn of the century the rainfall
patterns would be minimal one month and flodding the
next. Also in the 30's, 80's and this year too. 

 What I don't understand is how we(humans) can cause
so many problems when all matter is already there and
cannot be created or destroyed, only rearranged. I
argue this with my chemistry professors, but get no
answers. I understand that fossil fuels releases the
carbons and all but lots fo that gets used in another
manner in other reactions. It does not all form CO2.
The vanishing water could be taken up by the 6.5
Billion people on earth. With each of us containing
70-some % water I would think that a substantial
amount taken from the Earth's surface. 
 My father worked on the halon program for the U.S.
Airforce and did studies on the CFC's also. In
studies, in a controlled environment, the CFC's did
break down O3(ozone) but in nature the chlorine can
react with other elements. Al Gore tried to blame
blindness and glaucoma in various animal species (and
humans?) in southern Chile and Argentina on the ozone
hole, but it turned out that it was a very bad case of
pink eye infecting the animals. According to one
chemistry professor here, and I have not checked to
much into this, the ozone only gets worse in the
summer of the southern hemisphere, he says that  it is
mostly 'normal'(whatever that may be, I would not
judge our 30-40 years of records against the unknown
estimated 5 billion years of earths history) the rest
of the year. Scientists have only really been able to
view the ozone levels since about the 60's or 70's,
right? 
 
 A solution to the rising waters, if there were no
objections, Kansas could become a new inland sea!! I
would'nt mind

 Sorry that this provides my first response to the
list. Plants are better, especially bulbs, hardy ones,
not the ever-growing collection of tropical bulbs
taking up house space.

 All the best, 
 
 Aaron Floden
 Manhattan, KS (KSU)
 z5/6, garden in eastern Kansas Z5/6

        

 

--- Geoffrey Barnier <coffeecamp@optusnet.com.au>
wrote:

 
> The atmosphere is getting warmer.  Therefore, it can
> hold more water vapour. Consequently there'll be
> longer intervals between rain.  And when it does
> rain, it'll be a deluge.  We'll have greater
> extremes in weather.
 with diseases like malaria occurring in
> places like Italy.
> 

> Cheers,
> 
> Geoff in Sub-tropical North Eastern NSW, Australia
>

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