A Locals View on Global Warming

First off, I would like to say that this blog is decidedly taking a turn from it's intended course. There is a reason for this. It is my opinion now that people need to know the full logic behind the political opinions in which I hold more than they need to know my life story. So, it's still the the Vegas View story, but without the boring story of my life. That being said, I must start my next topic. One of my friends have suggested that I do my next topic on global warming, seeing as to how I live in the Nevada Desert (Las Vegas decidedly being within the confines of said desert). So that's what I am going to do. I am of the opinion that global warming is not only real, but will have -- in fact, is currently having -- a great impact on our planet, in more ways than the news organizations is letting us in on. Here, I am going to give a full explanation on my opinions on all the sub-topics of global warming. First and foremost, how does carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere? There are typically six types of radiation that the earth receives from the sun: radio, gamma ray, infrared, visible, ultra-violet (UV), and x-rays. The ground typically absorbs UV rays and visible light radiation, and bounces the vast majority of the other forms of radiation back into space. The thing is, carbon dioxide [CO2 (g)], ozone [O3 (g)] and water vapor [H2O (g)] are the three dominant greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and all three of them absorb infrared radiation. The growing amount of one of these gases in the upper atmosphere -- carbon dioxide -- is giving a rise in the temperature of the planet, albeit be an average of one degree every 50 years at this point. Now, when I emphasis the word average, I mean to put an emphasis on the fact that the word average does not necessarily mean the same everywhere. For those of you who smoke, the best way to explain what I mean by average is to say that when you have a cigarette lit, the average temperature of that particular cigarette is less than the temperature of the cherry, but greater than the temperature of the butt (or, for those of you who smoke non-filters, the end you hold when you smoke; when I refer to the butt, I merely mean the end you hold when you smoke). If the entire cigarette were to be the same temperature as the average temperature of the cigarette, you would not be able to smoke it, for either the butt would be too hot ho hold in your hand or put your lips on to inhale, or the cherry end would be too cold to burn (as in when it's not lit). That's the same concept with average global temperature change. The temperature may be going down or may remain stagnant where you live, but the temperature would rise extensively elsewhere to compensate for the difference. In this case, this biggest upwards temperature change going on is at the polar regions of this planet. First, I will need to explain the differing heat-absorbing properties of H2O in it's liquid state (water) and H2O in its solid state (ice). Ice, being typically a sort of barely transparent white color when it is as thick as, say, the glacier that sank the Titanic, has the innate ability to reflect the energy apparent in radiation. White is really a combination of all colors, so typically, all colors are reflected off of anything white. Water, on the other hand, is a more transparent, very light blue color, and absorbs energy in radiation more redily, especially from an infra-red source. So, this being the case, the more the polar caps melt, the more infra-red radiation they absorb. The more infra-red radiation the caps absorb, the quicker they heat up. The quicker they heat up, the faster they heat up. And the vicious cycle repeats itself. This is the reason for each of the so-called "ice ages" of the past. So the average change in temperature is merely add the temperature of every location on the planet, and divide that cumulative sum by the number of entries. That, apparently, comes to approximately 1. And how does the melting of the ice caps affect me in the Nevada Desert? It really doesn't; at least not directly. The thing is, H2O in its liquid state is less dense than the solid state, so the more water there is and the less ice there is in the oceans, the higher the tides will become. The higher the tides become, the more the coastal cities of the world will become flooded, and will need to evacuate. And so, given the fact that Southern California will have to evacuate, where is the closest major city eastward? Las Vegas, NV. This city is overly crowded and growing too fast as it is; the last thing we need is to be a big displacement center. There are still a few questions left unanswered by this particular blog about global warming. You may be wandering why, if ozone is a major factor for absorbing and reflecting inwards towards the planet, then why did we not want it to go away back in the day (about a decade to 3 decades ago)? Well, if there were absolutely nothing in the atmosphere to reflect infra-red inwards, then the temperature on the planet would not exceed the freezing point of water, so we need some form of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The question though is "What amount of greenhouse gases is ideal to have?" Because we cannot have too little, for then the planet would become too cold; we cannot have too much, lest the planet burn. Another question left unanswered is "How does global warming affect weather patterns?" Well, weather patterns depend upon the coastal drift among the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The natural flow of these oceans depends on the temperatures towards the equator as well as towards the polar regions. The warmer the air gets in the Polar Regions, the warmer the water gets in those areas. The warmer the water gets, the less likely they will create the natural flow of the oceans. Those ocean patters are the primary reason why we have hurricanes, general rain, and coastal winds. The less able the oceans are of having a general cycle, the more local cycles there are, and therefore the more hurricanes there will be. Well, what about finances? Surely, our economy will be snowballed if we attempt to fix this problem. Okay, sure, you won't get any arguments from me. I'm not a really big financial guy, so I'm going to let this guy explain the situation. Take that as you will. -[alpha]{BETA}[delta]