Learn comprehensively in less than five minutes how PV solar panels work. If not for the political lobby of big oil much of our cities would be running on solar power and by now electrical vehicles will be ubiquitous. What makes PV solar power especially attractive is that it is very low maintenance since it doesn't use moving parts to generate electricity not to mention its green credentials. With a lot of independent research making headway into making PVs ever more efficient in energy output the next big question to consider is how PVs can compete with big oil in terms of cost.
Fortunately the cost of PV panels have reduced immensely since the mid 1970's when it cost a whooping $96 per watt compared to where it is now at $0.36 per watt! And it could go lower still to $0.08 per watt. This analysis comes from this video The Truth About Solar by Coldfusion. This 11 minute video will get you updated on the latest on PV solar tech development. According to the video the world will be generating 27% of its energy needs by 2050 but I think this is a very conservative estimation. PVs are already giving fossil fuel energy a run for their money, even in the current low price of fossil fuels in countries that commit to making PVs and other direct solar based energy generation the mainstay of their energy production out of environmental concerns.
The fact is solar energy is getting so cost efficient that traditional utility companies and energy investors are starting to shun it because it is difficult to rake in as much profits from it as they would from traditional power sources. This is according to a Bloomberg analysis in early 2015. While the argument that solar energy cannot be produced at night is still valid battery storage of excess energy generated during the day can easily solve this problem and battery storage systems too are getting cheaper and more efficient.
Fortunately it doesn't cost hundreds of millions of dollars to fund research into making solar tech ever more accessible to end consumers as compared to searching for new sources of fossil fuels, extracting and purifying it. And that work has been moving along without much fanfare since the 70's. If we are to move the green revolution more dynamically we cannot depend on politics (governments) and economies (utility companies) alone to provide us with solar energy. Those of us who have the future of our planet at heart can power ahead with DIY solar installations.
We live on a planet in the Solar System that has eight other planets, its an amazing fact when one ponders on the nature of the other planets. In studying the harsh conditions that would extinguish life as we know it on the other planets its easy to appreciate the miracle of life on Earth. This appreciation of the gifts of our planet is a feeling we should not ignore or take lightly because there simply is no replacement for Earth if we mess up our planet. The other planets of our Solar System are wonderments in their own regard and their variety in size, composition and conditions is a testament to nature's propensity for diversity. This is what the study of our Solar System means to me–that nature is diverse so too is our individual lives diverse. This diversity among all of us and the many forms of life that we share this planet with is a reflection of nature in us. We must choose to cherish and nurture this diversity otherwise nature will make our own survival perilous. We should not take lightly the extinction of species that have evolved on Earth over billions of years because life on Earth is a delicate balancing act of nature in which every micro-organism, plant and animal has a part to play. If a species goes extinct something or someone needs to do its work in propping up life on Earth. We can't live in the harsh chemical and physical conditions of Venus and on Mars we cannot walk around and breathe the air freely as we do here. We have our planet and thats all we have to pass on to following generations. Understand where we live in as big a context as you can take in and you will appreciate where we are and what we have.
Our generation has its own super genius like Einstein or Isaac Newton but he is like none of them. He is Stephen Hawkings. If Stephen Hawkings had been born even 20 years before his birth in 1942 the technology wouldn't be there to keep him alive let alone function the way he is. He is more than a genius who has become an asset to humanity he represents the advancement of humanity through science and technology. What an inspiration.
This documentary posted on Youtube is a service really. Hawkings is a legend of our time, someone we should teach our children about. It is autobiographical so it is authored by Stephen Hawkings himself making this work especially precious. I will certainly watch this video with my daughter when she is ready. I hope a biographical documentary like this is made on David Attenborough.
“What, really, are life skills? Aside from the practical skills required for getting on in life, children need to develop social and emotional skills in order to be- come well-adjusted adults. These skills are the focus of this book. In particular, the games in this book and in 101 Life Skills Games for Children (for children aged 6–12) are designed to foster competence and aware- ness in the following areas: self-awareness, self-regulation of emotions, active listening, verbal and nonverbal communication, collaboration with others in pairs and larger groups, and observing and understanding other people’s feelings. These are essential skills, the building blocks of a successful life. Participating in the games in this book in class or at a camp will help a child to develop at an early age.”
Excerpt from the preface of the book.
We used to learn a lot of our life skills simply growing up in our community. Our interactions at home, in school and in the playground thought us a lot usually subliminally or by example. Its recognised these days as informal learning. Nowadays though gadgets are taking up much of the social time kids would otherwise have in modern cities all over the world which is fuelling the worry of a generation that have shallow interaction skills with other people and impatience with real world situations.
If you are looking for ideas in helping your kid with even rudimentary skills like how to express their thoughts and feelings with intelligence and consideration or how to work with others or you or what relationships are what better way is that than to play games that teach these things. 101 more life skills games for children does the creative thinking for teachers and parents by outlining games that can be played in groups or pairs to help kids gain these skills. In an increasingly busy world this book can a blessing to have especially if you are wondering what to do with your kid during the weekends or free time.
The games are divided into categories–I Games, You Games, We Games. I am looking forward to use many of these games to play with my daughter and her cousins as they grow up. Keeps them busy, unsticks them from the digital glue and frees up my time too.
Congratulations SpaceX and Elon Musk. It was simply a matter of time before a successful recovery of the Falcon 9 booster on a sea platform happened. Today it happened and it is something future generations will recognise as an important milestone in the dawning of the space age. January this year it almost happened, they almost recovered the rocket but it tipped over after touchdown and duly exploded to smithereens. So it was just a matter of tweaking the process. The implications of this success can potentially cut the cost of sending things to space by 30% according to the President of SpaceX.
Here is the math I lifted from The Verge website (click here to read their article on this breakthrough). It cost about $60 million to build the Falcon 9. The fuel cost is $200,000. A 30% savings would mean bringing the rocket back to the launch pad can be $20 million less, a considerable savings! This heralds a bright future for space entrepreneurship.
This is the second successful landing of the SpaceX rocket. The first one was in december, it was on a land platform. However landing on a grounded platform does not provide the cost savings as much as a sea landing does even if a sea landing is more tricky with its wobble. To find out why read The Verge article link above.
With this success SpaceX can notch up its credentials over public outer space enterprises. For decades space agencies were the domain of governments, meaning so long as the agencies could provide political mileage for government leaders money was not really an issue. So the drive to create technology to cut cost simply didn't matter. For a future in space we need the profit incentive, nothing drives innovation like profit. So congratulations SpaceX. Now I wonder when SpaceX is going to build its own space station, that would be the next breakthrough–a privately owned space platform. For young people who are interested in aerospace, go for it your future is bright.
In 2016 Malaysia is going to spend over 41 billion ringgit on on education. With a national annual budget that hovers around 250 billion ringgit Malaysia's education spending is among the highest in the region. There is more higher educational institutions, both public and private in Malaysia than in the rest of Southeast Asia. Yet many Malaysians still desire to study abroad, choosing UK and the US to further higher education. If many Malaysian parents cannot afford UK or US, there is Australia, New Zealand, Singpore, Taiwan and India. There are good reasons many parents choose to educate their children outside Malaysia. Chief among them is Malaysia's lacklustre public universities. So instead of spending a lot of money in private universities in Malaysia that function more as schools instead of research and development institutions, parents choose to pay more so their children can get an education that is considered better than what is available in Malaysia. This is a strange conundrum for a country that has been open and exposed to science and technology since its inception six decades ago.
As early as the 60's the government of Malaysia has spent a lot of money on education, including sending students overseas for higher education. Yet after all this time and probably trillions of ringgit spent none of Malaysia's the public universities are know as world class research institutions. Malaysia has a lot of resources–biological and geological that have potential to be developed into new materials, technology and pharmaceutics by curious professors. Yet Malaysia's economy still depends on selling commodities and manufacturing with foreign technology. Research and development is weak if not almost non-existent in Malaysia despite much political weight behind making Malaysia a world class education hub.
So what is going to happen to 41 billion ringgit on education this year? Spending to keep the same old machinery going, with more spending on research by foreigners for recommendations on how to boost Malaysia's world education standing–a worthless annual effort. In the foreseeable future Malaysia's public education system will continue to deteriorate, probably setting new benchmarks for how much money can be spent on making the countries education standards worse instead of better. Cheers to Malaysia's 2016 budget revision!
Survival is ingrained in each and every one of us. It is an instinct that we inherited from the very first form of life that came to be in our planet many billions of years ago. If the goal of life is to survive then we humans are very accomplished. We can manipulate and moderate whatever environment we find ourselves in to our needs. In just some thousands of years of working and sharing together as a species we have come up with amazing technologies up to where we can realistically contemplate colonising other planets. Factor in genetic engineering where we can tinker with nature even further and what is to come in the future is truly mind boggling.
Saying that we as a species have collectively become a force of nature is a sobering thought and it transfers upon us the heavy responsibility of deciding on the fate of other species. Thus far we have taken the power of nature to replenish herself for granted. We assumed that our planet was too big for us wee humans to cause any serious damage. However things started to change in the 70's when the first nature conservancy WWF for Nature took hold to save the biggest creatures on Earth, the whales and elephants from extinction. Save our Seas–one of WWF's initiative thought me a lot about the different types of whales in the sea and how vulnerable they were in spite of their size and strength when confronted with human technology.
Does it really matter if all the natural environments disappear and we are left with only animals and plants that are important to us for food and to keep as pets. We are heading toward this future. Perhaps a study of the how life evolved over billions of years on Earth and study of the various periods of mass extinction might impress upon us the size and scope of the responsibility of being the master of nature. I think it is easier and more fulfilling to be a steward of nature than lording over it.
The haze is choking South East Asia. Its been weeks since I’ve enjoyed blue skies with clouds. About 10 days ago there was just a few days when it seemed that the haze season was finally over for 2015 but it came back to all our consternation in the Klang Valley worse than ever! Its bad enough that this man made problem in South East Asia has become so ubiquitous that we’ve had to become somewhat impervious to its nuisance begrudgingly accepting it as a season as if it was a natural quirk of nature, this year we have to endure a longer and more hazardous period. This situation however has been predicted for this year. We are feeling the adverse effects of El Nino. For all the efforts of daring fire fighters and no matter how much money governments can throw at the problem with expensive water bombing and cloud seeding operations only Mother Nature can douse her own fiery tempest with seasonal monsoon rains that are failing due to El Nino.
The South East Asian haze is probably one of the most ignored ecological disaster that is being perpetrated by man. Forest fires are not at all the norm for equatorial rain forests which are so important to mankind and all life on earth as its function as the lungs of the planet. The intensity of photosynthesis that occurs year round in equatorial rain forests not only recycles carbon dioxide into oxygen, it also sinks tons of carbon into plant tissue. Much of the carbon becomes trapped in the food chain and a big portion of it gets sunk in the ground as forest peat. The peat is supposed to be constantly damp or water logged which keeps it from ever burning even in the driest of years. Unlike temperate forests in the northern hemisphere which require periodic fires as part of the ecology to sustain those forest, burning peat kills rain forest trees by burning out their roots. Equatorial rain forest trees and animals also depens largely on the peat for nutrition, without the peat in these rain forests its soil is just too bare to support trees and seedlings.
The haze this year is terrible because of El Nino. More forests are getting killed by the fires this year than on the average year. However as a haze season suggest this unnatural 'natural disaster' has been happening every year for the past 3 decades. So apart from the pressures that Equatorial rain forest face from agricultural land clearing, mining concessions and timber extractations we have this burning to further reduce the size of virgin rain forests. These are forests that have taken many millennia to form and mature. A single giant equatorial rain forest tree can take a century to grow to its majestic proportions–when we lose them we cannot expect to regrow them for a few generations.
To compound this bad news the burning peat adds billions of tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. It has been estimated that every haze season adds greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere equivalent to Germany's production in a year. This year we can expect even more than that. While some argue that the greenhouse gasses from the burning forests will be reabsorbed by the new growth its important to remember that peat is a type of fossil fuel. It takes decades, even centuries to form so most of the greenhouse gases emitted from burning peat will add directly to global warming. Add to that we are losing more of Earth's lungs every year in all the continental equatorial rain forests which makes the burning peat in South East Asia a serious global problem.
The equatorial rain forests across the globe are very important to all of us. If we take the South East Asian haze problem as a regional issue and not a global one we are ignoring the fact that Earth's lungs are on fire–this cannot be good for any of us no matter where we live. Less oxygen and less unpolluted fresh water is not a problem we should take for granted. Its time the world takes note of the volume of equatorial rain forest we still have and pressure countries and industries to protect them for the sake of mankind. Its also time we completely halt the economy around virgin timber from any forest and its time the world regulated the oil palm industry which is the main culprit behind the haze.
No doubt the following year is going to be a tough one for South East Asia. One one side South China, Japan and the Philippines have been battered by ferocious winds and floods. On this side of the region, its getting bone dry. This is going to effect rice production in the world's rice basket so rice is going to be more expensive and we cannot tabulate yet the effect of all the greenhouse gasses being released into the atmosphere. We are probably going to feel its effects as the era of global warming rolls on.
The Great Book of Best Quotes of All Time is a free ebook created by one Abhi Sharma as his academic project. The quotes that he has selected for this book is organised by alphabetical order of origin of the quotes, so Albert Einstein is in A, Henry Ford is in H–yes, use the first name to search for your favourite quoter, this is Asian style. The collection encompasses the famous and infamous, so you can find Adolf Hitlers fist thumpers and Joseph Stalins oxymorons. There are also themes such as Humor, Inspiration, Movies, Music and more. There are altogether 2000+ quotes on 200+ pages. The book is an incredible compendium that is way more worth the few seconds it takes to download. Here is the link to download this book for free. I assure you it will be among the most entertaining and useful books you'd download. Thank You Mr. Abhi Sharma and the quoters.
How about a vacation on Mars? I am excited about humans being able to go to Mars, especially the notion of us becoming extra planetary. It is also an endeavour that can unify us as a people where perhaps we can make Mars a race and religion free zone. If you think about it race and religious culture is primarily build on history and locations on Earth that may not be practical to export to Mars. Anyhow the discussion of how we might populate Mars is still at least a century away in technology–I think we are about a decade away from sending an international team of astronauts, but as The Martian depicts it Mars is far from hospitable to life as we know it here on Earth. It is however a planet that can be Terra-formed, or made Earth-like; the tech and machines needed to condition Mars to mirror Earth is certainly within our means and it can be useful to us now to keep our amazing planet from becoming less hospitable to us.
What is Mars like compared to Earth?
Gravity: A bit less than half of Earth, more specifically 0.375 Earth's gravity. So things are lots lighter on Mars. Mars is almost exactly half the size of Earth.
Atmospheric pressure: Mars has very light atmospheric pressure which is variable across the planet and is calculated as a planetary average of about 1/1000 of Earth's very stable 1 atmosphere. Mars' air is mainly carbon dioxide with a little nitrogen and very little oxygen, still it has the ingredients to support plant life in a green house which can eventually change the balance of atmospheric composition towards more oxygen and less carbon dioxide. In fact to Terra form Mars we can export our CO2 and fossil fuels to Mars. Machines in combination with plants can use the byproducts of burning fossil fuels for energy in Mars to increase the volume and types of gasses in Mars' atmosphere to become Earth like. Perhaps we should reserve our current reserves of fossil fuels on Earth for Terra forming Mars!
Average Temprature: Another big difference between Mars and Earth. Average temperature of Earth is 14 degrees Celsius, Mars is at super deep freeze -(minus)63 degrees Celsius. However the average temperature on Mars could go up significantly if we pumped greenhouse gasses into its atmosphere! We need global warming on Mars not Earth! I think its time we stopped the global warming experiment on Earth, we now know it works.
Length of the Year: The Mars year is about twice that of Earth. Earth at 365 and Mars–687 Earth days. However Mars has almost similar day length to Earth at 24 hours and 37 minutes and its tilt at its axis is 25 degrees whereas Earth is 23.45 degrees. So there are seasons and differing climatic zones in Mars as on Earth.
I got all these comparisons from the Phoenix Mars Mission website. Here's the link.
Its good that the US and Europe have been at the frontier of Mars exploration since the 70's. If the West continue to hold the monopoly of information on Mars than at least we know universality will be a consideration of human ambitions on Mars. As the interest grows in Mars especially with the discovery of liquid water pointing to a possible subterranean source the Mars race is about to begin. China and Russia will not want to be left out especially since India has successfully sent a probe to Mars. Hopefully this endeavour will unify us and bring us into a new era of international ambitions.
If you have time and have struck out on ideas of what to do this pictorial book is what you need. Whether you are looking for things to do with your kids or wondering how to salt the rim of your margarita glass properly to learning about soccer, this book-Show Me How–500 Things You Should Know can tickle you with all sorts of creative plans. There are 499 DIY pictorial plates that give you basic steps that can inspire science experiments with kids or hitting the dance floor with some groovy moves. Granted you wouldn't master most of the 500 suggestions by simply looking at the pictorials-like how to do a skateboard flip, or get that perfect golf swing but it does prepare you with basic knowledge that's helpful for a tryout. Good for parents, teachers and older teenagers (16+). Just flip the pages and you will have plenty of fodder for stuff that may have been on your todo list for years but just didn't have the time to get the info you need to get you started.
Lots of fashion and style info and tips. From what makes a perfect suit, to henna tattoo patterns, hair braiding, facials...etc
Doing the tango and other grooves come under romance 'how tos'
Ever wondered how to make a perfect bed or how to organise house chores to daily, weekly, annually?
What about fending off a shark, navigating using stars and figuring out compass directions using sun shadow?–plenty more survival stuff.
If want to keep pets better to get as much info before hand.
Gardening tips aplenty.
Really helpful stuff for taking care of baby and kids.
Art stuff to do with kids like secret messages using invisible ink
Quick fix recipes.
Know your wines like a pro, which wine goes with what food.
Hobby projects like making a basic motor, turning potatoes into battery or making a homemade radio.
Don't ever get bored again, there is plenty of fun stuff to do and learn, Show Me How can inspire.
In my younger days I used to travel the world vicariously through National Geographic photos. Those photos taught me to appreciate our truly amazing and beautiful world. Nice photos can capture not just moments but beauty, inspiration, joy, freedom, pain, consternation in a way that cannot be adequately substituted by words.
I've always liked simple point and shoot cameras, even now I am biased to them. Perhaps some day I might get myself a digital SLR but for now I like the ones that I can stash away in my pocket without the hassle of caring too much for it, though I'm not that into camera phones just yet. My favourite point and shoot is the Canon IXUS because of it's awesome colour reproduction. Compared to Sony, Nikon and Olympus which all have their own plus points, Canon's Digic colour processor is outstanding.
Some of my forays with the IXUS
Malaysia's aborigine children ready to eat! The food was provided by a charity that I am part of.
Larger than Life, statue restoration project that I supported.
River Crossing, Takua Pa, Thailand
Temple ruins in a forest, Takuapa, Thailand
Vacation! Tioman Island 2006
Pillow soft glassy coral sand, Tioman Island
Timeless scene. Tanjavur Big Temple, India
Tanjavur Big Temple, India
I don't consider myself anywhere close to a professional photographer, but I have found these following giveaway books on photography by National Geographic very helpful. Here are the links to these books:
Guide to Photography–Photographic Basics is a gem of a book. If you need a simple book to quickly get a grasp of what it takes to take good photos this book on the basics goes a long way. I would say for most of us wannabes who are not really interested in investing time and money in professional photography but want some simple tips just to take decent photos, this is the book to read. You will be done in 10 minutes and realise what the art of taking photos is all about.
Ultimate Field Guide to Photography is about understanding digital photography. It goes through all the basics of a digital camera, its parts and functions and how exposure, depth of field and the philosophy of backgrounds play their effects on photography. The book is more in-depth and gives a sense of what a professional photographer should know such as light metering, flash effects and so forth.
When it comes to the future of learning methods, to be progressive, I believe we must understand two paradigms shifts–one has to do with need and the other is time. Need in other words can be encapsulated in the question–why do I need to know this? The traditional schools that we still send our children to is based on a classroom where a group of students are exposed to new knowledge systematically by trained teachers. If not for schools students would otherwise not get the same knowledge at home or from any other source–this is the premise of the factory like schools that are still the norm. Students move from grade to grade slowly enriching their depth of knowledge and complexity of thinking. It would take an average student anywhere between 15 to 20 years of academia to be recognised by his or her community as an educated person. The new paradigm in education that is making factory schools obsolete is the ease in the availability of knowledge and education over the internet. In most developed and developing countries with good internet penetration children who are trained from young to access the knowledge they need over the net may never need to go to school for academic knowledge. Children who are able to harness the internet to grow their knowledge by themselves, perhaps with some supervision from a mentor, will probably be able to accomplish what students in schools did in about 2 decades in half the time. This is the paradigm shift in time that we find ourselves in where children tend to know more than we did at their age.
The traditional school system is fast becoming archaic and boring for students who realise that they can access whatever knowledge they want or need whenever they want over the net. Even the much admired ability of memorising facts that used to be the rage when I was studying in the 80's is not so cool anymore now that it all can be googled. Keeping up with this trend qualifying exams that used to favour memorised facts are now trending towards reasoning ability. This new paradigm of education is being called informal learning, where the old style of learning is called formal learning.
Informal learning is nothing new. It is simply learning without studying. It is about getting the knowledge that you are curious about from parents, peers, friends or media off-campus. It is the most effective way of gaining knowledge because it is based on a need or desire. Informal learning is also cheaper than formal learning–this will eventually make us question why we need to spend so much money to educate ourselves or our children. Hopefully this will lead to new form of education qualification which is based on what you can actually do instead of expensive theory driven qualifications that has watered down the efficacy of university degrees.
Chapters: Out of Time, A Natural Way of Learning, Show Me The Money, Emergence, Connecting, Meta Learning, Learners, Envisioning, Conversation, Communites, Unblended, The Web, Grokking, 'Unconferences' and Just Do It.
If you look up Global Warming or Climate Change on Youtube you will find an array of videos. Here are some of the best that I have found.
PBS–NOVA The Signs and Science of Global Warming
Quick Facts
2:24 Over the past 100 years we have seen 1 deg Fahrenheit rise. Alaska has seen between 4 to 7 deg Fahrenheit rise over the past 50 years.
4:00 Glaciers in the Alps are retreating twice as fast compared to the rate 150 years ago.
5:00 Greenhouse gasses–water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane have kept Earth's temperature stable for millions of years until recently.
6:10 60% of carbon emissions come from electricity generation and transportation.
6:50 In 1750 CO2 in atmosphere was 280 parts per million to 370 ppm today.
9:25 We could reach 9.3 billion people by 2050
11:20 Big cities run 3-5 degrees warmer than their surroundings, increasing mortality due to heat waves.
15:00 Rising temperatures are also increasing the range of diseases, vectors like mosquito, also stronger hay fever season.
21:00 El Nino of 1983–5 months of continuous rain and tidal flooding. In 3 months it rained as much as it did in 25 years.
24:00 The infrastructure prep required to prepare for climate change is neither simple nor small and they need to start now.
26:00 Centuries old plantation fields and ranches are starting to dry out and suffer diminishing yield as watershed ecosystems are disrupted.
30:00 1 degree Celsius warming will reduce rainfall by 10%. Imagine 10% less world food supply. In 100 years we need 60% more food to cover population growth with less arable land. Food security is going to be of major concern for nations.
34:00 Disruption in the Gulf Stream because of reduced salinity from Greenland, Arctic and Glacial melts could cause sudden and catastrophic climate or weather shifts.
40:00 Technology already available to make a difference in significantly reducing pollution and CO2 emissions. Each day the sun sends enough energy to power life for all of us for 27 years! Solar energy creates 4 time more jobs per kilowatt hour of electricity generated compared to fossil fuel generated power.
The Effect of Global Warming on Earth up to 6 degrees Celsius. Presently we are up 0.8 deg Celsius
Anthropocene–This video provides very good data on Global Warming and Sea Level Rise.
National Geographic–Earth Under Water, solutions for saving major coastal cities. New York, London, San Francisco and others. The tech is already available to protect some cities not all. Miami, Bangladesh let alone small island nations may not see through 2200 unless we start to make major strides in affecting green house gas levels.
And there's no stopping it. But that's to happen at the turn of the century there about. Still a long time away–85 years. If I didn't care about global warming, I wouldn't because 85 years is way past my lifetime but I care because I love this amazing planet we are on.
This quantum of sea level rise is not new many scientists have been warning of this for decades. However for most of us–so what? Life goes on as usual as it has been for decades. I am not living very far from the sea and the sea is certainly not at my doorstep–so what? Even if we want to do anything at all to make a difference, what can we do? Electric cars are still too expensive and too few and charging stations are almost non-existent; at the most we can recycle most everything we use. Really though, to make a difference in carbon emission how much difference can a population make if our electricity relies on coal or gas or diesel. So long as there are people who still worry about the price of crude being too low because they are not going to make much profit off of it and governments are committed to crude oil economics and consumption we have no choice but to prepare for the sea knocking at our doorstep if we live too close to it.
To be practical and pragmatic, lets face it our addiction to crude oil–from 6 litre V12 super cars to cheap coal fired energy is not going to abate in the near future. So lets roll up our sleeves and try to get a picture of what we will have to be contending with, with our seas.
No. 1 on my list, the tiny island nations that are already in trouble. Here is a collection of Youtubes to put things in perspective.
No. 2, NASA has made the numbers on the level of sea rise official–one to three feet within the turn of this century, with higher probability that it will be closer to three feet. You can read all about it on JPL's website here. They are confident about these numbers from observing the trend of sea level rise in the last 30 years which are based on very accurate satellite data. An interesting fact I learned from this article is that a third of sea level increase is attributed to thermal expansion of water–as the average sea temperature rises its volume increases correspondingly or like metal expanding when it is heated. The remaining two thirds is as is widely publicised, sea ice and glacial melt which is already very evident as polar bears and arctic whales can testify to if they could speak.
Basically the gist of the article is that portends for a 1 meter (about 3 feet) sea level rise minimum is optimistic at best. So lets assume that this is going to be the conservative reality in the year 2100, this would mean a 10 cm rise every decade from 2000. Thus far we have reached 15 cm and people in the Maldives, Tuvalu and Kiribati are very concerned. It is likely that by 2030–30cm sea level rise, these island paradises may be uninhabitable if all their ground water supply gets contaminated by sea water and by 2050–50cm sea level rise, these nations may be no more than sand shoals with their population living in other countries. 20 to 35 years from now these youth in Kiribati in the video above will most likely be telling the world a sad story living as some of the first climate refugees from a host country.
No. 3, Watch Obama speak on global warming–published 31 August 2015. The talk was no where as popular of the recent MTV VMAs on Youtube, perhaps it should be at least as popular, then again Global Warming is as yet a popular subject. Even Hollywood hasn't picked up on it, perhaps a futuristic movie about a new watery world with less land, less fresh water and less food would do it. Anyway at least Obama is pushing the facts up the hill. Watch the video if you want to understand the current state of affairs with regard to climate change in a nutshell.
So what does a seemingly innocuous 1 meter rise in sea level mean for the rest of us who are not living in low lying small island nations? Presently at least we don't experience any difference from how things had been so far? I've been scouring the internet for information on what a 1 meter rise actually translates to since the number is an average and the sea level is affected locally by tides. I will post my findings in the next post. • Best Videos on Youtube on the Science of Climate Change, Best Info Analysis and Fixes
This year a record breaking solar flare hit earth. On May 5th a mega blast of an X-class (most powerful) solar flare or sun storm hit the sparsely populated Pacific ocean nations. Apart from causing a temporary 'no-biggee' blackouts here and there it will be most remembered for the amazing Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis it caused. Just google Aurora Borealis 2015 and enjoy the amazing images. What a sight.
Our Sun provides the energy that drives our life. From the free daylight light and heat to food production we have much to be grateful for our unique place in the solar system. The balance of energy to sustain our relatively comfortable lives depends as much on Earth receiving energy from the sun as it is earth radiating the sun's energy back into space, thus cooling the planet. Global Warming is a consequence of earth not radiating out enough of the sun's energy it receives, instead collecting it like how a blanket helps us stay warm, hence the phenomenon of earth getting hotter. So we can expect that this last mega solar flare is going to contribute somehow to our experience of weather this year. The last I heard in Malaysia was the meteorological department warning of a super hot and dry July and August. Yes its been hot, not like the recent Indian heatwave but uncomfortably searing heat nonetheless. However it is far from dry, when it rains it pours a sea-load, with big heavy drops of water causing flash floods here and there. There is some relief though, because we usually brace ourselves for the annual Southeast Asian horrid open-burning haze pollution in August.
There is no established connection between solar flares and rain in Malaysia or anywhere else but what we know for sure is that we can use slightly less energy from the sun–though whose to tell the sun when to have a storm and when not to. Without a doubt our planet is a hotter place than it used to be three decades ago, scientific data show animals and plants from warmer zones slowly creeping northward and there is less ice on the poles than ever since scientific recording of polar ice volumes began. And this year we all have a chance to experience earth's most intense and far reaching weather phenomenon–the hottest El Niño since the 70's–nothing to look forward to. 1997 was the most intense El Niño on record. I am going to use this post to collect a record of intense weather events this year and next that are blamed on El Niño 2015.
El Niños strength prediction for 2015
Our future may come to depend heavily on how we read the effects of El Niño since this phenomenon is key to earth dissipating pent-up energy from the sun. If Global Warming continues unabated it will only be natural to expect more ferocious El Niños more often. This could change livelihood and living conditions in established cities in ways we cannot write of as minor inconveniences; more importantly for the next generation in planning where to live.
November 2015 El Nino 2015-2016 is confirmed to be the strongest on record after upping the 1997-1998 by 0.2 degrees Celsius.
South India has been raining and flooding for weeks. Monsoon precipitation that should be heading toward the ganges delta and Himalayas remain in the South causing havoc. The change in the monsoon's movement is blamed on El Nino.
After a very dry and incredibly hazy October in Malaysia strong rains and wind bring relief from the haze but cause flash floods and landslides all over Malaysia. The excessive precipitation early in the wet season could spell a drought stricken 2016 if El Nino 1997 based predictions are come thru.
March 2016 Heat waves strike South East Asia however sporadic rains quell fear of drought blanketing the region.
California, USA gets the precipitation it badly needs but not as intensely as they had hoped, still it is likely to lift the state out of its drought crisis.
I was really pleased after buying Economix, which reveals the complex relations between history, politics and the cost of the stuff we buy. If the book was not in comic form I don't think I would have been very interested. Maybe I would have gone thorough the first few chapters before I dropped the book. But representing intricate ideas and terms with comic illustrations done just right makes a dull subject fun. The best learning is always done amidst entertainment. Likewise this book How To Master The Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins, illustrated by Bob Byrne.
I usually get bored by marketing and self-help books after the first few pages. They usually parrot the same simple principles over and over again and spice it up the odd story of how Joe or Jane made it big using some magic mind technique. All well and good if you need a pickup but if you are looking for a concrete DIY guide to help with core problem of modern life–getting rich EFFICIENTLY, I don't want magic, I want science.
Tom Hopkin's book grips you from the very first comic, "I learnt a long time ago that selling is the highest paid hard work–and the lowest paid easy work–there is. And I found out another exciting thing about selling–The choice was mine. All mine." The premise of these few sentence was fresh perspective to me and it kept me to the end of the book. It also starts straight off without a table of content or numbered pages, so when you start this 83 page book it is better to finish it in one sitting. Its inspiring and fun and when you are done you will have enough information to know whether sales is your cup of tea. Whether you are doing internet marketing (virtual marketing) or real world marketing, I believe the principles are the same–the key is self-representation. It is the art of gaining trust any which way you look at it.
