Looking down on earth from above!
How does the sun affet us directly on earth?
Recent lectures on board the Queen Elizabeth liner cruising from Australia to Asian ports on its maiden world voyage,were excellently delivered by Prof. Richard Holdaway,Director of Space Science and Technology, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories,- who explained how space technology via exploratory space crafts and satellites is increasing our knowledge and clarifying much of nature's changes on our earth.
Hundreds of outer space probes have been launched to far away planets and galaxies to the extent that what was once science fiction is now much more in the realms of fact.The instruments which transmit back to earth the information is mind boggling in their complexity and for the detailed information transmitted.
In the 3rd of his 3 lectures he concentrated on the issue of our weather forecasting and aspects of "climate change and global warming,- fact or fiction?"
Infra red technology transmits visually the various heat levels in the oceans and on land. He projected pictures of the warm Pacific ocean showing in red the El Ninio effect for example;plus the same effect as seen on pictures of 500sq. miles of denuded jungle forests (illegally in one month) in the Amazon region of S. America which can have a much more devastating effect on climate change if we denude our forests of trees, than anything else that humans do in industrialized developed countries.
(N.B. We must be aware that we and all living creatures breathe in Oxygen and we breathe out the end product of our metabolic cycles,-as CO2. Photosynthesis in plant life does the reverse,- they use the CO2 and release O2. Population increases require more animal husbandry for food and land clearing for living space and timber for housing.)
The effect of Sulphur dioxide fumes from the volcanic eruptions as e.g. from Mt. Pinantbo of one week which spread over 20 months all over Europe is far more deadly than anything we can do.
The "Ozone hole" expands and contracts with the seasons,- largest over the Antartic where no human involvement occurs, but not worse since the last 200years.
Solar storms are the most important to look out for as they affect our earth the most.(Wikipedia records the effects of the 1859 Solar Storm as recorded at the time). These magnetic effects are seen as aurorae and are deflections of immense solar radiant energy by earth's magnetic field. However they can affect our satellites rotating in outer space through their instruments being flooded by high energy photons, which then affect almost every aspect of our high-tech controlled lives on earth these days. Therefore there is now a stationary satellite (ACE),-one million miles above the earth, magnetically balanced between the earth and the sun so that it does not rotate around the earth as the others do,- which can alert within 10secs. whenever such a solar explosion occurs, allowing monitors to switch-off sensitive instruments in satellites and space crafts before they can affect our e.g. electricity grid, (as happened in Canada in the '90s), telecommunications, etc.
As for CLIMATE CHANGE, Professor Holdaway was adamnant that human-produced CO2 is not the main greenhouse effect causing global warming at present, but it is the water vapour which does that! And humans have no control over it!
While governments and politicians look to raise revenues through taxes,- the real facts are:
1. CLIMATE ALWAYS CHANGES,- IT HAS BEEN DOING IT OVE MILLIONS OF YEARS.
2. EARTH HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY WARMER IN THE PAST.
3. There are 3 causes for global warming and though humans are adding to it, we are just the third part.
a)Solar activity.- We are also getting nearer to the sun until in 5million years we shall disappear altogether!
b)Nature,- e.g. volcanoes;oil fields burn-off; deforestation; ocean evaporation,
c) Human activity.
500 years ago we were much warmer,- there were no cars and factories spewing out CO2.Actually, volcanoes can sometimes cool as well as warm,- i.e. it is not just about us and we must beware the great 'CO2 myth'! At the moment we are in a period of global warming, but it is not just about us. We humans are just part of the equation.
The polar ice is not getting thinner. (He showed a funny cartoon about 2 penguins,- one falls into a hole in the water, the other is quite ok). The temperature on earth is primarily determined by the energy coming to earth via solar radiation and energy leaving the earth through infra-red radiation
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Queen Elizabeth maiden world cruise: Syd.-Singapore sector
Celebrating Ernie's 80th birthday on board the newest Cunard liner QUEEN ELIZABETH was a wonderful experience.
The liner is state-of-the-art latest design luxury cruise liner with some 2000 passengers and nearly as many crew members on board.
The service was 5star, the food was on average 4star quality, the amenities and entertainment 5.5star quality.
An unbelievable number of passengers were on board for the full 105day journey and not for the first time! Most were returning passengers who must be travelling on Cunard world voyages year after year, accumulating points to give them many advantages in cost and special privileges on board.
For those of us with European backgrounds and Aussie egalatirian larrikin bents,the upper-crust English pomp and circumstance is perhaps not as appealing as some of the other cruise liners can provide, but it was nevertheless a very enjoyable and interesting holiday comparable with any 5star resort such as a Club Med, say!
The interesting aspects were the various lecturers on board, classes, theater productions, star entertainers,films and the fantistically well equipped 2 level library!Most lecturers were retired VIPs like politician former FM Alexander Downer (before we boarded, but his lecture was still shown on the internal TV station when we arrived on board)who examined the international political scene as it affects our part of the world in Australia; General (Ret.) Peter Cosgrove who spoke about his experiences leading the Australian army through its various crises; a retired geographer who was the "destinations lecturer"; and the lecturer whom I found themost interesting,- Professor Richard Holdaway, Director (not retired!)Space Science and Technology, RUTHERFORD APPLETON LABORATORIES (see separate blog).
Classes consisted of computer technologies, bridge lessons for beginers andintermediates and various dancing, plus arts and craft lessons. There was certainly something for everyone on every day that we were atsea! Luckily, we had quite a few days on the oceans sailing from Australia to the Asian ports and luckily the seas were kind to us and very calm to keep the ship steady and on course! We avoided the aftermath of the disastrous tsunami after the earthquakes in Japan and except for one day on Ko Samui island, Thailand, we had no bad wether anywhere.
IN CONCLUSION.
The one drawback for large liner cruising is the fact that shore-visits and sightseeing are often too limited. These large liners often cannot berth near the centre of the cities because the ports are not big enough to hold them. They end up being moored at container terminals or anchored far out in the bay and passengers are ferried by tenders to shore. This all takes time, so the sightseeing possibilities are of necessity limited. Therefore cruising is not for the serious sightseer of the various countries or cities where they happen to stop! The attraction has to be the cruise and the ship as a holiday destination per se.
See my web album 1:
Miriam's Topical Topics.: Queen Elizabeth maiden world cruise: Syd.-Singapore sector
View Album2.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=108084405371853566621&target=ALBUM&id=5587852240888193617&authkey=Gv1sRgCL6Pp5WGl_vv7wE&feat=email
The liner is state-of-the-art latest design luxury cruise liner with some 2000 passengers and nearly as many crew members on board.
The service was 5star, the food was on average 4star quality, the amenities and entertainment 5.5star quality.
An unbelievable number of passengers were on board for the full 105day journey and not for the first time! Most were returning passengers who must be travelling on Cunard world voyages year after year, accumulating points to give them many advantages in cost and special privileges on board.
For those of us with European backgrounds and Aussie egalatirian larrikin bents,the upper-crust English pomp and circumstance is perhaps not as appealing as some of the other cruise liners can provide, but it was nevertheless a very enjoyable and interesting holiday comparable with any 5star resort such as a Club Med, say!
The interesting aspects were the various lecturers on board, classes, theater productions, star entertainers,films and the fantistically well equipped 2 level library!Most lecturers were retired VIPs like politician former FM Alexander Downer (before we boarded, but his lecture was still shown on the internal TV station when we arrived on board)who examined the international political scene as it affects our part of the world in Australia; General (Ret.) Peter Cosgrove who spoke about his experiences leading the Australian army through its various crises; a retired geographer who was the "destinations lecturer"; and the lecturer whom I found themost interesting,- Professor Richard Holdaway, Director (not retired!)Space Science and Technology, RUTHERFORD APPLETON LABORATORIES (see separate blog).
Classes consisted of computer technologies, bridge lessons for beginers andintermediates and various dancing, plus arts and craft lessons. There was certainly something for everyone on every day that we were atsea! Luckily, we had quite a few days on the oceans sailing from Australia to the Asian ports and luckily the seas were kind to us and very calm to keep the ship steady and on course! We avoided the aftermath of the disastrous tsunami after the earthquakes in Japan and except for one day on Ko Samui island, Thailand, we had no bad wether anywhere.
IN CONCLUSION.
The one drawback for large liner cruising is the fact that shore-visits and sightseeing are often too limited. These large liners often cannot berth near the centre of the cities because the ports are not big enough to hold them. They end up being moored at container terminals or anchored far out in the bay and passengers are ferried by tenders to shore. This all takes time, so the sightseeing possibilities are of necessity limited. Therefore cruising is not for the serious sightseer of the various countries or cities where they happen to stop! The attraction has to be the cruise and the ship as a holiday destination per se.
See my web album 1:
Miriam's Topical Topics.: Queen Elizabeth maiden world cruise: Syd.-Singapore sector
View Album2.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=108084405371853566621&target=ALBUM&id=5587852240888193617&authkey=Gv1sRgCL6Pp5WGl_vv7wE&feat=email
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