Climate Change/Global Warming

One of the reasons I'm rather pessimistic about the prospect for our world's beating the global warming/climate change problem is that not enough is being done about it. We hear the world's politicians talk about it but any action being taken is at some point going to be seen to have been too little, too late.

Americans (for one) don't appear to be changing their habits, and I don't really hear anyone urging them to. Where are the leaders urging people to drive less? To not buy big and thirsty SUVs? (The equation is simple: more fuel consumed = more greenhouse gases being emitted.) And who has—or would have—the bravery to discourage Christmas lights in the name of saving energy? Anyone who did so would be accused of being anti-religion or even anti-God (show me where in the Bible we are commanded to string electric lights upon our houses to celebrate the birth of Christ).

Electric vehicles are expected to do much to reduce production of greenhouse gases; but so far, in most countries, the penetration of EVs into the car market has been rather insignificant--on the order of 3% to 6% of car sales. One reason is that electric cars suffer from a serious price disadvantage. And, I do not see any great numbers of charging stations in my area. On the other hand, "range anxiety"--the fear of drivers that they will be traveling and their car's charge will be running out when they are not near any place where the car could be charged--might be diminishing because electric cars' range (on a charge, that is) has been increasing.

I myself have given some thought to getting an electric car. If I got one it would probably receive all or nearly all of its charging in my garage. But, to have and use only 110 V charging is very slow; and to install a faster, 220 V charger in my garage I'd have to buy a charger and pay an electrician to wire it into my house wiring--for a total cost of nearly $1000. 

I'm sure electric cars are the wave of the future, but it's going to be a while before they are truly common. Better, cheaper, lighter-weight batteries must be developed, and I don't think anyone is sure when that will  happen.

Another thing, on a somewhat different note: Rainforests, as we hear often, are a very important repository of carbon, and cutting down and/or burning these trees not only reduces the amount of carbon that can be absorbed from the atmosphere, but the burning of the trees releases carbon that has been locked up perhaps for centuries. Yet in Brazil, the trees of the Amazon rainforest, one of the most important on the planet, are being cut down and burned, to make room for pasture land or farmland (e.g., plantation of palm trees for the palm oil that is showing up in so much of our food)--not to mention that this process is depriving indigenous people of their land and homes. Yet Brazil's President Bolsonaro does nothing to stop this pillaging and destruction of the rainforests of his country.

In many nations there are conferences, there are speeches. But is enough being done, aside from talk? At least a few scientists warned of the problem decades ago. True, we have some renewal energy--wind farms, etc.--but they still are providing only a small percentage of energy consumed. We need "transformative" change, and it doesn't seem to be happening.

Copyright © 2022.

Stein's (My) Laws

 You may have heard of some of the laws in the sciences, like Boyle's Law. And maybe some of the (definitely) non-science laws, like Parkinson's Law. Well, I want to jump on this bandwagon; so here are some of my "laws."  I've come up with others but sadly they might just be forgotten.

1.      There's always a better way to do something—faster, simpler, cheaper.

2.      As soon as you buy gas, you see it cheaper at another station—usually  within a few minutes and within two or three blocks.

3.   You only get an itch when both  hands are full so you can't scratch it.

4.      You see the “easy open” tab or zipper or whatever after you've opened the package with brute force or taken a knife or scissors to it.

5.      Two men with similar facial hair are likely to be perceived as looking alike

6.      You get out the can opener and then realize it's one of those pop-top cans.

7.   Never talk about--say negative things about--someone to a third person. It will get back to   them--a lesson I learned slowly and painfully. 

8.  In looking for an item on the cupboard shelf (e.g.), as soon as you say "I can't find it" or "I don't see it," you do see it. At least this is true for me.

9. We love 'em (e.g. Mexicans, Irish) over there--but when they move here, as immigrants, it may be a quite different story.

10. Things very often turn out to be more difficult or more complicated--and take way longer--than we ever foresaw.

11. The order in which you do things frequently is very important.

Copyright (c) 2022