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amazing water in the oceans and antarctica

From a presentation at The Indianapolis Zoo.

"The top 10 feet of the oceans holds as much heat as the entire atmosphere.

"The oceans cover 71% of the Earth’s surface and contain 97% of the Earth’s water

"The top 10 feet of the oceans holds as much heat as the entire atmosphere.

"Antarctica has as much ice as the Atlantic Ocean has water.

"Air pollution is responsible for 33% of the toxic contaminants that end up in oceans and coastal waters. About 44% of the toxic contaminants come from runoff via rivers and streams.

"Each year, three times as much rubbish is dumped into the world’s oceans as the weight of fish caught.

"More oil reaches the oceans each year as a result of leaking automobiles and other non-point sources than the oil spilled in Prince William Sound by the Exxon Valdez.

"Fish supply the greatest percentage of the world’s protein consumed by humans, and most of the world’s major fisheries are being fished at levels above their maximum sustainable yield. Some regions are severely over fished."

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lovelock interview

Worth a scan.

"Lovelock, who for the past 50 years has been what he calls an "independent scientist" unfettered by institutional links, reckons he knows why academics reject Gaia. "It's political," he says. "You can't run a university unless it's divided into subjects. If you try and teach the whole lot, it becomes a complete mess and the vice-chancellor goes mad, so they have to divide it up. But if you divide it up, you can't understand it." Lovelock, who trained as a chemist but is just as interested in and likely to expound upon physics and biology, detests academic compartmentalisation. "The universities," he says, "have reached a point similar to the monasteries in the middle ages where the monks counted the number of angels that could stand on the head of a needle."
—
"...What about the meltdown at Fukushima in 2011? "That's the most amazing collection of lies ever known," he says. "There is virtually no wildlife damage anywhere near Fukushima. Levels [of radiation] are much too low. Nobody was killed, nobody was even hurt, so what was all the fuss about?

It's all propaganda. People badmouth nuclear so nobody dares use it."

I've not read his new book, A Rough Ride to the Future, yet so I can't say whether it's a pot boiler or useful.

A Rough Ride to the Future by James Lovelock

Allen Lane, hbk, 3 April 2014

ISBN-10: 0241004764
ISBN-13: 978-0241004760

amazon.com
£11.55 [amazon.co.uk] {advert}

Penguin, pbk, 2 April 2015

ISBN-10: 0241961416
ISBN-13: 978-0241961414

£9.99 [amazon.co.uk] {advert}

related material
The Revenge of Gaia by James Lovelock

the floods, 20th century version

On the London 1928 floods, with photos.

Standing on a fence in flooded London

"Indeed, Carlsson-Hyslop says much of the political reaction consisted of a series of wrangles over who should pay for flood defence and research into storm surges. In 2014 it has seen an echo in ministers' confrontations with councils and the Environment Agency.

"There were other similarities, too. "In late 1927 and into 1928 there were constant arguments about should we dredge or not," says Carlsson-Hyslop.

"Having studied floods throughout history, she says the rhetoric from political leaders in the wake of such events is remarkably uniform.

" "It's very common for politicians to argue that floods are natural and rare and an act of God," she adds.

"The 1928 flood was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime event."

human activity sends greenhouse gases to new highs

"The laws of physics and chemistry are not negotiable..."
—
"According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), atmospheric CO₂ grew more rapidly last year than its average rise over the past decade."
—
"Emissions of nitrous oxide have also grown, with the atmospheric concentration in 2012 at 325.1 parts per billion, 120% above pre-industrial levels. Nitrous oxide gas, although its concentrations are tiny compared to CO₂, is 298 times more warming and also plays a role in the destruction of the ozone layer."
—
"Levels of methane also reached record highs in 2012 of 1,819 parts per billion. Concentrations have been increasing since 2007 after a period when they appeared to be levelling off."

for added fun
how atmospheric chemistry and physics effects global warming

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