This Week September 26, 1990. Page M9

FUTURE WATCH

something to be said for global warming

ack in the 1930s
when there were
only two billion
people on planet
earth, the “population
bomb” theory said we
would all smother when
the total reached four bil-
lion. We are still here.
™ In the 1960s worry about
™ nuclear conflagration was
a : aa hionable. Nothing happened.
%™@ The 1970s brought fear of a fuel
| shortage and freezing in our
& condos. Another false alarm. In
the late 1980s and now during
ae@she first days of another decade,
fa a new, and profitable, growth
'4 industry is proclaiming that
we'll all melt on a rapidly warm-
ing planet. Humbug. The global
warming trend is beneficial and
should be encouraged.
It seems to be a necessity for.
some humans to spend time
worrying rather than engaging
in worthwhile and practical en-
‘deavors. But those who exploit
@®ach human failings know how
to manipulate alleged facts and
hide others. My recent seminars
' have been suggesting that the
alleged global warming trend
has not been sufficiently and
scientifically proven; and even if

true it may bring more benefits
than disasters to many parts of
" the globe.

When most of the world isfear-
ing the greenhouse effect, it is
hard to find someone to agree
with me. I always find that help-
ful and it makes me realize I am
on the right track.

Someone else does follow the

'#zame line of thinking . . . the
same person who 20 years ago
first came up with the initial

7 observation that the planet ap-
pears to be warming. For five
years he was considered not
worth considering. Not one
North American or European
scientist agreed with him. He
was ostracized by the foreign
scientific community and be-
came a minority of one. Even-
tually others started noticing
results in their own calculations
that supported his earlier obser-
vation. Why the delay? Because
there is as much superstition in

gthe scientific community as
= there is fact. At that time, it
wasn't scientifically acceptable
to agree with scientific observa-

The gentleman who started
this thinking is leading Soviet
climatologist Mikhail Bodeyko.
He believes we are undergoing a
normal cycle, along a gargan-
tuan time line unobservable to
man and hence almost incom-
prehensible. He believes we are
entering a global phase, similar
to one 6,000 years ago during the
“Pleistocene Epoch,” a time
when the earth experienced
what climatologists termed
“climatic optimum,” a time of the
best climatic conditions.
Bodeyko says the global warm-
ing trend is beneficial and
should be encouraged.

Such concepts follow this line
of thinking. If the temperature
of the planet does increase there
will be more evaporation from
the surface of the world’s oceans
(71 percent of the earth’s cover),
hence more water in the rainfall
cycle. The higher temperatures
will result in more violent mon-
soons, hurricanes and typhoons.
This is not all bad. Increased
velocity will carry these storms
further inland instead of losing
force when encountering land
masses, the usual pattern
during recent memory. Moisture
levels to continental inland

_ growing areas will increase ena-

bling more of the planet's sur-

face to provide moisture for
evaporation, increasing still fur-
ther the amount of water in the
rainfall cycle.

As oceans warm, the volume of
existing water will swell by ther-
mal expansion alone. Some is-
lands and atolls will be covered
(See the Maldives now, they may
be the first country to disap-
pear!). Some Antarctic and
Arctic pack ice will melt adding
to the increase in ocean water
levels( between 25 and 140
centimeters) according to the
1987 World Commission on En-
vironment and Development,
headed by Gro Harlem
Brundtland. However, it is un-
likely that the mile-deep An-
tarctic ice cover (containing a
reported 90 per cent of the
world’s fresh water) will melt to
any substantial degree.

Having flown over the Green-
land ice cap (which holds five
percent of the world’s fresh
water supply) I can tell you that
itisn’t going to melt much either,
except at the sea level ice rim.

More icebergs will be created

as sea level glacial calving

DEIomorrow

By FRANK OGDEN

speeds up. It’s a lot colder a few
thousand meters up and in
those latitudes, at those al-
titudes, it is always below freez-
ing. Increased precipitation in
the form of snowfall eventually
gets stored in either the An-
tarctic or Arcticice lockers. More
rain, More snow, and more ice
stored at the poles eventually
lowers the sea leve] — and the
cycle starts over again.

Bodeyko says the increased
rainfall will regreen much of the
world’s deserts — which are 44
times larger than the Amazon
rain forest! This will enable food
production to increase in many
presently hard-pressed areas in
developing countries. He fur-
ther states that it will rain in the
Sahara, in the 1990s!

hin

lube Oil ,

THIS SPECIAL INCLUDES:

e UPTO 5 LITRES OF OIL
(PROTEC ESSO. 10W30)

e NEW QUALITY FILTER

e 14 POINT PREVENTATIVE
MAINTENANCE CHECKS

e METRIC FILTER EXTRA

ENGINE ANALYSER — r ee

aS

Ds,

Filfer Change |

MOST CARS & LIGHT TRUCKS

Key factors for plant growth
include heat, moisture and carb-
on dioxide. If the planet is heat-
ing up, these three components
will be created in quantities
greater than during most of
man’s recorded history. This
does not mean total disaster:
just change.

A new report has just been
scanned into my computer from
the Chairman of the U.S.S.R.
Academy of Sciences’ Biosphere
Council, Alexander Yanshin. He
too views the greenhouse effect
more optimistically than many
following their scientific (?) herd
instincts. Yanshin points out
that “we now know from (their)
drilling experiments that the
Antarctic shield was formed 35
million years ago and has lived
through several periods of
warming, much more substan-
tial than that expected to be in-
duced by the greenhouse effect.”
He says that satellite photos
show dry river beds, lost in the
sands of the Sahara 4,000 to
35,000 years ago, during the last
warm period between ice ages,
when it rained regularly in the
Sahara and there were full
rivers and a rich flora and fauna.

Further, he says “What we
know today suggests the con-
clusion that, contrary to

) 44°°.

14 Point Electronic
Ignition Tune-up Special

"49°.

most 6 cyl. cars

WE SERVICE ELECTRONIC FUEL-INJECTION VEHICLES
An untuned engine can cause poor gas mileage and
starting problems. Two items in particular affect your car's
fuel economy: spark plugs and air filters. These should be
changed In accordance with the manfacturers recom-
mendation. Your Esso Checkpoint Dealer is also qualified to
advise you.

widespread belief, the green-
house effect will bring our planet
no harm.”

a

DON'T PAY
YOUR CAR
OR HOME

INSURANCE

. without talking
to us first!!

All we ask is for an
opportunity to quote.

Then if we can do

something for you,
we ll talk.

Royal Oak .. 727-3501
Mayfair ..... 386-6343

MasterCard
=)

ISLAND
SAVINGS

INSURANCE SERVICES LTO.

95490 Or Less most Vi

and V8 cyl. cars
NOTE: All parts extra — extra labor charge on
vans, and cars with alr conditioning and
conventional ignition.

990

56 Point Safety
Inspection

$990

Most cars
and light trucks

"24"

This special includes:
e Pressure test system

e Flush cooling system
Most cars & light trucks
Parts and coolonk: Extta

CEDAR HILL ESSO SERVICE
3927 Blenkinsop.477-161 7

GLANFORD ESSO SERVICE
| 4233 Glanford.....479-6414_

Cooling System
Service and
Flush "490

e Check heater hoses, rad cap, fan betts and recovery system

FSSO CAR CLINICIMPERIAL REDE
1700 Hillside....... 592-24)

ESSO CAR CLINIC/ICOLWOOD
| 1701 Island Hwy,474-6611

Or Less

peer te ee er es

pre
‘ ‘5 GuerenOCC

=

-CLAPHAM’S ESSO SERVICE
1103 Goldstream.478-2021