Michael Rosenthal

(3/2020) Hardly a day goes by that one does not see discussion and controversy over the issue of global warming. There are those who are convinced that global warming is a menace to life on Earth as we know it, and there are others who consider it nonsense. As I’ve tried to make clear many times in Real Science articles, scientifically-based conclusions need to be made with facts, not on hearsay or what someone wishes was reality.

The past decade was the hottest ever recorded on Earth. The temperatures of the last five years have defined this fact. These findings were presented jointly by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The hottest year was 2016, followed by 2019, and the past five years were the hottest since record-keeping began. Nineteen of the hottest 20 years have occurred during the last two decades. To me, this is definitive. Global warming is a real thing.

The human activity that leads us to these numbers is the emission of tens of billions of tons of carbon dioxide, CO2, into the atmosphere. Go back to your high-school chemistry: when carbon-containing fuels are burned, the products of the process, known as combustion, are carbon dioxide and water vapor. Global warming has sped up over the last 40 years as the burning of more fossil fuels has occurred. The annual global average surface temperature is now increasing at a rate of about 0.32 degrees Fahrenheit per decade. This fact is supported by independent organizations from around the world. Some 36 countries recorded their hottest year since record-keeping began. There are many effects of this phenomenon, some particularly dangerous to life. Wildfires have resulted from Australia to California. Permafrost has melted from Alaska to Siberia, and intense storms and flooding have resulted worldwide. The effect on marine ecosystems has been intense, endangering wildlife. Melting of Arctic sea ice is occurring. Melting of glaciers in Alaska and the Greenland Ice Sheet has been noted.

Alaska had its hottest day on record in 2019, as the temperature at the airport in Anchorage hit 90 degrees F. in the summer for the highest ever noted. Hurricanes are believed to be linked to global warming as well. The impact of these and other related phenomena threatens food and water supplies, and increases the threats of droughts and floods.

There has been little movement toward action by world leaders to counter this activity. The Paris Climate Accord was designed to reverse this trend, but little action has been taken by the countries of the world. Approximately 100 countries have made commitments to design and implement plans by the end of this year, but they represent only about 15 percent of global emissions. The United States government has announced plans to withdraw from the international climate accord later this year.

In other science news …

Vitamin D is an important item to maintain good health. Vitamin D deficiency is more likely in winter, because Vitamin D is made in our skin following sunlight exposure. Vitamin D is thus called the sunshine vitamin. It is also found in oily fish, such as mackerel, tuna, and sardines, and in mushrooms. It may be taken as a supplement. Thus vitamin D deficiency is more common in winter when there is less sun. We have written before about supplements, and described some of them as useless, but in this case, Vitamin D supplements are a good idea, especially in winter. My physician recommends for me 2000 IU daily of Vitamin D3. Too much Vitamin D3 can result in undesirable side effects, so it is good to take advice on the quantity from a physician.

Progress is being made in developing and utilizing renewable energy. Renewables generated more electricity than coal in April 2019, when wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass combined for 23% of electricity generation, compared to 20% for coal. An important contributor to this trend is the significant falling cost of renewables, particularly wind and solar over the last decade - 70% for wind and 90% for solar. Coal plants are closing due to regulatory and economic factors. Coal still generates more electricity, however, than renewables on an annual basis: 28% for coal and 17% for renewables. Natural gas is 35%.

Amazon is building an East Coast headquarters in the Arlington neighborhood of Crystal City, and the Arlington County Board and Amazon have pledged to cooperate on a variety of issues. One of the most important of these issues is that Amazon and Arlington County have agreed to buy all the electricity generated from a new Dominion Energy solar power farm. The farm will be on a 1500-acre site named as the Amazon Arlington Solar Farm Virginia, and will be capable of generating 250 million kilowatt-hours annually. Amazon plans to purchase about 68 percent of the energy generated, and Arlington will buy the remaining 32 percent, which will represent over 80 percent of the electricity used by the Arlington County government. Their mutual goal is cooperation on a variety of issues, including support and protection of the environment.

Amazon already has agreements in place with Dominion Energy to buy solar energy on Virginia’s Eastern Shore in Accomack and in nine other locations in Virginia. It has 84 renewable energy projects that are projected to deliver more than 5.5 million megawatt hours of renewable energy annually globally. Amazon is shooting to become net-zero in carbon emissions by 2040!

The county’s goal is to use 100% renewable energy for government functions by 2025, and to have county residents and businesses achieve that goal by 2035. The county is also looking toward what is known as carbon neutrality, where the county would not release more carbon into the atmosphere than it replaces with carbon-consuming products, such as trees. This is the kind of activity we need from our business and industrial partners, to move us to minimizing negative impact on the environment!

Virginia is taking an impressive lead in environmentally-friendly activity. Through a recent deal state agencies will receive 30 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2022. Fairfax County is also making some environmentally sound decisions. They are planning to buy energy from contractors that would install solar panels on more than 100 county buildings. As I’ve said before, I believe the building of any new house should routinely include solar panels.

Read other articles by Michael Rosenthal