What Ever Happened To: The Ozone Hole

This is the second look back at yesteryear's looming environmental disasters. I'll call it disaster science. You know, the disasters that were going to kill us before global warmi, er climate change. Last time it was What Ever Happened to Acid Rain?

Gen-Xers should well-remember the dire predictions about the rapidly disappearing Ozone layer in the 1970's and 1980's. We were warned of skin cancers, crop failures. Starvation. Diseases. Soylent Green snack bars.

Why did we care about ozone in the first place?

Ozone (O3) is the unstable, naturally occurring little oxygen allotrope that filters UV from the sun. Without ozone we would be dead or look something like George Hamilton (expect a lot of 1970's references here).

It concentrates in the ozone layer, up in the stratosphere, about 10 miles up. By 1978, we had a protocol, THE Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to phase out the man-made production of ozone depleting chemicals - the chlorofluorocarbons (AKA CFCs).

The iconic image I have from that era is my mom (all moms) spraying the hell out of their hair with AquaNet hairspray. That stuff had CFC as a propellant. It would burn. And would make a hair helmet that could stop a .32 special.



Disaster science was in a fever pitch in those days. The UVA and UVB rays that were cruising through the thinning ozone layer were giving Patagonian sheep back sores and would eventually destroy all food crops. The ozone hole was big. Really big. And getting bigger.

There were even some really cool cartoon graphics (these were the pre-CG days you know) depicting the size of the ozone hole by 2000. That's right, the hole covered all of the US (except San Francisco) and another hole engulfed western Europe.

Science Fiction Meets Science Fact

I have a little theory about modern science discoveries, its in three parts. I call it the Irwin Allen Blind Spot Trap.

When we scientists observe and report something for the first time, like the ozone hole, there is a natural tendency to believe it must not have existed for long before we observed it. This is the Blind Spot part.

The other problem is that we are developing the ability to observe things at an amazing rate. Therefore we end up with some really good data over a very short periods of time. I'll call this the Double Blind Spot part. In other words, we tend to love technology, and new data from new technology inspires scientists to make long term projections using data that represents a tiny fraction of earth's history. In other words, statistically significant wild ass guesses (or SWAGs).

The last part. Any good scientific SWAGs has a disaster at the end. Just as Irwin Allen brought us Earthquake, the Towering Inferno - scientists seem compelled to run models that predict disaster. Otherwise, who would read that drudge.




Back to the ozone hole. It "appeared" over Antarctica just about the time we could measure it. And the observation caused all manner of panic. The problem with the science in the 1970's was that the annual ozone hole was first measured in 1956, long before the ozone-destroying CFCs were in common use. The hole appears at the end of the dark, cold Antarctic winter, lasts about three to five weeks, and then disappears.

In a rush to write their scripts, scientists forgot to notice this natural phenomena.

The science was quickly settled and the science text books were produced. We, the evil developed nations were killing the planet.

After we settled the science...well, we did some more science. Turns out, that the actual "ozone layer" is not some delicate, static and fragile wrapping about the outer atmosphere. Rather it is a volatile component of the atmosphere that is both created and destroyed by solar radiation.

[Side snark: Science is like that. Things we think we know (i.e. settled) turn out to be quite unsettled after a second or third look.]

That's right. Ozone creation (and destruction) is a self-limiting process, so we can not "run out" of stratospheric ozone. The more ozone (O3) is destroyed, the more free oxygen radicals (O1) are available to bind with free oxygen (O2) to create ozone (O3), the same applies with free oxygen (O2). And on and on it goes.

The Science is Re-Settled

Like OJ Simpson pulling George C Scott from a burning building during an earthquake after a plane crash with an impending dam break - the earth was saved. Was it the Montreal Protocol or previously unknown natural compensating factors? Decades down the road, it looks like it was both. But mostly natural factors.

You see, the holes never engulfed those nasty industrialized nations. And the old science said it could take a decade to get those big ole CFC molecules fully circulated. Not to mention the CFCs that were still produced in third world countries. According to the settled science, the ozone layer could not be saved until 2050. Bad science. Bad

Either way. The hysteria cooled to a concern, eventually fading to a footnote. The new science books sheepishly navigate the topic and respectable scientists don't talk about the ozone anymore.

In the end, what did this crisis bring us? I could make an argument that the ozone hole killed Elvis and brought us frustrating pump bottle hair spray. I could also argue that the ozone hole is like an ex girlfriend. Remembered but left unspoken.

Want to know more? Here are my sources.
CFC Production Yes we still use a lot of that stuff

Steven Milloy at Junk Science

THE EPA

Spike TV for some palate cleansing videos after all of this sciency stuff

Hot Chicks Noodling Catfish and Aerial Bowfishing...Oh Hells Yeah!

With the recent news about Chinese Silver Carp making their way ever closer to the Great Lakes, I was looking for some video. Then I came across this...it's called Aerial Bowfishing. Someone is going to get hurt.



The glowing arrow shots are the best.

It's Saturday night, so how about some hot chicks noodling catfish!!!

Vaginaplasty?

This was on Drudge (via the BBC), but I couldn't let it pass without comment.

Women are undergoing surgery to create perfect genitalia amid a "shocking" lack of information on the potential risks of the procedure, a report says.

And by perfect they mean...

...which generally involves reducing the amount of tissue that protrudes from the lips which cover the vagina.

OK, so its called labioplasty, but what kind of man would want LESS of that. Am I alone on this? When I saw the headline I assumed the doctors would be going the other way with that.

I have to wonder if this is some sort of pedophillic desire to make women look like little girls.

Whatever. I'm against it.

Counting Tree Rings: Global Warming Makes It Hard For Scientists To Count

I'm ripping this from Andrew Orlowski again. This is about as boring as a scientific scandal can be. Hockey stick graph excluded of course.

A scientific scandal is casting a shadow over a number of recent peer-reviewed climate papers.

At least eight papers purporting to reconstruct the historical temperature record times may need to be revisited, with significant implications for contemporary climate studies, the basis of the IPCC's assessments. A number of these involve senior climatologists at the British climate research centre CRU at the University East Anglia. In every case, peer review failed to pick up the errors.

At issue is the use of tree rings as a temperature proxy, or dendrochronology. Using statistical techniques, researchers take the ring data to create a "reconstruction" of historical temperature anomalies. But trees are a highly controversial indicator of temperature, since the rings principally record Co2, and also record humidity, rainfall, nutrient intake and other local factors.

Picking a temperature signal out of all this noise is problematic, and a dendrochronology can differ significantly from instrumented data. In dendro jargon, this disparity is called "divergence". The process of creating a raw data set also involves a selective use of samples - a choice open to a scientist's biases.

Yet none of this has stopped paleoclimataologists from making bold claims using tree ring data.

In particular, since 2000, a large number of peer-reviewed climate papers have incorporated data from trees at the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia. This dataset gained favour, curiously superseding a newer and larger data set from nearby. The older Yamal trees indicated pronounced and dramatic uptick in temperatures.

How could this be? Scientists have ensured much of the measurement data used in the reconstructions remains a secret - failing to fulfill procedures to archive the raw data. Without the raw data, other scientists could not reproduce the results. The most prestigious peer reviewed journals, including Nature and Science, were reluctant to demand the data from contributors. Until now, that is.

At the insistence of editors of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions B the data has leaked into the open - and Yamal's mystery is no more.

From this we know that the Yamal data set uses just 12 trees from a larger set to produce its dramatic recent trend. Yet many more were cored, and a larger data set (of 34) from the vicinity shows no dramatic recent warming, and warmer temperatures in the middle ages.

In all there are 252 cores in the CRU Yamal data set, of which ten were alive 1990. All 12 cores selected show strong growth since the mid-19th century. The implication is clear: the dozen were cherry-picked.

The scientists essentially flattened out the Midieval Warm Period and exaggerated the data in recent decades...making the now imfamous Hockey Stick Graph, used to great effect by ALGORE and the UN. The whole thing is an elaborate fake.

Go here for more to learn more on the fake graphs. And then maybe you too could get millions in grants.

Thomasville, AL: End Of Summer Purge

Its been a long summer. Football is here and now is a good time to clear out the notebook.

Notables:

My nephew got a ticket for driving without a seat belt. It cost him $25. No I'm not missing a zero. As you recall, the Thomasville Times warned you on June 4th about the click it or ticket program this summer. Tsk Tsk.

.................

A local Doctor from India brought back some seeds to plant in Alabama soil. Shhhhh...Don't tell the USDA, but I think we have a new invasive species.

And grow they did. "He told us they would run, but we didn't think they'd take over the whole world," Stephens joked. The two vines have grown so rapidly of late, they have become intermingled and it's hard to tell one vine from another at first glance.

The broad green leaves resemble Kudzu and the vines have flowers that bloom in the early evening. The leaves when rubbed, give off a faint smell of peanut butter.

When taunted, the flowers growl and have a faint smell of flesh.

.....................

Ozelle Hubert sets a new record for the most meaningless election protest. He lost by 60%.

You should probably call Obama...oh you did. I'm sure he'll be putting you on his to do list...right after rewriting the national anthem.

He (Ozelle) said he also believed that the actions was a conspiracy of a special interest group in retaliation to Barack Obama being elected the nation's first African American president.

He sent a copy of the letter to Obama, state officials, the state Democratic Party, the U.S. Justice Department and the local media.

We'll be checking in on Ozelle to see how things progress.

...................

And as I understand things, the mayor is still tired of conspiracies.

...................

And for the reallly big show the Canebrake Players of Demopolis to put on the musical "Big River.

Latest ACORN Video: San Diego

Summary.
Whaaaat? Twelve underage girls? No problem. I got people that do that. And how much for the girl (Hanna).

So what do these 5 videos say about the main stream media. This story has been there for years. What about the big bad right wing conspiracy? Not to scary.

Here is the unlikely pair. I'm guessing it was Hanna that sold the image and not the guy. Maybe its just me.



Here is Jon Stewart's take as only he can do.

You Lie!

If Rep. Joe Wilson was looking to sell some T-shirts, he certainly is off to a good start. Its a pithy little slogan that has gotten everyone's attention.



How about this little video, Bush getting booed by the democrats while he discusses the need for social security reform.


Wilson was not only right to do it, but it should have been more coordinated. They should have chanted "let us in" or "talk to US" and made the issue about Obama refusing to discuss any republican ideas. The ideal time was right after Obama said, "I'll take ideas from everyone..." Its a shame that opportunity was missed.

Thomasville, AL: The Week That Was

It was another exciting week in Thomasville. The Marvin's store is moving forward, high school football is back, and then there was this:

Hunter Martin killed this 5-foot, six-inch rattlesnake while visiting with his dad, Moose Martin, in Millry over the weekend. The snake had seven rattles and two buttons. Martin, while attending Alabama Southern Community College, lives with his grandparents, Wilmer and Nancy Odom in Thomasville.

That's SEVEN rattles and TWO buttons people.

UPDATED: Things That Are Racist

Signatures on truther petitions.

Now that Van Johnson has been busted, his name on the dotted line was a ruse perpetrated by the man who could see that this would be a problem in the future...using his future cast computer the way that he does. Kind of like Thom Cruise using in Minority Report. Which sounds racist too.

Soooo, does that make the future racist?


...

Health Care Reform protesters (except for the ones biting the fingers off old people)

College Football Coaches (except for the black ones)

NHL Hockey.

Credit Cards.

Mortgage Applications.

Home Ownership.

Cash Money.

Smoking.

Breast Cancer.

Tax Reform.

Welfare Reform.

Death.

High Blood Pressure.

Flu. (all types)

Unites States Constitution.

Taxes.

Hurricanes.

Global Warming

Republicans.

Everything before 1848.

Skip Day? Obama Addresses Our Kids

Actually, the address to skool kidz on September 8th will be pretty bland. The real disturbing part is in the Dept of Education's website activities to follow the speech to our kids.

Michelle Malkin has a good wrap up here.

From the Dept of Ed website.

*What do you think the President wants us to do?

*Does the speech make you want to do anything?

*Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?


Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants or puzzle pieces or trails marked with the labels: personal, academic, community, country. Each area could be labeled with three steps for achieving goals in those areas. It might make sense to focus on personal and academic so community and country goals come more readily.

• Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.

I will probably send my kids, with their own essays and information. But not sending them would feel soooo right.

There Are A Few Meanings

Purple Monkey Dishwasher is a non-sequitur that has evolved into commonly used response to opinions stated based on hearsay and unconfirmed rumors.

This blog is the response to the opinions and unconfirmed rumor mongering in the media today.

From the Urban Dictionary, the other ways this phrase is used.

1. purple monkey dishwasher
Despite claims this phrase originated on "The Simpsons", it actually existed long before it was used in the show. The phrase is intended to portray the distortion of facts when passed from person to person.

Its use in "The Simpsons" was accurate; Bart starts a rumour by whispering to one person who whispers it to another, etc. By the time the rumour reaches the front of the crowd, the phrase "Purple monkey dishwasher" has been added to the end due to people mishearing the original rumour as it passed from person to person.

Due to the popularity of "The Simpsons", the phrase has since become a commonly used response to opinions stated based on hearsay and unconfirmed rumours.
Person A - "I heard from a friend of a friend that John cheated on Linda with Karen!"

Person B - "Purple monkey dishwasher."

2. purple monkey dishwasher
A nonsense phrase seen widely in an early Simpson's episode. Added at the end of a Chinese whisper, ironically, as there are few if any phrases which can be mistaken for "purple monkey dishwasher". For this reason, it is sometimes used to check if communications are working properly, instead of ie. "testing" "mic check" "test test 1 2 3 check" and/or "syphilis".
"Say purple monkey dishwasher, if you can hear this."

3. purple monkey dishwasher
Derived from the simpsons, a term that should now be applied to the end of every game of chinese whispers - broken telephone.
Person 1: "The Sky is blue"

Person 17: "The man eats poo, purple monkey dishwasher"

4. purple monkey dishwasher
Originating from an episode of the Simpsons (episode 2F19 "The PTA Disbands")
It has taken on a comical nonsensical interjectional use... appropriate as comic relief or as a tension breaker
-'Jeezus!! who the hell ate the last jos louis?'
- 'purple monkey dishwasher?'
get this def on a mug
by whiskymack Jul 14, 2004 share this

5. Purple Monkey Dishwasher
A dishwasher made by the world famous 'Purple Monkey' brand. Comes with one year garantee.
"That dishwasher is l33t"
"I know, it's Purple Monkey"
get this def on a mug
by fire extinguisher Nov 1, 2004 share this

6. purple monkey dishwasher
the answer to any "why" question you do not know.
"Why didnt you eat your veggie?"
-"Purple Monkey Dishwasher."
get this def on a mug
by melissa Nov 25, 2003 share this

7. purple monkey dishwasher
A quick inconspicuous phrase to alert your friends of the pressence of a suspicious looking/acting character.
in other words - 'lets get out of here'
Out shopping with friends you notice a stranger eyeing off your handbags but your friends are too distracted to notice....
friend - "do you think this dress will look good with my red heels?"
you - "purple monkey dishwasher!!!!"