irreversible rampage

The Immutable Duality

denis's picture
Sat, 2007-11-10 15:24 by denis
It is easy to be overwhelmed by the complexity of the issues involved in the operation of society. Yet the use of the energy obtained from fossil fuels to drive these operations entails a simple immutable duality. It is that this irreversible energy use entails an irreversible global warming so climate change. Recognition of this simple mechanism would help to identify those measures that can be the most effective in meeting the dire challenges society should be addressing. There is no possible technological fix for what has been done. There is no turning back the clock. Fossil fuels are extracted from the geological store for the chemical reaction of carbon from the fuel with oxygen in air to provide the primary source of energy whilst exhausting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The energy so produced does useful work for society but is dissipated as waste heat in this irreversible process. It entails an irrevocable draw down of this natural capital. It is a process that is depreciating the eco system in doing work for the global society. The carbon dioxide so produced by industrial activity has irreversibly increased the concentration level in the atmosphere and oceans because the natural sources and sinks of this gas are roughly in balance. The high concentration level means that the radiation in is exceeding the radiation out so the atmosphere and oceans are warming up. This global atmospheric warming has instigated irreversible rapid climate change. The warming of the oceans is also having deleterious effects. It is counter productive to use energy from fossil fuels in industrialized measures that attempt to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide released by the measure will exceed that extracted. Using natural methods, like forests driven by insolation, to enhance the carbon dioxide sinks, so reduce this rate of increase of the level is sound but of very limited value. The rate of energy flow through the forests is miniscule compared to that from fossil fuel combustion. And any benefit is being countered by the rampant de-forestation. Consequently, the speeding up global warming is likely to continue so long as fossil fuel emissions continue. The impact of the momentous climate change on natural and industrial operations is expected to be dire. The use of fossil fuels to provide the main source of energy to drive industrial civilization has a limited life. But the climate change initiated by using these fossil fuels will be continuing even when the fuels are exhausted. It is ironical that the declining availability of the fossil fuels will ensure a powering down of civilization just as climate change will make it harder for society to cope with an underfed excess population. There are moves to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels by developing the capability of using bio fuels to provide some of the energy driving civilization. It has a very limited substitution capability because of the increased dependence upon a weak source of energy, insolation. The principle, however, still applies. The use of energy to drive industrial operations irrevocably entails irreversible degradation of the eco system. To summarize on this issue, industrialization has entailed extracting carbon from the geological store of fossil fuels to provide energy through combustion with atmospheric oxygen to power its operations temporarily. The resultant increasing level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is accelerating global warming so irreversible climate change. The declining availability of the fossil fuels will slow down the operations of civilization and the rate of climate change. Using fossil fuels temporarily to do work for civilization has ensured an ongoing climate change due to global warming. It is a faustian bargain and future generations will have to pay a hefty price. Yet that is only part of the story. The balanced operation of the extremely complex ecosystem has evolved in a manner not appreciated by those who make the decisions about the operation of civilization. Accordingly, biodiversity has been grossly disrupted to facilitate food production for the vast population, using up the subsidy from the fossil fuels. At the same time, the growth of urbanization has reduced the availability of arable land. The positive improvement in the synthetic food production capability is immutably linked to the reduction in the capability of the natural eco system to support this food production. This is another element in the negative sum game society is playing with the eco system with dire consequences, primarily for society. Denis Frith Melbourne Australia ‘What went wrong? The misdirection of civilization.’ ‘The Usufruct Delusion’ ‘The Dependence on Nature Law’ ‘Unsustainability of civilization’ ‘Industrial civilization Pandora's box’ ‘simple science’