Isaac Asimov on the Greenhouse Effect, or what's called Global Warming today

Can We Save Earth For Humans? In 1989 Isaac Asimov was asked this question and delivered the following answer.

Listening to his talk he sounds rather prophetic in retrospective.

Asimov was of course a prolific author, and wrote hundreds of Science Fiction and Science books on dozens of subjects.

He calls for a totally human solution, with an international scope. He names off a large number of "dangers" that face "humanity" and hence it is "humanity" that has to come together to face these problems.

Hence he talks about some sort of world government, and asks how do we do that? Today a "world government" is rather alarming to people in the U.S. The mechanism he talks about is to have some kind of threat of world destruction. By way of example he explains potential for world government in terms of the formation of the United States. The U.S. is a conglomerate of semi-independent states.

The U.S. found it's unity in a gigantic project that included all the states, and made the differences between the states look small in comparison.

Hence for effective world government we need a gigantic project that all governments cooperate together on. He proposes space exploration as that gigantic project, speaking glowingly of solar power satellites beaming down power from outer space so that energy doesn't have to be tied to geography (e.g. who has coal, who has oil).

While poking around YouTube I found several other videos where he spoke on similar subjects.

As a teenager I of course read many of his books. It's nice to know he was concerned about these things. What do you think? Let me know below.

Shop for Asimov's works

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Isaac Asimov on the Greenhouse Effect, or what's called Global Warming today

Can We Save Earth For Humans? In 1989 Isaac Asimov was asked this question and delivered the following answer.

Listening to his talk he sounds rather prophetic in retrospective.

Asimov was of course a prolific author, and wrote hundreds of Science Fiction and Science books on dozens of subjects.

He calls for a totally human solution, with an international scope. He names off a large number of "dangers" that face "humanity" and hence it is "humanity" that has to come together to face these problems.

Hence he talks about some sort of world government, and asks how do we do that? Today a "world government" is rather alarming to people in the U.S. The mechanism he talks about is to have some kind of threat of world destruction. By way of example he explains potential for world government in terms of the formation of the United States. The U.S. is a conglomerate of semi-independent states.

The U.S. found it's unity in a gigantic project that included all the states, and made the differences between the states look small in comparison.

Hence for effective world government we need a gigantic project that all governments cooperate together on. He proposes space exploration as that gigantic project, speaking glowingly of solar power satellites beaming down power from outer space so that energy doesn't have to be tied to geography (e.g. who has coal, who has oil).

While poking around YouTube I found several other videos where he spoke on similar subjects.

As a teenager I of course read many of his books. It's nice to know he was concerned about these things. What do you think? Let me know below.

Shop for Asimov's works

External Media

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Overview: Greenhouse Gasses

The heart of climate change is the greenhouse gas effect. Molecules of various gasses trap heat, causing the atmosphere to heat up. Some of these gasses are okay and normal, but when there is too much it creates too much heat. Too much heat throws the whole system out of balance. What makes a gas a greenhouse gas is that it traps heat. (image courtesy ZooFari from Wikimedia Commons)

Some of the gasses (such as carbon dioxide) are part of natural processes (such as breathing) leading to erroneous claims of harmlessness. The same gasses can be emitted by non-natural processes (such as burning fossil fuel) which are not at all harmless. It's one thing for a gas to come from a natural process, it's quite another thing for it to come from an unnatural one. The natural world designed itself to accomodate naturally occuring quantities of various gasses, and human activity to add additional quantities of these gasses throws the system out of balance.

The principal greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere because of human activities are (courtesy EPA):

• Carbon Dioxide (CO2): Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere by burning of fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal), solid waste, trees and wood products, and also as a result of other chemical reactions (e.g., manufacture of cement). Carbon dioxide is also removed from the atmosphere (or “sequestered”) when it is absorbed by plants as part of the biological carbon cycle.
• Methane (CH4): Methane is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural gas, and oil. Methane emissions also result from livestock and other agricultural practices and by the decay of organic waste in municipal solid waste landfills.
• Nitrous Oxide (N2O): Nitrous oxide is emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as during combustion of fossil fuels and solid waste.
• Fluorinated Gases: Hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride are synthetic, powerful greenhouse gases that are emitted from a variety of industrial processes. Fluorinated gases are sometimes used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances (i.e., CFCs, HCFCs, and halons). These gases are typically emitted in smaller quantities, but because they are potent greenhouse gases, they are sometimes referred to as High Global Warming Potential gases (“High GWP gases”).

A greenhouse gas inventory is an accounting of the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to or removed from the atmosphere over a specific period of time (e.g., one year). A greenhouse gas inventory also provides information on the activities that cause emissions and removals, as well as background on the methods used to make the calculations.

EU proposes CO2 emission quotas for airlines

EU proposes CO2 emission quotas for airlines discusses a proposal that airlines be required to reduce their Carbon-Dioxide (CO2) emissions. Airlines are obviously big contributors, especially as all their emissions happen right up in the upper atmosphere in the first place. However they were left out of previous greenhouse gas agreements.

Of course the airlines are already objecting loudly.

I think the point really has to be that when we do something we have to consider the side effects of that action. Yeah it's real convenient to fly coast to coast in a couple hours, but what of the emissions that come from that flight, and what of the opportunity cost of burning that oil?

The airlines do have some ready avenues for reducing their emissions even if they cannot change anything about the aircraft. What of all the ground vehicles? Next time you board an airplane pay attention to the ground vehicles. All of them operate over short distances and could easily be electrically driven. In some cases one could easily envision cables directly from the building to the vehicle which directly power the vehicle without requiring a battery pack.