Co2!

Some scientist believe that the largest component of the earth's warming is Co2. There are other smaller factors like the sun's brightness, cosmic rays, and volcanic activity to mention a few others.

Some things about Co2: Co2 is only .o4% of the atmosphere. .04% is a very small amount. If you had 2,500 dimes, .04% would be 1 of those dimes. Without any Co2 in the atmosphere the earth's average temperature would be 23 deg F.

However scientist do it they have determined that the average temperature of the earth is 59 deg F. In the 150 years since humans have been recording the earth's temperature the average temperature has risen 1.8 deg F.

Earth's surface and atmosphere absorb the sun's energy and radiate it out. Thermal equilibrium dictates that the power level of the incoming radiation matches what goes out. Earth's temperature rises or falls by its own mechanisms until radiation balance is achieved. Co2 modifies this balance by trapping energy that would of escaped into space.

Humans can not predict climate (listen to the weather report). In fact climate is chaotic (sensitive to intial conditions). So to model how climate responds to different changes one needs precise initial conditions to get exact results, plus we would also have to know how the future will be like (ie. # of cars & factories). We do not know any of this with any precision. All we can do is assume or guess. If our assumptions are off at the beginning, even by a small amount, our extrapolated results will be way off.

Also when it comes to climate there is a lot of cause and effect. Which makes it challenging to determine exactly what causes warming. Some scientist believe that half of the human global warming comes from cause and effect.

For instance warmer air holds more water vapor. Water vapor is a green house gas cause it warms the earth. So as Co2 increases so does water vapor. The Co2 will linger in the atmosphere for decades, but water vapor rains out as conditions change. Aerosols amd clouds trap and reflect sunlight depending on their vertical distribution. The higher they are they reflect, the lower they trap.

The eruption of Mount Pinatube in 1991 dropped the average global temperatures by .9 deg F the following year, the cause was sulfate. The burning of fossil fuels throws 55 billion tons of sulfur into the air, half of this turns into sulfate, which could cool the earth.

The earth responds on its own to changing conditions by its climate. Changes in cloud patterns could cool or warm the earth, and the oceans absorb Co2.

So to wrap this up, it would cost 100's of billions to trillions of dollars to change things by a small amount and then we really would not be sure of the long term effects of what we do. It's nice to have people thinking about different things and I am happy that somebody is thinking about global warming. Am I worried about global warming, ofcourse not. But that does not mean that we shouldn't do the right thing, we also shouldn't change our lifestyles cause of it.

Besides the sun is a dying star, and as the sun dies the energy it sends toward earth will decrease and so one day we will be happy to have more Co2 in the atmosphere.

How about that, till next time, Jorge

Global Warming?

I love talking about this subject, and I had plenty of opportunity in Europe. Even on one of the legs of my trip back to the USA I sat next to an 18 year old from Kolin (Cologne), Germany on her way to El Paso and this was one of the subjects we talked about. She is in a program were she finishes her high school in the USA.

This is still on my mind so I want to write a small bit about my global warming opinions. First some basics. The earth has been going thru ice ages and warming trends many times in its millions of years of existence. All this even before humans. I have no doubt that we are in a warming trend. In fact some scientist believe that the earth's temperature is rising cause we coming out of an ice age. An example is the small ice age we had between the 14th and 19th century that killed many in Europe.


Next, science is not exact. I can probably find one scientist for every one someone else finds that will have an opposite view. Scientist are all over the place on this subject, how many on each side nobody knows. A recent example of science not being exact is the oil crises in the mid 1970s, when scienctist were saying that we would run out of oil in the next 10 years. Oil prices doubled cause of the scare. Thirty plus years later we still have oil and nobody knows when we will run out. Other examples are all around us.

Also we have only been taking the earth's temperature since the 1850s and only measuring the Co2 (carbon dioxide) levels since the 1950s. I very small time frame (less then 160 years) in the earth's millions of years of existence.

More on Co2 next time, Aufwiedersehen, Jorge

Europe Wrap Up

I enjoyed the trip to Germany and Italy.

Too many people smoke in Europe. Public transportation, buses and trains, are on the honor system. You are supposed to buy a biglieto, ticket, but there is no one checking. Actually someone did walk thru the train on the way to Pisa checking biglietos but that was the only time after many trips. I was very lucky to have a T-Mobile phone as this is probably the must common carrier in Europe, Vodaphone was second.

Bicycles and people walking everywhere in Germany. Germany was especially enjoyable since Alicia and our friends were there. The German people are extremely nice. They love to talk english, listen to American music, and eat pommes(french fries) with mayonaise. The Porchse ride thru the country side 2 lane roads and the autobahn at 135 mph and more was cool. Berlin was very interesting.

The Toscana area (Tuscany to the USA) of Italy was beautiful, a must see for any traveler. Scooters and people walking everywhere in Italy. They do not know english or spanish and do not understand anything but Italian and they could be a bit nicer. The Italian food is almost exactly like we have here in the USA. They love to eat pizza with french fries on the pizza. It was breath taking walking up to the bell tower in Pisa as I came in from the east and could see the lean as I walked up. Must people walk up to La Piazza del Duomo from the south and do not see the lean on the bell tower right away. Firenze had a lot of character and the Tirrenia coast was beautiful.

Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Hamburg Again!

Do you know what a Hamburger is? It is someone from Hamburg, Germany, like Texan. In Germany fries are pommes and they are very popular. There sure is a lot of turbine windmills in Germany. Did you know that the sun rises about 4 am and sets around 10:30 pm here? That stints. Got to ride in a Porchse, wow. The maximun speed cars travel on the autobahn is about 135 mph. I like the autobahn.

The W family took me on a tour of a 1200 acre farm owned by CM, HW's sister. GM, WW's cousin will be coming to the USA in August to do a 1 year exchange student program in Denver. This is the same program how we met WW.

Ofcourse I found the farm to be really interesting. They grow iceberg lettuce, potatoes, bio-fuel corn, sod, and christmas trees. We actually witnessed the harvesting of the lettuce. They have about 250 acres in lettuce production. Each field is about 75 acres in size, and in a different stage of growth, ie. just planted, growing, and ready to harvest.

They use two machines each about 24 wind rows wide (75 feet) with 8 workers cutting, 8 workers wrapping, 2 workers packaging, 2 workers stacking, and 2 workers loading and driving the lettuce machine and tractor, all in a smooth operation. I was disappointed to see how much lettuce is wasted, only about 50% of the lettuce is good enough (size and shape) to be sold at market, the rest of the lettuce is left on the field. I tasted the iceberg lettuce in the field and I would to say that it had a better tast then any store bought iceberg lettuce I have tasted.

It was amazing to me how the lettuce is cut and right in the field it is packaged to go directly to the market. Unfortunately the reason for the high waste in the harvesting is that there is only a 3 day window to harvest the lettuce once it is ready. As the workers move thru the field the lettuce towards the end is less marketable cause the crown opens up.

Well my time is up here, going back to the USA,, Aufwiedersehen, Take Care, Jorge

Firenze, Italia

Firenze or Florence as we call it is an extremely beautiful place with lots of character. The different architecture on the buildings from different eras was stunning.

One thing about Italy there was a MacDonolds at every train or bus station. In Germany it was lots of Burger Kings.

I love Italian food and the food here was terrific. Very much like the Italian food in the USA. So many places to see in Firenze, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella, Maria Del Duomo, Bargello, Vecchio, Santa Croce, Pointe Vecchio, Santa Spirito, Pota Romana, Galileo, Piazzale Michelangelo, and a lot to be said about each one, plus the view of Firenze from Viale Machiavelli was stunning. I put a lot of miles on my feet in Firenze.

Contrary to what I had heard about being safe in Italy, I found it to be very safe. I saw no problems and there was planty of police. I walked just about the whole place.

Lots of tourist from everywhere. I met a British girl, about mid 30, along the sites that was also taking pictures at the same places I was, she was very nice and not Italian. She was going on the 4 pm train to Pisa and I was on the 6 pm train to Pisa.

Well that is all, back to Hamburg, Take Care, Jorge

Bella Italy

Pisa and the Torre Campanaria, leaning tower, was amazing. The place is actually called La Piazza del Duomo, cause it is actually a dome, church, and a building with caskets. The bell tower (leaning tower) was built around 1100 and took two hundred years to build. It started leaning right away as the 3 rd ring was finished. They actually kept building it and adjusting for the tilt. longer columns on the south leaning side to compensate for the lean. So it was built leaning, but it has leaned more since and sunk about 6 feet. The bell tower is about 60 m high and has about 8 foot walls at the bottom getting narrower towards the top to about 4 feet. The stairs are in between the walls so they also get narrower towards the top. It is an amazing tower.

Also on the grounds is the Battistero, dome, which is interesting cause you sing and the tone carries loud and full. Also the cathedral was really beautifull. Lots of tourist from everywhere. I did a lot of walking all over town as there are other sites to see. I met a spanish girl, about early 30, who was really nice and helpful, cause she was not Italian. She was taking pictures at the same places I was and we met each other a lot along the way. She was taking the train to Lucca next and I was going to take the train to Firenze.

It seemed to me like everytime I bought a meal it was undici dollarie einquanta centesimi, $11.50. Odd!

Pisa is a beautiful city with lots of character, and La Piazza del Duomo is a must see.

Arreverderci, Take Care, Jorge

Tirrenia, Italy

Wow, The Tirrenia coast is really beautiful. Just like the pictures. No modesty here for the women. One can tell Italy is poorer then Germany, but it has beauty in character. The harbour town of Livorno was old and interesting.

Here in Italy everything, almost, shuts dowm between 12 noon and 4 pm. They work 8 to 12 and 4 to 8. They have very good ice cream here. it is everywhere. Maybe that is why the Italian people are beefier. Scooters everywhere, the samll ones, and everybody smokes it seems.

The beaches are amazing, also visited Calambrone. Was to go to Lucca, an old city, but the tour was cancelled.

The Ialian people are nice but they could be nicer. Even though they are not as nice, deep down I feel a stronger deep down bond to them. Maybe because they are latin, or maybe because I like a challenge. Who Knows? Some how I feel like I can relate more to them. Actually they do not speak good English and they give up trying to understand me. I understand them better then they understand me, and I speak very little Italian. Forget about speaking spanish to them. Even the Germans here try to speak English to them.

The Italian people have the best yellow eyes ever. I am partial to yellow eyes. I met this girl, girl only cause she is younger but she is about 30, who had the most brilliant, stuning beautiful yellow eyes I have ever seen. She said they were real and I do believe her. Those eyes were out if this world.

Pisa next, Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Berlin & Boltenhagen

The history in Berlin is very interesting. The wall is marked on the pavement with raised brick through out the city. There are at least two places where the wall is still standing. A small 50 foot area at Potsdamer Platz and a 1000 foot area on the Spree river. We visited check Point Bravo and Check Point Charley. Check point Charley was very interesting cause they had pictures of before and after. They have completely built up the area along the wall with new buildings. At some points this area was maybe 2000 feet wide. They also had a museum showing how people escaped. In some places they had memorials for those that had died trying to get out, their life story. We also saw many other sites like the East Germany radio tower, Berliner Dome, the huge Reichstag building, the Braden Burger tor, and others I do not remember. We took a boat river tour and bus tour of Berlin, plus we walked around a lot. The public buildings are amazing. We do not build anything like this in the USA, well maybe public school buildings.

It is interesting to me how any society can be communist or dictatorship or the like when in all these cases people are always wanting to get out. Doesn't this mean anything to people that these forms of goverment are not good. You don't see people killing themselves trying to leave capitalistic societies.

They have this tiny car here called Smart that is so small that they park it perpendicular to the curb when there is any space left between cars, and it does not stick out into the street. Public transportation is well used here. It is on the honor system. One is supposed to buy a ticket but nobody checks. They say that sometimes they come around checking but we rode a lot and nobody checked. People have to carry everything here, bags, umbrellas, coats. Very different way to travel.

Boltenhagen on the Baltic sea was very beautiful. This used to be in East Germany but again a lot of money has been poured into renovations. We saw the army station that used to watch and shoot those trying to escape over the water. The water is too cold for me.

With as concerned as people here are supposed to be about the earth they don't care about their health, cause most smoke. Good thing the W family does not smoke.

Love the German people, they are very nice, and boy can they speak English.

Well that is all for Germany here, read my book someday for the rest of the story, I say that but I do not like reading books, off to Italy, Till next time, Jorge

Germany

In the town of Winsen we visited the cheese lady. I call her that because she sells cheese that she makes from her 13 cows. She has 2 kids about 8 to 10 years old and she works very hard. Her farm, which was past down from her parents, was very interesting. The buildings were old but were very well built. In this part of Germany all the local farm houses and barns are located in a cluster and the farmers have to travel to the fields. So in the cheese ladies farm she walks her cows twice a day to the barn to milk them. If I opened the gate at my farm the cows would go running and eat the grass and flowers of the neighbors. She has an interesting task at her place. Lots of farms in the country side.

In Hamburg we visited the harbor, the old church, St Mickaelis, the red light district, toured the city, and WW's place. The red light district was interesting in that they do not allow women to enter this street and the ladies that work here sit in the windows tlaking to the men so that they will hire them. Hamburg was very beautiful.

I would have to say that there is really no difference between what was the East and West. The Germans have put a lot of money into upgrading everything. Once in a while one can see an old building from the East that has not been renovated.

In Potsdam, which was in the East we visited the palace Sans Souci. Which means "without worry or care" translated from French to German to English. What a beautiful place. The grounds were nice and the buildings were amazing. About 18 huge old structures scattered around 600 acres of grounds. It was a Kings residence back when there were kingdoms in Germany and now it is an attraction. The East Germans did not keep up the place and now the goverment is putting a lot of money into upgrading everything. It was really beautiful.

Till next time, Jorge

Germany is Wunderbau!

The parts of Germany we visited have been terrific, mainly the northern part. Winsen (The W family home), Hamburg (WW's home), Luneburg, Potsdam, East and West Berlin, and Boltenhagen (the W's vacation home on the Baltic Sea).

WW and the W family have been extremely nice to us. They will always be welcomed at my house. HW, WW's mother, has some things in common with me. You should see her garden. Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, strawberries, apples, onions, tomatoes, and other things I have probably forgot. We ate like pigs. Then there is her flowers, you would not believe it. She works very hard and has endless energy it seems. She also dresses very confortable. A very nice person. There is also AW, WW's very nice sister which we also know well since she has also visited us, and CW, WW's father, a very nice man.

It has amazed me how much English the German people know. Everyone has been very helpful and they always say "Hallo" as they pass you on the street.

One can tell that there is a lot of money in Germany. But high unemployment and they complain about their jobs or are not happy at their jobs. The German people are very dedicated and loyal though. One can tell that they do things right when they do something. I can tell by the buildings they have put up. Really good work, that will last a very long time.

Berlin was amazing. I have alot more to say but too much for this format. I've been told that I should write a book and maybe one day I will put all my writings in a book.

Graffiti was everywhere in Garmany, it is almost as if it was part of the landscape.

I like women that tell stories but I like to tell stories too sometimes. True ones and good ones.

Next is Italy and then back to Germany. Again thanks again to WW.

Till next time. Take Care, Jorge