Theory of Deep Cycle Climate Change (Global Warming)

Fables, Myths, Legends, and especially Religious Books are a record of climate change we are too quick to ignore because they are not based on hard data we have collected in only the past 150 years. This is some what conceited and disrespectful to past generations on our part. The Ancient Art of story telling as a way of passing on knowledge should be considered to give us context, color and texture to understand our lives today.

It is now gospel that Global Warming is a man-made disruption in natural weather patterns caused by Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. But hearing the Ancient's stories may give us a clue to "Deep Cycle" weather patterns we would have no records of. In other words; smaller cycles spinning around the perimeter of a larger
cycle(s).

The story of the Ice Man found in the Alps is an illustration of this point. He was found after hundreds of years concealed in snow and ice. But this also tells us the snow and ice that buried him was not there when he died. The Bible tells us of Noah and the great flood. In those times all the people of the Earth probably did not live more than a few miles from the oceans and lakes or rivers and streams. So a period of global warming would have been devastating to their world as they knew it. In fact, most religions have a major flood story as part of their recorded Word.

In more modern times we hear about the early explorers searching for the fabled North-West Passage. Today we are talking about shipping through the Arctic Ocean. This passage was open several thousand years ago and the way was lost as the sea froze over generation after generation; but the legend lived on through the mists of time and the New World was rediscovered by those sailors trying to follow the old ways. The same could be said about Columbus and his expeditions to find the Far East. If the ocean levels were higher, the Isthmus of Panama could have been deep enough and more like a wide river that cut through the present day landscape.

If our activities as humans do impact the weather it only serves to make things a little warmer (or colder) and/or speed (or slow) the cycles themselves. Carbon Dioxide may not be the only culprit. All the buildings, roads and parking lots world-wide serve as a Heat Sink. Have you ever walked out into yard late at night during the summer when the temperature has been in the nineties all day? The grass is cool and wet from condensation. But walk along the brick wall on the driveway in your bare feet; Ouch! It is still hot and nearly impossible to stand on for any length of time. This process is like reverse glaciation. The night air is warmed as the buildings and pavement give back heat and by the time the sun comes up the air temperature all ready has a head start on the day's warming. This is also referred to as a heat bubble around metropolitan areas. Problem now is the heat bubble surrounds the Earth.

So certainly reducing Carbon Dioxide can't hurt but it may be more like checking the air in your tires when your car is on the side of the road because you ran out of gas. Tearing down and pulling up all the concrete and steel is not an option either. But the movement to grow roof top vegetation would make a huge difference if expanded to parking lots and roads. Organic materials from mulch should be developed to cover unused parking lots. Instead of going through all the expense of removing and replanting the many thousands of acres of unused surface the pavement could be covered with shallow root plants that are used on green roofs. This would enable property owners to remain in compliance with parking space ratio codes and save the expense of removing the parking lot. The roads and parking lots left should be planted with trees to provide horizontal cover shade for the pavement below. Where trees are not feasible a structure of vertical posts and horizontal wires that tough grapevine like plants could climb up and across providing cover for the area below could be made. This light weight vine system could be employed to cover all sorts of existing commercial and residential roofs and walls where the underlying roof could not support conventional green roof plants because of weight or water penetration problems.

And finally surfaces that are not covered with vegetation would be given to at least passive solar collection panels. After all, all of our energy needs can be more than filled by the solar energy that falls on our Earth everyday.

The most wonderful thing about solar energy collection, storage, transmission and use is that the whole process mimics natural photosynthesis. Practical plants and solar materials (storage and wireless transmission of power) will have to be developed to meet this future demand and we will have to adjust and adapt to the larger Deep Cycle weather patterns.