User talk:Metzfits

Insight Into Our Planet

Was the Earth completely frozen millions and millions of years ago? Evidence shows it may have been in such a state once or even a few times, although volcanic activity still occurred. It occurred 300 million years ago before the Perma-Carboniferous glaciation. Separate ice ages may have occurred during this period. It happened near the end of the Proterozoic eon, geologists distinguish it by referring to it as the Late Proterzoic glaciation. At that time the Earth was a very different place from the Earth we know today, plants and animals had not appeared on land, only primitive life inhabited the sea. Evidence is very strong but fragmented, it is only found in places where it could be easily preserved such as in submerged places at the time of glaciation. Glacial drift, scratched rock surfaces/bedrock, etc., were buried under sediments thus stored for millions of years. This evidence has been uplifted and inspection is possible. How the Earth froze to this drastic state is not really understood, but climate change is one possibility, solar output is another and the eccentricity of the orbit and tilt of the Earth axis is also a considered reason. Our planet "wobbles" although very slowly that it is un-noticeable. The axis of the changes although through long period. This can affect the climate by increasing or decreasing the solar output of heat to the equator and the poles, which, in turn, affects the ocean currents. The magnetism of the poles thus also changes. The magnetic data is possibly the crucial for this theory because they fix the latitude of the continents at the time of glaciation. However, glaciation can be triggered by many factors.

These days there are many stories appearing in the media about global warming and the effects it is causing to our climate, landscapes and even our homes. Glaciers are melting at a rapid rate, retreating to their origins of creation and growth (corries/cwms/cirques). Ice sheets like Antarctica are calving, creating enormous pieces of ice (icebergs) floating in the ocean. Frozen water in these icebergs is fresh, and the ocean currents depend on a delicate balance of fresh and salt water. However, melting is beginning to disrupt this balance and this can affect weather conditions. The ocean currents can heat or cool continents, because they carry heat from the sun away from the equator and carries it away in an escalator fashion. The currents keep our countries warm or cool but melting and usage of fossil fuels is affecting the ability of the currents to carry heat. Water can expand as well as sink, and this can affect sea level by increasing the levels. Melting can also increase sea levels and may cause lowland to be sunken under water. This may cause flooding which can destroy homes and take lives. Melting of ice may begin to release methane into the atmosphere and cause an increase of temperature. Methane is trapped in tiny frozen bubbles in the ice. Constant usage of fossil fuels can affect the climate by increasing the levels of carbon dioxide, which can trap more heat. If nothing is done soon our home planet may become a rigid/frozen rock once again and not at the usual speed of glacial and interglacial periods. We, humans, are pushing our planet into an early ice age or maybe a period of dry, rigid periods, which will, in both states, effect live on earth.

Today we all know that global warming is becoming a sheer concern, particularly to insurance companies because of increased flooding etc, Global warming, in my opinion, will soon wreak havoc on our home planet; Earth. The carbon dioxide that we pollute our atmosphere with every day via usage of cars, burning fossil fuels, and by reducing areas of forestry. As we all know, plants and other forms of flora take in CO2 during photosynthesis and produce and release O2 (oxygen) as a by-product into the atmosphere. However, man is cutting down trees thus less CO2 is taken in by the trees and other plants. Thus the CO2 in the atmosphere increases, which, in turn, traps more heat from the sun. This causes an increase in temperature, which affects ocean currents, landscapes, and of course, our daily lives. As I have mentioned in other posts, Glaciers are now disappearing causing sea levels to rise and cause flooding. The clearing of trees can cause soil to become infertile by leeching, caused by rain. Rain is an acid (carbonic acid - CO2 dissolved in water) which can cause rock to dissolve or decay. Rain can also be very acidic i.e. sulphuric acid, which s caused by sulphur being added to the atmosphere, by either man or nature itself i.e. volcanic eruptions. Water vapour is also in the atmosphere and this can contribute to temperature increase. Global warming may just cause temperate climates to become more rigid or wet. Lowland may be drowned by water. Landscapes may be completely changed, for example, areas of Limestone may appear more eroded by chemical wreathing than they are today, and oceans may become warmer or cooler. Animals may become extinct because of lack of ability to adapt to new environments. Earth may be turned upside down if man does not start to correct mistakes or change ways of producing energy that does not harm the atmosphere or deplete natural resources. Coal and Crude Oil are a couple of man's fuels that are in use every day. Crude oil produces many products such as plastics and fuels such as diesel and kerosene. These also produce harmful substances. Carbon Monoxide is very harmful to life, it can kill. Sulphur dioxide and Nitrogen dioxide cause acid rain which harms crops thus depletes food resources. Global warming is a hazardous problem for every life form on Earth.

Millions of years ago, our home planet was an utterly different place, some may refer to it as an historical piece of mythical creation and time was non-existent. Life on Earth could not survive the harsh atmosphere our planet once had, carbon dioxide dominated the air. Land was bear rock created by volcanic eruptions. Magma exploded from what the Greeks referred to as the "depths of hell" via volcanoes. Water was green, with no life forms until single cellular organisms that could withstand the harsh conditions appeared in the water. Algae created oxygen by the process of photosynthesis. Oxygen slowly was released into the atmosphere neutralising it. Earth's weather conditions maybe have been hellish, storms, temperatures way above of today’s, oceans may have been as warm as a bath but acidic due to impurities i.e. sulphur or nitrogen release via volcanic eruptions. As life evolved on this rigid land, the waters and skies were slowly beginning to change. The first ever flower to appear on land was a buttercup, although they maybe have bee bigger or slightly different from what we know today. As millions of years passed land was also changing caused by plate tectonics, which is referred to as Continental Drift, which separated the one super continent, called Gondwanaland or Pangaea. This super continent was formed 220 million years ago. Life became isolated by seas, oceans, mountains or any other form of a barrier. This gave evolution another chance to step in, animals that once interbred could no longer do so because of the changes evolution took caused by isolation. The isolation caused mutation, which formed many different life forms on Earth. As the Earth continued to change so did the climate, there are many geosystems on Earth are all are interconnected. Geologists and other scientists all it a cycle. Glaciation begun and some animals died and ended up becoming extinct, but humans know they once lived because remains of these primitive life forms are now in the form of fossils, which are buried under sediment, either on land or under water. Coral reefs can be found on dry land, indicating that the land must have been under water many years ago. This may have been caused by uplift of land or simply by evaporation of water. Deposits of certain salts such as gypsum are formed by evaporation of seawater, the salt then precipitates from solution. The evaporation may have been caused by climate change, and this can be discovered by studying ice cores which contain CO2, CH4 (methane), O2 and maybe volcanic dust. There are isotopes of Carbon and Oxygen, which can decay from a "mother" atom to a "daughter" atom over periods. Scientists can use this as an indicator of change in gas content and possibly change in temperature, which CO2 can cause by trapping heat from the sun. Nowadays, scientists are trying to figure out our future climate in this way, but man is increasing the speed of climate change by polluting the atmosphere with gases, CO2, SO2, NO2, which can cause rain to become dangerously acidic that harms crops, animals and even humans via depletion. Global warming is a very serious concept and many people still do not believe the facts that are becoming prudent. Energy resources are now becoming more expensive because people take things for granted and without thinking of the consequences that will suddenly appear like quicksilver. Natural resources are non-renewable, they will eventually run out thus man needs to find a way of providing energy without causing depletion and further harm to our home planet's atmosphere and landscapes.

Who is our Mother Nature? The answer today is that we, humans, do not know the true answer any longer for man is causing our home planet to transform drastically. Earth itself has many thresholds connected to every geological cycle that man is familiar with. However, these thresholds are beginning to be reached, not by nature itself but by man. Our climate today is very different from the climates from millions of years ago. This has been discovered from studying the gas content in Ice Cores. The ice cores may contain CO2, SO2, NO2, CH4 (methane) and Volcanic dust from past eruptions. The most common of gases are CO2, CH4 and O2. The first two mentioned can trap tremendous amounts of heat in the atmosphere provided by the solar output from the Sun. However, methane dematerialises after approximately 10 years, although still creates a "heat blanket". CO2, however, is becoming a great concern. Carbon dioxide once dominated the atmosphere many millions years ago. Thus, no life lived on land or in the oceans. The harsh conditions once experienced caused life to be impossible. Oxygen levels in the atmosphere were very low from what the level is today. Life begun in the oceans as single celled organisms, such as Algae, which could withstand the conditions. These primitive life forms took in CO2 and via photosynthesis converted the gas into oxygen and released it as a by-product. Oxygen levels in the atmosphere slowly begun to rise, thus making the probability of life evolving more possible. Since those ancient times, life on earth has evolved many times through many factors such as isolation, interbreeding, and mutation. However, at the same time the climate has also changed. Earth has gone through many glacial and inter-glacial periods that has contributed to the change. Glacial periods reflect more sunlight thus the area of glaciation is cold. The gas content may be stored by precipitation of snow, which is carbonic acid in a frozen form. Snow can be aged by taking ice cores and counting the annual rings, just like a tree is aged. Snow transforms into ice by compaction and pressure. Glaciers leave scars and very often remains of life. They re-shape land that once was steep. Mountain areas are often scratched or have strange remains of rock that is not relative to the area of which it is in, the remains are called erratics. Today, scientists are studying ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica to try to predict our future climate. Sadly, no one actually knows the outcome of Global Warming, which humans are causing by burning fossil fuels and polluting the atmosphere with gases, predominantly CO2. Vehicle exhausts, over-usage of energy, and natural resources such as Crude Oil, which provides many fuels and products, cause pollution. The mysteries of Mother Nature may soon cause life to deplete or go extinct because the Earth itself is a creator of life. The Earth created land and water although in the past the land, water, and air was inhabitable. Mutation, however, has a sneaky way of suddenly appearing and changing the course that was intended, however mutation is a slow process. Mother Nature, in mythical terms, is the true beholder of how life will prevail on Earth. Although man has developed many ways of adapting and many technologies to withstand harsh conditions. Who knows how Mother Nature will react to man's mistakes and what will be man's punishment? The answer is unknown.

--Metzfits 00:07, 8 April 2006 (UTC)