I read an interesting story recently that talked about the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air. What made it so interesting is that the story mentioned how the one station in Antarctica that measures CO2 levels in the Earth's atmosphere finally reached the level of 400 parts per million (ppm). This particular station, was the very last station in the entire world to hit this level, and it was the first time in 4 million years that the surrounding area did so. However, there was something even more interesting than that.
In the story, which you can read by either clicking here or following the link at the bottom, there is a link to a YouTube video that shows just how CO2 increases in density and flows around the world. As the dead of winter kicks in, the video shows the CO2 levels at its absolute highest, becoming as what appears to be as dense as the clouds can during a rainstorm. However, keep in mind that this density is still fairly small, as it is essentially 400 milligrams per cubic meter, more or less, so it is not like a cloud of pure CO2 will actually appear overhead. It just means that there is a lot of it in the air.
Anyways... I digress.
The video shows just how much CO2 is in the air. Most of it sits over the northern hemisphere, where a great amount of the hyper-inudustrialized nations are. The amount of CO2 disappears almost completely as the heart of the summer months come and goes, only to rebuild again through fall and winter as the trees and plants go into hibernation. As you watch, the graphic of the video twists and churns like a thin film of a bubbly brew. This got me to thinking.
Consider this...
Einstein proved that time is relative. It moves based on the relative position of the observers of time and how closely those observers are moving to the speed of light. Mass is affected the closer you get to the speed of light, which I will use here as one of the reasons the Earth is so big, as it is moving roughly 67,000 miles per hour through space. We humans are capable of only speeds that are allowed to us by the machine that we use to travel from one point on Earth to another. Otherwise, we can really only round just above 20 miles per hour.
Now, given that time is relative, and the experience of time can be relative as well based on if we are standing still or moving, we should also be able to say that events that we experience are also relative. Now, I don't mean relative in the sense that you meeting the love of your dreams is a life changing experience relative to me not knowing or caring how that person is because I never met them and they made no difference in my life. No, I mean that how much time is spent experiencing an event is relative. Like breathing, for example. Think about a squirrel, and how many breaths it may take in a minute at rest. Then think about how many breaths you take in that same minute. Then imagine how many breaths the Green Giant may take in a minute. What you may find is that the number of breaths are different per being the larger you get. A part of that may be due to the size of the creature, and how much time it would take to fill the lungs with oxygen, then to expel the CO2 that had accumulated in its system.
Whoa.... CO2.... Accumulating... in a system?
Catching where I am taking this crazy train yet? Ok, if you haven't keep reading. If you have, keep reading anyways.
So, we now have different number of breaths taken in a minute. If we use the number of breaths as a measurement of time, you can see that the larger the creature, the slow time would pass for that creature.
So what do we get to when the subject is the size of, oh, I don't know, Earth? What if Earth actually is breathing?
Ok, I can hear the battle lines forming right now. But before you go find the next slither.io video, hear me out.
Exhibit A
References:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/antarctic-co2-hit-400-ppm-for-first-time-in-4-million-years/
In the story, which you can read by either clicking here or following the link at the bottom, there is a link to a YouTube video that shows just how CO2 increases in density and flows around the world. As the dead of winter kicks in, the video shows the CO2 levels at its absolute highest, becoming as what appears to be as dense as the clouds can during a rainstorm. However, keep in mind that this density is still fairly small, as it is essentially 400 milligrams per cubic meter, more or less, so it is not like a cloud of pure CO2 will actually appear overhead. It just means that there is a lot of it in the air.
Anyways... I digress.
The video shows just how much CO2 is in the air. Most of it sits over the northern hemisphere, where a great amount of the hyper-inudustrialized nations are. The amount of CO2 disappears almost completely as the heart of the summer months come and goes, only to rebuild again through fall and winter as the trees and plants go into hibernation. As you watch, the graphic of the video twists and churns like a thin film of a bubbly brew. This got me to thinking.
Consider this...
Einstein proved that time is relative. It moves based on the relative position of the observers of time and how closely those observers are moving to the speed of light. Mass is affected the closer you get to the speed of light, which I will use here as one of the reasons the Earth is so big, as it is moving roughly 67,000 miles per hour through space. We humans are capable of only speeds that are allowed to us by the machine that we use to travel from one point on Earth to another. Otherwise, we can really only round just above 20 miles per hour.
Now, given that time is relative, and the experience of time can be relative as well based on if we are standing still or moving, we should also be able to say that events that we experience are also relative. Now, I don't mean relative in the sense that you meeting the love of your dreams is a life changing experience relative to me not knowing or caring how that person is because I never met them and they made no difference in my life. No, I mean that how much time is spent experiencing an event is relative. Like breathing, for example. Think about a squirrel, and how many breaths it may take in a minute at rest. Then think about how many breaths you take in that same minute. Then imagine how many breaths the Green Giant may take in a minute. What you may find is that the number of breaths are different per being the larger you get. A part of that may be due to the size of the creature, and how much time it would take to fill the lungs with oxygen, then to expel the CO2 that had accumulated in its system.
Whoa.... CO2.... Accumulating... in a system?
Catching where I am taking this crazy train yet? Ok, if you haven't keep reading. If you have, keep reading anyways.
So, we now have different number of breaths taken in a minute. If we use the number of breaths as a measurement of time, you can see that the larger the creature, the slow time would pass for that creature.
So what do we get to when the subject is the size of, oh, I don't know, Earth? What if Earth actually is breathing?
Ok, I can hear the battle lines forming right now. But before you go find the next slither.io video, hear me out.
Exhibit A
Above is a picture of the inside of a human lung. Now that I have successfully transported many of you back to biology class, I want you to look at how the bronchial design. Look familiar? Maybe like this:
Exhibit B
When you breathe, what are you doing exactly? The cliff notes version is that you are taking in oxygen to replace the carbon dioxide that has built up in your system. When we breathe out, we expel the CO2 that has built up in our system through our lungs, bringing the levels back to a safe nominal level on our system. A tree takes in the CO2 from the air around it and uses it to make food and energy for itself as part of a process called photosynthesis. The process strips the carbon off, and releases oxygen back in the air as a byproduct.
I rest my case. Now back to the regularly scheduled point.
So, if we think of the Earth as a being that is capable of breath, what we see is that we all exist as cells of a living being that use up the oxygen that it creates, expelling CO2 that is the exhaust, and repeating the cycle over and over again. It is the same as us taking in oxygen, expelling the CO2 that are cells create as a byproduct, and repeating the cycle over and over again.
So, consider these questions: what if the cells of our body began producing more and more CO2, and it became harder and harder to expel it all? How would our bodies react to such a change in "atmosphere"? Could we survive if the level gets too high?
In the human body, higher concentrations of CO2 can cause issues with concentration and heart and breathing issues. A concentration of greater than 10% of volume is capable of causing death. Earth is capable of handling higher levels over time, just like we are, but what if the levels reach a level that are too hard to for even the powerful life giving Earth to handle? What would happen then?
Definitely puts new perspective on carbon footprint, I would say.
References:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/antarctic-co2-hit-400-ppm-for-first-time-in-4-million-years/
https://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/humrespsys2.gif
http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/single-bare-winter-tree-against-vibrant-sunset-matthew-gibson.jpg
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16499405
Comments
Post a Comment