By Birte Edwards

If there is global warming then will there also be global climate changes?

Questions we should ask ourselves: Is global warming happening?

If yes, then: Why is this warming taking place, what are the causes? Are they natural or are they man made?

We could then ask: What impact will this warming have on the climate globally?
And also: Is there anything we can do, as a global community or individually, to stop the warming, slow it down, or reverse it?

The biggest question of all:

Can we, the most successful species on the planet ever, allow ourselves to be ignorant and not take action, one way or the other? Can we allow ourselves to leave behind something different than we received? (Would we do that we anything else in life that we receive?)

So what is global warming

Global warming is the gradual increase of the earth and ocean temperature as a result of the build up of certain gases which trap heat in the atmosphere. These heat-trapping gases, also called greenhouse gases, occur naturally and are produced naturally in certain areas of the planet, but they are also produced in very large quantities through the use of fossil fuels.

One reason it is difficult to pinpoint if global warming and climate change is taking place is that it is a slow process, and a process that has occurred many times before man came on the scene.

Should I be concerned about this

And so what if the ice caps are melting? I am nowhere near an ice cap. What does that have to do with me?

This should be obvious. What happens on one side of the globe affects people on the other side. Most of us strongly believe that, when it comes to politics and economics, and it is as true for the climate as well.

We also know that a natural phenomenon, such as an earthquake, can take place in mid-ocean and kill tens of thousands of people at distances of thousands of miles (such as the December 2005 tsunami).

Eruptions of major volcanoes have profound impact, not only on the people in its vicinity, but also on people far away and the climate even on the other side of the globe.

At the end of the Gulf War in the Middle East in 1991 many of the oil wells in Kuwait were put on fire deliberately. The emissions from these fires caused major climate changes in many parts of the world.

The Earth gets warm and there is Life

The earth is warmed by the sun. The sun’s activities and the earth’s position to the sun have a direct natural effect on our climate.

In addition to the general heat coming from the sun, there are also sunspots generated on the sun’s surface. These sunspots are areas with increased magnetic activity and seem to be the cause of sun flares and mass ejections. When earth is in the path of these flares, enormous waves of additional heat and magnetism impact our planet. The results can be higher temperatures, when other elements that control our climate are disappearing, such as certain protective layers in the atmosphere.

The earth’s orbit around the sun is elliptical, and so there are times when the earth is closer to the sun than others. When that occurs, it’s normal to have an increase in the world’s temperatures.

The earth is kept warm by gases in the atmosphere. These gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, as well as water vapor, prohibit heat from escaping into space. If our atmosphere contained none of these gases, our planet would be a very cold place. The question being debated is if there actually is an increase in these green house gases that then trap more heat, and so cause climate change.

These gases are created naturally from wetlands and the arctic tundra. Plants in other parts of the world use these gases and in exchange give out oxygen, a gas that we need for breathing.

How does Global Warming Affect the Climate

Average temperatures world wide will rise. There is no consensus among scientists as to how much. But even a small rise can have vast impact on our environment.

With more heat in the atmosphere the temperature of the oceans will go up. This in turn will impact the ice caps, as well as hot water eco-systems. At the ice caps the glaciers will begin to melt. Some say this has already started.

As the water in the oceans heats up it will absorb less and less CO2 (carbon dioxide), thereby contributing further to global warming. The ice caps and the oceans have a very important part in the balancing of global climate. Fewer ice caps … less reflection of sunlight … more heat stays in. Warmer oceans … less reflection … more heat stays in. Inland glaciers will also feel the effect and melt.

As the ice caps and inland glaciers melt, water levels will rise. This will put low-lying coastal areas under threat of flooding.

As the water temperature changes, it will influence the frequency and the ferocity of hurricanes and tornadoes.

As ocean temperatures go up, finely balanced underwater ecosystems may not be able to survive, such as coral reefs in tropical areas, thereby affecting the whole oceanic eco-system.

As ocean temperatures go up, there will be less rain in hot dry climate zones. This means longer and more devastating droughts. These areas will be more susceptible to wild fires. Deserts will expand, and whole eco-systems will be threatened.

As inland glaciers melt, the flow in the rivers coming off them will increase, causing floods.

Have Climate changes happened before
Climate changes have occurred and will continue to occur naturally. They occur when there is a change in global temperatures due to the influences mentioned above. This influences ocean temperatures, precipitation, deforestation and the migration of wildlife. Relatively recent examples of climate changes are the ice ages and the periods in between; the last ice age ending some 10.000 years ago.

How much do we humans as a species influence this process of global warming

As we have seen greenhouse gasses occur naturally as part of the balancing of earth’s temperature.

Does human activity increase the concentration of these gasses in the atmosphere? Since everything on this planet has an affect on everything else, I think it is safe to say that human activity plays a role. We have to decide how much. Since the dawn of human history we have influenced our environment. We have dried up swamps, cut down trees to such an extent that forests vanished, we have expanded agricultural land at the cost of natural resources, we have mined and drilled and what not.

From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution our impact on nature has dramatically increased. Being so successful a species we have even increased in numbers to the detriment of other species.

In the natural world trees absorb carbon dioxide and other gases and exude oxygen, the gas we need in order to breathe. The burning of fossil fuels in transportation, industry, and power plants produce carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gasses in quantities larger than natural.

Since more and more forests are being cut down, especially the rain forests, there are less trees to absorb the carbon dioxide, again resulting in a rise in general greenhouse gas content in the atmosphere.

Is this a double indemnity

Is it possible that earth is going through a period of natural warming?
Is it possible that the activity of man is affecting the planet?

What are we up against

The above scenario may seem frightening and depressing. Frightening enough to make us do something, depressing if we don’t do anything. As stated global warming and climate change is a very slow process and has been going on for eons.

We don’t have all the facts, though a majority believes it is happening. Within a period of global warming, there could be shorter periods of cooling, off-setting the warming to some extent. Such shorter intervals can also be misleading, making some believe that global warming is just in the mind of a few crisis loving scientists or politicians.

Obviously we cannot change the natural causes, such as the earth’s orbit around the sun and the sun flares. But we can have an impact on the man-made causes. Just as we may have caused an aggravation of warming, we can also take an active role in reducing continued aggravation.

By Luluk Suhada

Climate change issue awareness is a hot issue now considering on its tremendous impacts on our life. Understanding the issue is not enough as you need to act. Everyone can do it from their desks either at the office or home. It may be small but meaningful. Are you ready to environmental warrior?

Print less
Do not print unless it is for crucial purpose. You can read your document from your screen. If possible, print on double-sided paper. Reducing the paper consumption indirectly reducing the number of trees cut for paper making.

Use your electronic devices wisely
Turn of your computer, printer, TV and other electronic devices when you finish. By letting them in stand by position, they consume more electricity. Study in UK shows that the stand by electronic devices in UK consumes 8% of total domestic electricity consumption per year.

Work efficiently
Work smart not long hours. The longer you work using electronic devices, the more electricity you consume. Work efficiently so you can spend less time using electronic devices. Survey suggests that the more you work the less you are productive as you have less concentration in longer hours. The longer you work means the more likely you are depressed as you produce less.

Recycle
Stop throwing used paper into your trash bin. Instead send them to recycling project. There have been some initiatives on recycling papers. Check the recycle organization close by your house or office. Don’t throw away used paper as you can use their other side. if possible, you can use recycled paper.

Conference meeting
Instead of travel, you can benefit from conference meeting. You can use free online conference facility such Skype, Yahoo Messenger and others to reduce traveling. Reducing travels means you reduce your carbon prints form the transportation mode you use. However you need to check the quality of your internet connection and the other ends to ensure the quality of online conference.

AC/heating
The less you spend time at the office the less you consume energy on heating or AC. This relates closely with how efficient you work.

Plant a tree
Put a plant in your desk. Not only it brings you more oxygen but also it reduces the radiation from different electronic devices you use.

By Sally Janssen

Mental illness can manifest in a range of symptoms as complex as the physical symptoms of disease and can include discomforts that can relate to both the body and our psychological nature. There have been great advances in the treatment of physical and mental problems since that period in history when ignorance about mental disease was such that patients were incarcerated in dungeons and locked away from society.

Although self-help efforts should always be first encouraged, some serious cases are not possible to correct, nor advisable to try to treat by self help methods. They must be dealt with by professional psychologists and psychiatrists. As one seeks for a doctor to help with matters of physical health beyond self-help, so our first search should be to find a reliable professional psychologist whom we can trust to assist with the delicate responsibility of serving as a doctor for our mind.

However, there is nothing to inhibit our own personal study relating to human thought. Many scholars, medical doctors and philosophers are eager to research and to contribute their facets of knowledge and experience of the complex and mysterious nature of the human mind. A great deal more is yet to be discovered as we increase our understanding of the whole triune nature of the human psyche - personality, soul and spirit.

Without presenting young students with knowledge of psychology and some measure of insight into their own make-up, we are failing to equip them with the tools they require for their life experience. It is only knowledge which can serve us in preventing mental disease and it is Preventive Medicine and preventative methods which must constitute the focus of both physical and mental health in the future.

Remedying any mental disease, once established, is a very complex issue and one which should be approached by any therapist with great sensitivity, caution and understanding. The most successful therapists would seem to be those who are able to facilitate the restoration of natural balance by encouraging an individual’s innate capacity to identify with their own soul power and to use their inner will, to effect self transformation.

It is by assisting a patient to become independent that a therapist offers most help. Neither dependence upon a therapist, nor dependence upon drugs, is appropriate. This is a vital issue as many patients are admitted to hospitals because of drug related problems. It would seem counter productive to offer them treatment which substitutes medical drugs for hallucinatory ones. Although drugs are currently routinely administered to patients in psychiatric care, it should be only in extreme cases that such invasive methods are used and only when no other therapy is successful.

As we undertake to build our health we become less likely to suffer disease. In the same way, as we work for our mental health and fitness, mental disturbances can be overcome.

Rabbi Yitzhak Miller Help For Mental Illness

Rabbi Yitzhak Miller
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller

]]> http://torpedospeak.com/rabbi-yitzhak-miller-help-for-mental-illness/feed/ http://torpedospeak.com/rabbi-yitzhak-miller-combat-the-fear-of-darkness/ http://torpedospeak.com/rabbi-yitzhak-miller-combat-the-fear-of-darkness/#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:28:35 +0000 David Daniels http://torpedospeak.com/?p=205 How to Combat the Fear of Darkness

By Trevor Johnson

Article posted by Rabbi Yitzhak Miller

Fear of darkness or achluophobia is very common among children, though it may appear among adults in varying degrees.

Causes of the Fear

There are actually a lot of reasons why a person can get too scared of being in the dark. One of these is he or she gets to associate a bad experience to it. For example, an adult might have been robbed of things while walking down in a dark alley.

It could also be caused by nightmares or by strong imagination of children. They may have woken up with the image of a “monster” on their wall when, in fact, it was just the shadow of their stuffed toy.

Lastly, it could just be that you’re scared of what’s going to happen to you when you’re in the dark. You may have read of stories or watched movies where people get killed, kidnapped, or mugged while they are sleeping. You are afraid that somebody may walk inside your home without you knowing it because the entire area is completely dark.

How to Overcome Fear of Darkness

There are a lot of ways on how you can overcome your fear of the dark. The most effective and the most basic is to simply expose yourself to it. The lesson here is that you should come out of it, knowing that there is really nothing to be afraid of. Your anxiety and your fear are just products of your imagination.

If the fear is rooted on a previous experience, you may have to seek the help of a counselor who can help you release yourself from such trauma. Once you are properly counseled of it, you would see darkness in a different way.

Rabbi Yitzhak Miller
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller

Chuck Hughes Career Management By April M. Williams.

Here is an effective technique to help you prepare for your upcoming interviews. You could use this technique both for formal job interviews or less formal informational interviews.

First search websites or books for typical interview questions. Then print out this list of questions and cuts them into individual questions. Load a large bowl with these typical interview questions. You could have a separate bowl for informational interview questions. Before dinner your family to each draw a question or two from the bowl.

During dinner have each of them take turns asking you these various questions. This technique gives you practice delivering your carefully crafted responses. Use the SAR (situation - action - result) format to organize your thoughts.

This technique gives you practice speaking without notes and improve your public speaking skills. You can focus totally on the delivery of your message. Your significant other will see and understand the efforts you have put into preparing for this interview situation. Your teenage children have a role model for preparing for their own job interviews. The kids understand the type of preparation that will give them an edge when they are competing for a job. The teens also can appreciate the amount of work you put into your job search.

Bottom line? Here is a win-win situation for the entire family. The job seeker practices responding to typical questions. In the process he or she becomes more comfortable and confident. This family gains insight as to the important work required to prepare for an interview. You will arrive at the interview with the tools to give you the confidence to make a positive impression.

Chuck Hughes

Chuck Hughes

Chuck Hughes

Chuck Hughes