Re: Bacteria, Fungi Hitch Rides on Desert Dust Across Atlantic

[Guest guest]

> Bacteria, Fungi Hitch Rides on Desert Dust Across Atlantic

> Monday, June 05, 2006

> FOX News

>

> By Bjorn Carey

>

> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198241,00.html

> Historically, scientists believed that several days of

ultraviolet light exposure would kill off any microbes traveling in

dust clouds. Yet when and his colleagues screened air in the

middle of the Atlantic Ocean, they found viable airborne microbe

populations.

>

No wonder we are seeing mold growing in places it never grew before.

-

____________________________________________________________

Global Dimming

by Sington, BBC

We are all seeing rather less of the Sun. Scientists looking at five

decades of sunlight measurements have reached the disturbing

conclusion that the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth's

surface has been gradually falling. Paradoxically, the decline in

sunlight may mean that global warming is a far greater threat to

society than previously thought.

The effect was first spotted by Gerry Stanhill, an English scientist

working in Israel. Comparing Israeli sunlight records from the 1950s

with current ones, Stanhill was astonished to find a large fall in

solar radiation. " There was a staggering 22% drop in the sunlight,

and that really amazed me, " he says. Intrigued, he searched out

records from all around the world, and found the same story almost

everywhere he looked, with sunlight falling by 10% over the USA,

nearly 30% in parts of the former Soviet Union, and even by 16% in

parts of the British Isles. Although the effect varied greatly from

place to place, overall the decline amounted to 1-2% globally per

decade between the 1950s and the 1990s.

Gerry called the phenomenon global dimming, but his research,

published in 2001, met with a sceptical response from other

scientists. It was only recently, when his conclusions were

confirmed by Australian scientists using a completely different

method to estimate solar radiation, that climate scientists at last

woke up to the reality of global dimming.

Dimming appears to be caused by air pollution. Burning coal, oil and

wood, whether in cars, power stations or cooking fires, produces not

only invisible carbon dioxide (the principal greenhouse gas

responsible for global warming) but also tiny airborne particles of

soot, ash, sulphur compounds and other pollutants.

This visible air pollution reflects sunlight back into space,

preventing it reaching the surface. But the pollution also changes

the optical properties of clouds. Because the particles seed the

formation of water droplets, polluted clouds contain a larger number

of droplets than unpolluted clouds. Recent research shows that this

makes them more reflective than they would otherwise be, again

reflecting the Sun's rays back into space. Scientists are now

worried that dimming, by shielding the oceans from the full power of

the Sun, may be disrupting the pattern of the world's rainfall.

There are suggestions that dimming was behind the droughts in sub-

Saharan Africa which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the

1970s and 1980s. There are disturbing hints the same thing may be

happening today in Asia, home to half the world's population. " My

main concern is global dimming is also having a detrimental impact

on the Asian monsoon, " says Prof Veerhabhadran Ramanathan, one of

the world's leading climate scientists. " We are talking about

billions of people. "

But perhaps the most alarming aspect of global dimming is that it

may have led scientists to underestimate the true power of the

greenhouse effect. They know how much extra energy is being trapped

in the Earth's atmosphere by the extra carbon dioxide (CO2) we have

placed there. What has been surprising is that this extra energy has

so far resulted in a temperature rise of just 0.6°C.

This has led many scientists to conclude that the present-day

climate is less sensitive to the effects of carbon dioxide than it

was, say, during the ice age, when a similar rise in CO2 led to a

temperature rise of 6°C. But it now appears the warming from

greenhouse gases has been offset by a strong cooling effect from

dimming - in effect two of our pollutants have been cancelling each

other out. This means that the climate may in fact be more sensitive

to the greenhouse effect than thought.

If so, then this is bad news, according to Dr , one of the

world's leading climate modellers. As things stand, CO2 levels are

projected to rise strongly over coming decades, whereas there are

encouraging signs that particle pollution is at last being brought

under control. " We're going to be in a situation, unless we act,

where the cooling pollutant is dropping off while the warming

pollutant is going up. That means we'll get reduced cooling and

increased heating at the same time and that's a problem for us, "

says .

Even the most pessimistic forecasts of global warming may now have

to be drastically revised upwards. That means a temperature rise of

10°C by 2100 could be on the cards, giving the UK a climate like

that of North Africa, and rendering many parts of the world

uninhabitable. That is unless we act urgently to curb our emissions

of greenhouse gases.

Source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon /dimming_prog_summ

ary.shtml

[Guest guest]

someone needs to send them Dr. Straus's study showing stachy spores

still contain toxins even while dry, doesn't this prove that other

toxin produceing molds may do the same? I was thinking about this

the other day.

a while back I put on a railroad issued full face mask and went

through my bedroom window out on the porch roof to take some close up

pictures of the stachy growing on the roof ledge of my home. it had

rained a few days and it was growing big time. I had read that stachy

doesn't put out spores while growing and I believe this is true but I

did find out that when I got about 2 foot away from it that it was

putting out toxins big time and they went right through this mask and

i went down to my knees and had to crawl back inside. thank god that

porch roof is not steep. this got me thinking , toxin produceing

molds put out toxins while its growing and eating, I once came apon a

pack of wild dogs in the timber and climbed a tree and watched them.

they had just killed a small deer and I quickly knew which one was

the leader. he got to eat first and his growls kept the others at a

distance until he had his stomach satisfied. than he quit growling

and that was a signal to the others that they could than eat. I think

these toxic molds act the same and stachy being the most toxic can

keep others from eating and establishing a place if theres not enough

to go around, it might also be a first come first serve basis as my

second home has mainly aspergillus and pinicillium. or may depend on

the type of food available as to wish ones will become dominate. this

stachy on the outside of my home may of been putting out these toxins

to keep mold spores in the air from landing there and eating and

growing. and when it started drying up these toxins floating around it

(protecting it) were let lose to go where ever and several stayed

attached to the spores as it dryed and released them. if this was

inside the home,(and was in my home) these toxins would remain in the

air inside and so would the spores with toxins attached to them. and

I can tell you T-mycotoxins cause this systemic infection and its not

fun to live

with.

>

>

> > Bacteria, Fungi Hitch Rides on Desert Dust Across Atlantic

> > Monday, June 05, 2006

> > FOX News

> >

> > By Bjorn Carey

> >

> > http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198241,00.html

>

> > Historically, scientists believed that several days of

> ultraviolet light exposure would kill off any microbes traveling

in

> dust clouds. Yet when and his colleagues screened air in

the

> middle of the Atlantic Ocean, they found viable airborne microbe

> populations.

> >

>

> No wonder we are seeing mold growing in places it never grew before.

> -

> ____________________________________________________________

>

> Global Dimming

> by Sington, BBC

>

> We are all seeing rather less of the Sun. Scientists looking at

five

> decades of sunlight measurements have reached the disturbing

> conclusion that the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth's

> surface has been gradually falling. Paradoxically, the decline in

> sunlight may mean that global warming is a far greater threat to

> society than previously thought.

>

> The effect was first spotted by Gerry Stanhill, an English

scientist

> working in Israel. Comparing Israeli sunlight records from the

1950s

> with current ones, Stanhill was astonished to find a large fall in

> solar radiation. " There was a staggering 22% drop in the sunlight,

> and that really amazed me, " he says. Intrigued, he searched out

> records from all around the world, and found the same story almost

> everywhere he looked, with sunlight falling by 10% over the USA,

> nearly 30% in parts of the former Soviet Union, and even by 16% in

> parts of the British Isles. Although the effect varied greatly from

> place to place, overall the decline amounted to 1-2% globally per

> decade between the 1950s and the 1990s.

>

> Gerry called the phenomenon global dimming, but his research,

> published in 2001, met with a sceptical response from other

> scientists. It was only recently, when his conclusions were

> confirmed by Australian scientists using a completely different

> method to estimate solar radiation, that climate scientists at last

> woke up to the reality of global dimming.

>

> Dimming appears to be caused by air pollution. Burning coal, oil

and

> wood, whether in cars, power stations or cooking fires, produces

not

> only invisible carbon dioxide (the principal greenhouse gas

> responsible for global warming) but also tiny airborne particles of

> soot, ash, sulphur compounds and other pollutants.

>

> This visible air pollution reflects sunlight back into space,

> preventing it reaching the surface. But the pollution also changes

> the optical properties of clouds. Because the particles seed the

> formation of water droplets, polluted clouds contain a larger

number

> of droplets than unpolluted clouds. Recent research shows that this

> makes them more reflective than they would otherwise be, again

> reflecting the Sun's rays back into space. Scientists are now

> worried that dimming, by shielding the oceans from the full power

of

> the Sun, may be disrupting the pattern of the world's rainfall.

> There are suggestions that dimming was behind the droughts in sub-

> Saharan Africa which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the

> 1970s and 1980s. There are disturbing hints the same thing may be

> happening today in Asia, home to half the world's population. " My

> main concern is global dimming is also having a detrimental impact

> on the Asian monsoon, " says Prof Veerhabhadran Ramanathan, one of

> the world's leading climate scientists. " We are talking about

> billions of people. "

>

> But perhaps the most alarming aspect of global dimming is that it

> may have led scientists to underestimate the true power of the

> greenhouse effect. They know how much extra energy is being trapped

> in the Earth's atmosphere by the extra carbon dioxide (CO2) we have

> placed there. What has been surprising is that this extra energy

has

> so far resulted in a temperature rise of just 0.6°C.

>

> This has led many scientists to conclude that the present-day

> climate is less sensitive to the effects of carbon dioxide than it

> was, say, during the ice age, when a similar rise in CO2 led to a

> temperature rise of 6°C. But it now appears the warming from

> greenhouse gases has been offset by a strong cooling effect from

> dimming - in effect two of our pollutants have been cancelling each

> other out. This means that the climate may in fact be more

sensitive

> to the greenhouse effect than thought.

>

> If so, then this is bad news, according to Dr , one of the

> world's leading climate modellers. As things stand, CO2 levels are

> projected to rise strongly over coming decades, whereas there are

> encouraging signs that particle pollution is at last being brought

> under control. " We're going to be in a situation, unless we act,

> where the cooling pollutant is dropping off while the warming

> pollutant is going up. That means we'll get reduced cooling and

> increased heating at the same time and that's a problem for us, "

> says .

>

> Even the most pessimistic forecasts of global warming may now have

> to be drastically revised upwards. That means a temperature rise of

> 10°C by 2100 could be on the cards, giving the UK a climate like

> that of North Africa, and rendering many parts of the world

> uninhabitable. That is unless we act urgently to curb our emissions

> of greenhouse gases.

>

>

> Source:

>

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon /dimming_prog_summ

> ary.shtml

>