Climatic Variability in the Old Testament - Essay Example

Full Climatic Variability Climate change has always affected human circumstances not only in the recent centuries but dates back to the Old Testament people. The famous Bible story of Joseph being sold by his envious brothers to Egypt starts one of the early experiences of humans regarding climate change. During Joseph’s stay in Egypt, it is said that he interpreted the pharaoh’s dream of the seven healthy cows being eaten by seven sickly cows to be the coming seven years of plenty followed by the impending seven years of famine (Genesis 41). Though there are still a lot of other stories that show climatic variability throughout centuries, few have been recorded especially with the back-numbered writing abilities of earlier generations and the preservations of which. Moreover, people before accounted too much of climate changes more to the works of the gods rather than to scientific explanations. So what is climatic variability? Probably, the most efficient way for us to understand the topic is to look first of all to the definition of this episode. According to J. Murray Mitchell (482), climatic system is the combination of atmosphere, oceans, land surface, ice masses and the biosphere interacting with each other, causing the changes either physically or chemically. In the physical aspect of the change, rainfalls can cause landslides that could change hills to plains and could also bring much water to rivers and seas which could wash away land areas. On the contrary, mountains can be created through the meeting of tectonic plates, pushing each other and making a fold on each other’s surface (Grimm, Hahn, Hellenbrand, Kunkele, Laumanns & Leinburger 214). Chemically speaking, lands can become acidic through acid rains and other chemical changes brought about by the increase of carbon dioxide production. This then requires us, human beings to be interested to the study of such phenomenon because it does not just affect our environment but affects our lives directly as well. One of the greatest climatic variability that happened in the 1930’s is the so-called Dust Bowl in the United States that affected not only the farmers of affected areas but the people worldwide. This could have been the modern picture of the Joseph story mentioned earlier. Hopeful migrants settled in the states where there were vast plains which were very productive for the raising of wheat, making these states the primary sources of food during the First World War. However, in the early 1930’s the heaven closed its doors for the pouring rain and the farmers experienced the decline in their farm production, becoming the start of a disaster. As the World Meteorological Organization defines it, disaster is an event that cause human sickness, death, or migration on a large scale or could also be an extreme effect on the economy (www.wmo.int). Because of the productivity of the lands of the Southern States, wild prairies were turned to farms and trees were cut down to build houses which unknown to the farmers, was the start of their doom. When the drought started, dusts were blown by the winds to the houses of the farmers and covered the Southern States, making it dark most of the time. This was due to the fact that there were no longer trees to hold the soil in addition to the drought that has fallen in the areas. Large sections of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico have been greatly affected, turning the once productive plains to wastelands where dust is all over the place, becoming a menace even in the sanctuary of their homes. Despite this, farmers have been hopeful during the first years of the disaster that rain will soon fall again so that they still continued to plow their fields. Unfortunately, they were not yet to see the light of day in the next few years as 1932 recorded fourteen dust storms which were raised to more than double for the next year with the record of thirty two. Hopes almost died in 1934 when twenty seven states were already experiencing the devastating effects of the drought, affecting more than seventy five percent of the nation’s population. Unwanted slaughter of herds became a necessity in this year because supplies can not satisfy the needs of both humans and animals already and most of the animals were starving (Baumhardt, World Book Encyclopedia 391). The economy of the nation was not the only thing affected in this event but more so, the people who have been living in the aforementioned Southern States. People’s health was at risk as they breathed the thick dust day in and day out and many people moved from the affected areas to the west. Millions of people traveled to areas where the effects of the drought were better, surviving on cornbread, beans and milk. They slaved themselves planting and harvesting in other people’s lands in order to survive however, the West States did not joyfully welcome them because although the drought’s effect on them were not so worse like that of the Southern States, they were also suffering unemployment and famine. Moreover, there have been a number of banks that closed due to this disaster (Baumhardt, World Book Encyclopedia 391). The drought’s effects were still to bring the greatest impact in the spring of 1935 when the winds blew non-stop for twenty seven days and nights. Both humans and animals died because of suffocation and dust pneumonia and this completes the records of the Great Depression in the United States. Thankfully, on that same year, Hugh Hammond Bennett who was later to be known as the ‘father of soil conservation’ publicized his proposal of preserving the land and avoiding future similar disasters (Cook). During the early years of Bennett’s propaganda in the 1920’s, he was but a small voice whose cry was considered to be insignificant but he still continued to share the wisdom he had, through his written works like Soil Erosion: A National Menace and contributions in scientific journals like Country Gentleman and Scientific Monthly. Being a soil surveyor, he discovered the problems of soil erosion affecting the production of farmers not just in the Southern States but also outside the United States and has been proposing changes to the farming practices of the Americans however, the great produce made people shrug him off as talking non-sense (Cook). His available platforms have not been enough for him to be widely recognized until the people became hopeless and helpless to disregard his message of hope when things got worst in 1935. It was at this time that he gave a speech regarding his observations and studies and America gave him the break that gave them all a break in such a seemingly unconquerable foe. Through the power and support extended by the then President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bennett’s advocacy finally have been implemented with the order of the President to the Civilian Conservation Corps to plant two hundred million trees from Canada to Abilene, Texas purposefully to act as shock absorbers for the ill effects of strong winds and to hold water and soil in place (Cook, World Book Encyclopedia 391). In 1937, farmers from the affected areas were encouraged to adopt the planting propaganda of Bennett to preserve the soil but they were reluctant to the idea so the government bribed them with a dollar for every acre they adopt any of the systems suggested. The following year recorded a sixty five percent decrease of dust blown in the States but still did not promise good harvests for the farmers for there was still no rain. It was only in 1939 that the farmers rejoiced in welcoming the life-giving effects of rain, which ended their eight-year ordeal (World Book Encyclopedia 391, Cook). The drought might have ended and life begun to be back to normalcy once again but life could have never been the same to those who have been devastated by the disaster especially those who have lost loved ones. After the Great Depression, there could have been no disaster comparable to it but similar stories of danger brought about by natural calamities have not been absent. One of the dangers brought about by climate variability is acid rain which has affected much the fish produce in the famous Adirondack of New York. In 1986, following the lifeless state of the lakes in the aforementioned state, scientists tested the waters and found it to be two hundred eighty eight times more acidic than it normally is (Nisbet 472), causing the deaths of fishes and preventing the migration of other water animals. Like the Dust Bowl, the acid rains are also an aftermath of human activities polluting the soil, water and air not only on urban areas but in rural areas as well due to the nature of the source of pollution. With the growth of electric power plants as the most significant contributors to the pollution causing acid rains (Nisbet 473-474), burning coal to generate electricity and in the process release sulfur dioxide to the atmosphere the problem is increasingly worsening. Trying to prevent the direct contact of human beings around such plants to the emissions, factories built chimneys as tall as one hundred fifty meters, with the argument that the emissions will be blown to the atmosphere. True enough, the pollutants reached the sky however, the sulfur dioxide released by the power plants remained in the air for a longer time after it was released so that most of it are converted to sulfuric acid. Tracing the source of the problem back to the 1950’s with this kind of mentality, it is also important to take note that other sources are industries that use high sulfur oil as fuel and smelters that produce copper and other metals from sulfide ores (Nisbet 473), in addition to natural causes of sulfur dioxide release like volcanoes and forest fires. In 1970, it has been found out that acid rain and snow were falling not only in the Eastern United States but also in Southeastern Canada at an alarming rate, spreading to the South and West of the United States in 1990. Some of the causes have at least been traced to Upper Mississippi and Ohio valleys where coal burning power plants abound, emitting pollutants that are converted to sulfuric acid as they react with atmospheric gases. For the sources mentioned and with their importance to the growing industry of nations, the phenomenon has a great impact on the economy not just on the natural resources, killing water produce but also affecting the continuing production of products from the power plants which have become necessary to the modern man. Scientisst are now concentrating on studies on how to minimize sulfuric acids in the atmosphere and the basic solution is to act on the sources. However, it seems impossible to close down power plants when it has become a vital part of the growing economy of nations around the world so that it has been implemented for new power plants to install equipment to control the amount of sulfur dioxide that is released (Nisbet 475). Although this was a good idea, old power plants continue to emit sulfur dioxide in large quantities so that the addition of new power plants with controllers, are not quite helpful. Another factor that is affecting the decline of a nation’s economy would be the reversing of the effects of acid rain on lakes, if there are any because the process is quite expensive for the many affected lakes and streams. The attempt to do so was done in a few lakes where crushed limestone was added to the water to neutralize the acidity but the result was enjoyed only for a little while. Nesbit claims that repeated applications do not restore a lake back to its original level of quality before acidification (476) most probably because of the abundance of the sources so that he suggests that the best remedy would really be to get rid of the sources. Economically speaking though, that would be impossible so that other remedies are being looked after. In 1989, President Ronald Reagan pushed a $5 billion research program to develop new technology for cleaning coal (Nesbit 476) so that it will not emit as much sulfur oxide as the crude coal. On the same year, he met with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and promised to make efforts for the contained effects of the pollutants in the United States (Nesbit 476). In 1990, a breakthrough was achieved through the Acid Rain Program under the Clean Air Act established by congress to reduce sulfur Dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, with its first phase implemented in 1995 and the Environmental Protection Agency proclaimed a significant decrease in the pollutant emissions. So far, this program is the only attempt that has worked its way to the objectives of similar programs. Global warming is one of the current important issues being given attention worldwide as this phenomenon excuses not a single country when its effects will finally be breaking on us. In fact, even the young school children are aware of this because it has become a popular discussion not only among the experts but also among children as each of us have some contributions to this and we are all able to do something if not to stop, at least to slow down its effects on nature. This climate variability is similar to acid rain in the aspect of its causes, producing the so-called greenhouse gases having the potential of significantly warming the surface of the earth and the depletion of the ozone layer (Nesbit 477). Morgan presents unusual weather disturbances like the worst flood that struck Madagascar, Mozambique and Southern Africa; Western Australia experiencing record rainfall; the extra-heavy monsoon that killed six hundred people in the South and Southeast Asia and other similar record-breaking weather events including increase in global temperature to be the effects of global warming (4-5). With these disturbances that have already come to pass as the problem was just in its toddler stage, more adverse effects are projected by scientists. Greenhouse gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) (Morgan 15) and their potential percentage in the atmosphere are equally important to their presence because these gases absorb heat to maintain a healthy temperature on the earth’s surface, conducive to human living. ‘Without the greenhouse effect, the surface of the Earth would be thirty degrees Celsius cooler than it is today. The problem is that greenhouse effect is getting stronger’, says Morgan in her studies on the subject (12). With this and the weather changes mentioned earlier, the theory of more adverse weather effects worst than those already experienced are expected to have great impacts on future climates. It is expected that the earth’s temperature will rise even higher and scientists predict a six-degree Celsius rise in central Asian countries by 2100 although not all places will have the same changes, the temperatures will surely have a great variation that can be disastrous. As the temperature rises and with the greatest rise expected at the poles (Morgan 26) the permafrost or the permanent frozen soils a few meters below ground level on the Tundra, a low-growing boggy vegetation adapted to the short growing season, will melt and allow the extension of the Northern Canadian and Siberian coniferous forests. As the permafrost melts, the soil will become good for plants to thrive. On the other hand, desert regions will not have as good effects to receive but will have extended area especially in Africa and Australia as the temperature expand as well. Records already show droughts and overgrazing have caused the problems in these areas. On the oceans, the bodies of water are also expanding as ice of glaciers and ice sheets are melting with the increased global temperature, with an estimated 72-centimeter rise over the next one hundred years. The most affected parts of this projected phenomenon would be low places like Bangladesh, the coral islands such as the Maldives, parts of Eastern England and the Netherlands as well as the coastal regions of the United States (Morgan 27). Currently, the effects are being felt with some sandy beaches disappearing under the sea (30) affecting their lifestyles and source of food and income. With the projected rise of ocean levels, it is expected that not only beaches will disappear but probably even nations which are currently almost near sinking will be wiped away from the globe. This then gives a picture of people getting drowned, probably dying because of such a phenomenon. Farming in other areas will also be affected as soil will become salty as the waters rise to the soil parts and this would mean economic fall as well as hungry people. Scientists have determined that among the greenhouse gases, the CFCs are the greatest contributors to global warming and that it is caused more by human activity. These are synthetic chemicals that were used as coolants in refrigerators and freezers, as propellants in aerosols and in expanded polystyrene foam (Morgan 19), damaging the ozone layer as well which is though a separate global problem affects largely the problem on global warming. The ozone hole was discovered in Antarctica in 1985 and it was proven the following year that the CFCs were responsible for it though not solely, but with the highest rate (Morgan 49). Aiming to reduce the release of the destructive CFCs, the use of the greenhouse gas has been banned in most countries and has been replaced by other chemicals as a result of an international agreement called the Montreal Protocol. However, it has been found out that other countries who did not sign the protocol are illegally marketing CFCs and this is tragic because the existence of the greenhouse gas takes years for its effects to be felt. It is said that the CFCs produce for the past thirty years still are affecting the contemporary earth thus more destructive effects are expected in the future. Global warming is a universal problem felt by even the most remote place not reached by high technology so that it is very important that awareness of the problem should be widely disseminated to prevent or at least decelerate the event. Climatic variability has always been a great issue that has caught not only the experts’ attention but now calls for everyone’s concern to focus on what can be done to prevent extreme effects on human existence. The 1935 drought became a great lesson for the Americans when it comes to being open-minded to research and statistic analysis because had they listened to Bennett when he was introducing the idea of changing farming methods, the Dust Bowl could have been avoided if not had minimal effects in the country. Yielding to the suggestions of experts on the matter of global warming, though theoretical in nature have been backed by recent climate variability facts and whether could be true or not, certainly gives human beings the benefit of breathing clean, healthy air. In conclusion, the lessons from events like the Dust Bowl should not be considered only by scientists but must be a common knowledge to the layperson as well because when such dangers arise, it is not only those who studied such phenomena are affected rather affects young and old, rich and poor, knowledgeable or not. More importantly, we all should brace ourselves to take part of the preservation of this earth we live in because there would be no other else to be affected by our actions but ourselves. References Baumhardt, Louis R. Dust Bowl Era. n.d. Web. July 25, 2011. . Climate and Global Dynamics. What Do We Know About Past Climate Variability? 2011. Web. July 6, 2011. Cook, Maurice G. Hugh Hammond Bennett: The Father of Soil Conservation. n.d. Web. July 25, 2011. . Gregory, Kenneth J, Ian G. Simmons, Anthony J. brazel, John W. Day, Jr., Edward A. Keller, Arthur G. Sylvester, Alejandro Yanez-Arancibia. Environmental Sciences: A Student’s Companion. Los Angeles: Sage, 2009. Print. Grimm, Alexander, Christoph Hahn, Ulrich Hellenbrand, Ute Kunkele, Horst W. Laumanns & Ralf Leinburger. Science and Technology. United Kingdom: Parragon, 2008. Print. Holy Bible: New International Version. Colorado: International Bible Society, 1984. Print. Mitchell, J. Murray Jr. An Overview of Climatic Variability and Its Causal Mechanisms. 1976. Web. http://www.seas.harvard.edu/climate/pdf/mitchell-1976.pdf. July 6, 2011. Morgan, Sally. Science at the Edge: Global Warming. United Kingdom: Heinemann Library, 2003. Print. Nisbet, Ian. The New Book of Popular Science. Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier, 2002. Print World Meteorological Organization. Climate Variability and Extremes. n.d. Web. http://www.wmo.int. July 6, 2011. World Book Encyclopedia, volume 5. North Michigan, Chicago: World Book Inc., 2003. Print. Read More