James Lovelock who died recently in England at age 103, a scientist whose knowledge spanned many disciplines and was the inventor of the electron capture detector (which can measure toxic compounds like DDT and chlorofluorocarbons) predicted that by the end of this century, 90% of the world’s population would die of starvation unless we produce synthetic food. He also predicted that we would not be able to decrease the use of carboniferous energy in time to keep global warming from getting out of control unless we increased the use of nuclear energy. This disturbed a lot of people in the anti-nuke movement. But Lovelock was best known for his Gaia Theory, which explains that the very stability of the atmosphere/biosphere proves that the Earth is a living creature. Many scientists consider this to be poetic and at best a useful construct.

If there are any potential surprises regarding our government’s shift in budget allocations to save the environment, we can expect that within the next 20 years there will be a massive transfer of funds away from the Pentagon or other bloated government agencies to quickly build on infrastructure for bullet trains crisscrossing the country. These trains will be able to zoom even faster than the European and Japanese trains of today. It’s not too fantastic to expect transcontinental trips that will depart at 7 a.m. and still allow a full night’s sleep upon arrival.

These efforts will take precedence over all other projects that could save the planes because airplanes are ruining the upper atmosphere and logically therefore will damage the lower atmosphere too. We are only finding out now how important this issue has become on account of the relatively recent surge in air travel.

Because the part of the atmosphere occupied by commercial passenger planes has thinner air, fuel exhaust creates a more adverse ratio of pollution than it would at a lower elevation. If you consider the upper atmosphere as a living entity that protects the lower atmosphere, jet exhaust may actually be a more serious problem than scientists could ever totally understand. There are trace elements and particles at all levels of the atmosphere, which perform vital functions yet to be analyzed. These interactions allow the flora and fauna on the Earth’s surface to exist.

Meanwhile, since we will never completely stop transoceanic air travel, advances in jet propulsion which eliminate fossil fuels will be required. Thankfully, smaller aircraft have already successfully flown short distances without petrol.

Allan Frank

Phillipsport