Saturday, May 16, 2020

Climate Change:The Effects of Carbon Dioxide on the Earth’s Atmosphere

Greenhouses Gases in Earth’s Atmosphere
The following gases in the Earth’s atmosphere are known as the greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs and ozone). These gases are naturally present in the Earth’s atmosphere. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) to generate energy have contributed to the rise in the atmospheric CO2 in the last 200 years.
Carbon Dioxide in the Earth’s Atmosphere
The sources of the atmospheric CO2 include volcanic eruptions, combustion and decay of organic matter (dead plants and animals), cellular respiration, burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and production of cement by humans.
What causes Climate Change?
The Greenhouse Effect is known by scientists to be causing global warming leading to climate change. The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs when greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, CFCs) in Earth's atmosphere trap the Sun's heat from escaping into the space. This process makes Earth much warmer than it would be without an atmosphere.
Scientific Evidence of Climate Change
Increase in the atmospheric CO2 leads to global warming of the Earth and causes climate change. The following are the scientific evidence of climate change: Global Temperature Rise, Warming Oceans, Shrinking Ice Sheets, Glacial Retreat, Decreased Snow Cover, Sea Level Rise, Declining Arctic Sea Ice, Extreme Events, and Ocean Acidification.
Global Temperature Rise
The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.
Warming Oceans
The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) of ocean showing warming of more than 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.
Shrinking Ice Sheets
The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost an average of 286 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2016, while Antarctica lost about 127 billion tons of ice per year during the same time period. The rate of Antarctica ice mass loss has tripled in the last decade.
Glacial Retreat
Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.
Decreased Snow Cover
Satellite observations reveal that the amount of spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased over the past five decades and that the snow is melting earlier.
Sea Level Rise
Global sea level rose about 8 inches in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and is accelerating slightly every year.
Declining Arctic Sea Ice
Both the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last several decades.
Extreme Events
The number of record high temperature events in the United States has been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has been decreasing, since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed increasing numbers of intense rainfall events, leading to flooding.
Ocean Acidification
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30 percent. This increase is the result of humans emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hence more being absorbed into the oceans to form carbonic acid. The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the upper layer of the oceans is increasing by about 2 billion tons per year. 

Author:Dr. Sunday Iwalaiye, CPhys, CSciTeach, with contribution from NASA.

Monday, January 18, 2016

"THE RADICAL PASTOR THAT CHANGED AMERICA FOR BETTER AND FOREVER"

The late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr

Who was Martin Luther King, Jr? What did he stand for? What motivated him into the mass movement and the political struggles for racial equality and justice in America? What was his political philosophy? What was his political ideology? Who were his mentors that shaped his life and destiny? Was he a true radical in all ramifications or not? Why did he die? What did he died for? What are the enduring legacies that he left behind 47 years later? How relevant are his political legacies to the 21st century America, to the present state of the African-Americans and to the present historical presidency of Barack Obama?

Martin Luther King, Jr was a true radical in all ramifications. He stood against the powerful American white establishment. He fought against the established order of racial segregation, white supremacy and the age-long status quo in the American society. He fought against racial injustice, racial inequality, racial segregation, racial discrimination and poverty in America of his time. He died in the struggle fighting for a change and a better America that should treat all her citizens fairly. He desired to see America that will become a nation of racial equality, fair economic opportunities for all and equal justice before the same law of the land for all her citizens and residents. He wanted to see America becoming the true melting point for all her peoples as it says in her Declaration of Independence.

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Martin Luther King's  political ideology and philosophy of a "Nonviolent Resistance Struggle" against racism, injustice, discrimination, economic inequality, poverty and for equality of all races were shaped by the American Declaration of Independence that reads: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". Martin Luther was motivated by the words and the teachings of Jesus Christ and the political philosophy and political agitation method that the late Indian leader Mahatma Ghandi used successful in India against the British colonial power that got the nation of India a political independence from Great Britain.

REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR AND HIS LEGACIES:
Firstly, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes the American nation for the first time since it was founded in 1776 to become a global example of a nation of many union of races, nationalities, cultures, religion beliefs, political ideologies, economic theories and social affiliations that is still striving on daily basis to date to become a more perfect union that will accommodate all these human diversities as one entity.

Secondly, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 now opens the American nation to legal immigration from all over the nations of the world. These new immigrants and the new Americans are now the direct beneficiaries from the gains of these civil rights struggles and the legacies of Rev. King. They now live, work and raise their families in a nation of laws and democracy.

"DONALD TRUMP CANNOT DEPORT ALL THE NIGERIANS FROM AMERICA"

Donald Trump, the leading GOP presidential aspirant in 2016
I am a Nigerian-American and a political activist in America. I am up-to-date with every political development in the ongoing presidential campaigns of the major candidates from the two major political parties in America (Republican and Democrat). That statement that was attributed to Donald Trump and was widely circulated by Nigerians at home and abroad on the blogs, online newspapers and social media is not TRUE. This is a case of a fabricated news item by a rogue Nigerian on the social media or the blog. No major and local news outlets in America have reported this comment that was attributed to Donald Trump to date. Donald Trump cannot deport all the Nigerians in America if he is elected as the next President of this country in November this year. Donald Trump has no legal authority, constitutional power and presidential executive order to do that.

The only Nigerians that Donald Trump or Barack Obama can legally deport are the Nigerians that live in America illegally (those with expired visas and those who came in without visas). Donald Trump cannot deport all the Nigerians who live in this country legally on valid temporary visas, permanent residency or Green Card holders and are law abiding. The native-born citizens have no other country of birth on earth that they can claim. Their deportation is totally impossible. The naturalized citizens cannot be deported by Donald Trump. This process of de-naturalization can only be done by the Supreme Court of America. There are less than 10 cases of de-naturalization of American citizens since this country was founded in 1776 to date. The process is cumbersome and may go on for many years through the courts in America. Few Nazis and terrorists who lied under oath of perjury to become American citizens were those that were so far de-naturalized in America so far. These jobless Nigerians on the social media and blogs find something profitable to do with their free time and idleness by desisting from creating and promoting fabricated news items either in Nigeria or in the other nations of the world.. Enough is Enough. #ItIsNoTrue

Saturday, January 9, 2016

"HOW TO FIGHT OFFICIAL CORRUPTION SUCCESSFULLY IN NIGERIA"

Photo Credit :http://uzochukwuumike.hubpages.com
Fighting official corruption, resource wastage and lawlessness in the governance of Nigeria can only be done successfully and sustained permanently by strengthening our governing and democratic institutions in Nigeria and not through our political figures that stand openly against official corruption in Nigeria. This will start with the implementation of the true practice of the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances between the three branches of our democratic government.

The citizens cannot depend on their government and public officials to be the main faces of the war against graft in Nigeria. The citizens must also support our governing institutions by hating corruption, corrupt public officials and expose corrupt practices at all levels to the public and media. Our journalists must embrace investigative and citizen journalism instead of rogue or fabricated journalism of the day that is now the norm.

Nigerian Military, Nigerian Police Force, DSS, NIA, INEC, EFCC, ICPC and other governing agencies should be able to operate freely, within the law and without any executive overreach and interference. No country can fight official corruption successfully  if our judges, lawyers and state prosecutors are already compromised by the corrupt money and rogue public officials. No country can fight official corruption successfully if there is no equality and equal treatment of all citizens before our laws. Official corruption will not end in Nigeria if the elite group in Nigeria is above the supreme law of our land. Fighting official corruption must go beyond any human personality that symbolizes this fight.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

"BARACK OBAMA CLOCKS 54 TODAY IN HIS HISTORICAL PRESIDENCY IN AMERICA"

President Barack Obama of America

Happy Birthday to my President who has about 18 months left in his historical presidency to go. Barack Hussein Obama made history in America in 2008 when he broke the racial barrier that has existed in America for centuries to become the first black President of the United States of America. Obama was welcomed into the Oval office on the firs day of his presidency in January 2009 with the worst economic crisis in America since the Great Depression and with two most costly foreign wars without any victory in sight. America's economy was losing over 800,000 jobs monthly, the housing market was grounding to its final halt, the America's automobile industries were at the verge of closing down and the Wall Street banks were rapidly collapsing.

President Barack Obama has truly changed the American mation for good under his watch and the account of history will definitely record him as one of the greatest American Presidents since this nation was founded in 1776. Some of his major signature achievements of his presidency are the Wall Street reform, the rescuing of the collapsing America's economy that has now created about 10 million jobs in six years and with the lowest employment rate since 2007. Obama succeeded in his presidency despite the GOP's opposition by providing the health care insurance to millions of Americans. The two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are history now. The war on international terrorism resulted in the killing of Osama Bin Laden and the destruction of the Al-Queda network and the other terrorist cells around the world. Obama also succeeded in restoring the diplomatic relationship with Cuba and signing of the elimination of the nuclear weapon pact with Iran. History, time and posterity will judge this President in my own judgement as one of the best, honest, sincere, objective, dedicated, patriotic and nationalistic leaders that this country has ever had. #ObamanismIsWorkingForAmericaAndTheWorld

Friday, July 24, 2015

"Investigate how the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC and Ebony TV organized the Buhari Town Hall meeting"

The invitation to this program that was titled "A Meet & Greet with President Muhammadu Buhari in Washington, DC" was put online by the Ebony TV, the main organizer of this program for all the interested Nigerians to sign up online to attend. Many Nigerians that are living in America and Canada signed up online and got their confirmed invitation letters to this program by email. These Nigerians then made all the necessary preparations, such as, booking their hotel accommodation, arranging their transportation, taking leave from their work place to attend this program.
At about 6 PM EST on July 21, 2015, the Ebony TV started sending out cancellation emails to those invitees without given them any official explanation for what has suddenly happened. Many Nigerians who got these cancellation emails called the customer service representative of the Ebony TV that was listed on their invitation letters to find out why their invitations were cancelled. The customer service representative of the Ebony TV responded to these Nigerians that the original plan was never to put the invitation for this program online in the first instance and that the number of interested Nigerians that signed up online for this program prevented those "special selected Nigerians" by the Nigerian Embassy from getting their own invitation letters to this program that was planned for only 160 Nigerians. The action of the Ebony TV is fishy, shady, questionable and cloudy in nature. The invitation to this meeting was then replaced with the special invitation letter from the Nigerian Embassy that was made available to those specially selected Nigerians who have special connections or relationship with the Nigerian Embassy officials.
Furthermore, the other Washington based organizations, such as, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the Corporate Council of Africa and the American Chamber of Commerce where President Muhammadu Buhari was invited as the main guest made their own invitations open and public to any interested Nigerians or members of the American public online and on first come and first serve basis and with transparency. 
At the moment, there are estimated one million Nigerians in America today. A survey that was done by Houston Chronicle few years ago identified Nigerians as the most educated group in America. When the Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi visited United States in 2014. A similar program was organized by the Indian Embassy for the visiting Prime Minister to meet the members of the Indian community in America. The venue of the meeting was not in a small hall of the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC, The meeting was held at the Madison Square Garden in New York and with over 18,000 Indians in attendance. Indians from all over United States and Canada graced this special occasion.
It is an international embarrassment that Nigeria, the giant of Africa failed Nigerians in America with the organization of this program by Ebony TV and the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC. I am appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari as a Nigerian that lives in America and on behalf of those affected Nigerians in America and Canada to immediately investigate why the Nigerian Embassy distributed the invitation to this program in a shady manner and then prevented many Nigerians from seeing their President that they love, cherish, admire, supported and voted for on March 28, 2015. 
President Muhammadu Buhari and President Barack Obama at the White House


Thursday, July 23, 2015

"BERNIE SANDERS AND DONALD TRUMP :TWO INSURGENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES"

Socialist Bernie Sanders and Billionaire Donald Trump


Donald Trump has sucked out all the oxygen in the room and he is politically suffocating the other GOP presidential candidates from the race. He has taken all the media attention from his rivals. He has enough money to run his election without using the donors' money. Donald Trump is now leading in all the polls. Donald Trump is beyond the control of the GOP's leadership who cannot cage him, tame him or sanction him for his racist, unguarded and divisive comments. He has now launched public and untold verbal attacks on the other presidential candidates writing them off as failed politicians, beggars and political nonentities. Donald Trump has the political option of derailing the GOP's hope of capturing the White House in 2016, and if he does not get the GOP nomination at the end of the day. Donald Trump plans to run as an independent and a third-party candidate that will take away significant votes from the GOP in 2016.
On the other hand, the socialist Bernie Sanders is the center of attraction in the democratic party today and among the party's presidential candidates for the White House in 2016. He has the media attention following him around. He is pulling the largest crowds to all his campaign rallies in this ongoing election circle and in both the blue and red states. Bernie Sanders has also dominated the Facebook and Twitter with his populist message. He is rising in the polls faster than expected. He has the largest donation-base of over 250,000 donors that are more than each candidate from both parties. He has raised enough more that can make him competitive across America.
The populist ideologies (breaking up the Wall Street banks, taxing the billionaires and corporations at the higher tax rates, free tuition in public colleges, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expanding the social security benefits and social services, advocating for immigration reform, combating the climate change, police brutality and mass incarceration of minorities by the American justice system) that Bernie Sanders promote are selling like the hot cakes across the length and breadth of America in 2015. Bernie's presence in the race is the biggest political headache or stumbling block to the anointed and yet to-be-coronation of Hillary Clinton, the candidate of the Wall Street banks, corporations, mainstream media and democratic establishment politicians.
So far, Bernie Sanders has pulled the largest crowds in both the blue andthe red states in this 2016 presidential campaign circle across both political parties' presidential candidates. Bernie Sanders pulled 5,500 in Burlington, Vermont, 8,000 in Portland, Maine, 5,000 in Denver, Colorado, 10,000 in Madison, Wisconsin, 2,500 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, 11,000 in Phoenix, Arizona, 8,000 in Dallas, Texas and 9,000 in Houston, Texas. If Bernie Sanders does not win the democratic nomination, he has the option of running as an independent candidate the way he has run for all his elections to date in his political career that spans over 40 years as an independent and democratic socialist politician. This development has the potential to prevent the democrats from continue in the White House as its official occupant beyond 2016 through Hillary Clinton. ‪#‎FeelTheBern‬