Kyoto Protocol - What is it really?
By Dr. Efim Tsyrkine
Recently, we have heard a lot about the Kyoto
Protocol. For the moment let us forget all the rhetoric about "protection
of nature," "environment" and so on. Instead, let us focus
on the scientific background of the subject. Unfortunately, there were many
words written about The Greenhouse Effect, worldwide climate warming and other
terrible things, which could be the result thereof. But there are NO proven
results of solid scientific researches based on the long time monitoring of the
dynamic of carbon dioxide concentrations - in different parts of the Earth
and during the four seasons, with simultaneous fixation on most important
climate tests such as temperature of air and of ocean water, humidity, sun
radiation, etc. Yet this is the only way to establish the approximate
functionality between, say, average year temperature worldwide, or regionally,
and the concentration of carbon dioxide and other gas pollutions. It is possible
to make well-founded conclusions only when you have dependable statistics of a
minimum of 30-40 years. There is nothing of the sort mentioned in the Summary of
the Kyoto Document.
The famous Russian scientist Academician V.Vernadski , the
President of Soviet Academy of Science in 1922-1945 was one of the first
ecologists in the world and the founder of the theory of NOOSPHERE. It is
a very important definition because noosphere is the area of all Earth which
nature processes. One of these processes, according to Vernadski, is the circuit
of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon and other elements, which creates the life
on Earth. Let us see what happens with carbon in nature. Carbon creates carbon
dioxide as a final product of many biochemical life processes and of the burning
of oil, gas, coal, etc. Thus, there are two ways of utilization of carbon
dioxide in nature 1) Plants use it for photosynthesis, which produces organic
molecules, the basic material of life on Earth. All plant life contains 15-20%
of carbon from dioxide. 2) Direction of carbon circuit is that carbon dioxide
dissolves in sea water, which covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface.
This process is very active. The quantity of dissolved carbon
dioxide is proportional to its concentration in air above the sea surface. The
more concentration there is the more carbon dioxide goes from air to water.
Nobody can change this physico-chemical law! When carbon dioxide dissolves, it
converts partly into carbon acid and then dissociates to kation and anion. Anion
is a part of carbon acid and it reacts with metal kations like calcium,
magnesium, and silicon. These metals are always presented in sea water. As
a result, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate and other insoluble salts are
created. They drop down to the bottom of the sea as nodules. There are already
billions of tons of different substances collected there. Thus, this is the
natural method to liquidate the abundance of carbon dioxide in atmosphere. And
it is a grave mistake to say that the abundance of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere is the result solely of human activity.
Basic quantity of carbon dioxide is produced constantly on
earth, in nature life activity and from other natural sources, including volcano
and other geothermal activity. The following figures prove this fact. According
to data published by British Petroleum, North America used 1050 million tons of
oil in year 2000. By the way, the oil consumption in Europe was 950 million tons
and in the rest of the word 1460 million tons. Thus, North America burns nearly
960 million tons of oil carbon yearly. The part of oil in total fuel consumption
in North America is approximately 75%. This means the total quantity of carbon
burned in North American engines and furnaces that year was 1,280 million tons.
It produced 3500 million tons of carbon dioxide. Is this a considerable
quantity, or not?
The surface of Earth is 512 million square kilometers. The
surface of World Seas is 370 million square kilometers. So the WHOLE mass of
North America's pollution worldwide is 3500:512=6.84 ton carbon dioxide per one
square kilometer per year, or 18 kg per day. This quantity is ridiculously low!
The Seawater dissolves carbon dioxide thousands times more! By the way, Canada's
part in this pollution is 1.8 kg per day. But according to Kyoto protocol Canada
has to decrease this kind of pollution not less than 10%. According to The
Gazette editorial of October 5th, 2002 this means that Canada has to cut
200,000-450,000 jobs.
If the figures stated above are correct we are presented with
an unprecedented political bluff. There are many thousands of functionaries, UN
experts, politicians, journalists, and other mass media people who are feeding
on the Kyoto topic. It is very interesting to note that among the 55
participants in the Kyoto protocol there are 39 European countries and 9 of them
are "still moving to market economy" as is written there. But you
cannot find Saudi Arabia there, which produces more than 350 million ton of oil,
and half of it is used in Europe. Why so? Kuwait exports oil twice as much as
Alberta does, but Alberta is punished and Kuwait isn't. How should we understand
this? Where are the equal rights and justice?
And finally, the funniest facts.. An average human being
makes 18 in and exhalations per minute. As we were taught in school, oxygen from
air converts in the human organism to carbon dioxide because of burning of the
organic food inside. It's percentage in and exhalation is about 22%. The volume
of one exhalation is 2.7 liters. So there is 0.6 liter of carbon dioxide in one
exhalation, or, otherwise stated, it is 1.2 gram. It means, the average human
being produces 1.2 x 18 = 21.6 gram per minute, or 0.021 x 60 x 24 = 30.24 kg
per day, and 11.04 tons per year. It is frightening to say, but 30 millions
Canadians exhale 340 millions tons of the "most harmful" carbon
dioxide! And nearly the same quantity (350 million tons, see above) they
put into the atmosphere with the exhaust gas of their cars, their power
stations, their fireplaces, and their Bar-B-Q devices. It is a crime against
nature, isn't it? Maybe the best way to decrease the pollution substantially is
to stop breathing? And to ask our leadership to set us an example?
The most correct comparison we can use is that we are present
in giant theatre of absurdity. And why does Mr. Chretien put the cart before the
horse? It is utter nonsense for Canada to accept the requirements of the Kyoto
protocol and decrease its economy voluntarily, while the USA does not accept the
Kyoto demands. Where are all the sensible politicians hiding here in Canada?
Dr. Efim Tsyrkine is a PhD in the area of Petroleum and Petrochemical economy.
He was head of the Marketing Department in the All Russian Petrochemical
Research institute, St. Petersburg. His scientific area was technological
forecasting, predicting what kind of new technological processes in the
Oil and Gas Industry might be appearing and when, and why? He is the author of
more than 150 publications, including 5 books and many articles in Russian
popular journals like Chemistry and Life, Young Technician etc. His last
book was called "About Oil and Gas without the Formulas" - specially
for teenagers. He was a part-time lecturer in SPb Technological and
Engineer-Economical Universities as well. He was the leader of 15 students, who
successfully prepared their PhD degrees
All contents (c) 2000-2001 Polyconomics, Inc.