Tag: climate change

Fossil Fuel Fools – revisited.

On By StevoIn climate change, conspiracy, critical thinking, earth, electric vehicles, elon musk, energy, Environment, EV, nature, renewable energy, Science, Uncategorized, wildlife conservationLeave a comment

In logical response to all the recent, and increasing negatively pitched “reports” and mud and FUD slinging being manufactured (by organizations funded by big oil) and spread all over the mainstream and social media about electric vehicles…and the ensuing wave of negative/emotional/thoughtless comments from oponents and haters in regards to the technology…I offer just the facts on EV’s from the point of view of an EV owner and educator of over a decade.

FACT: In 2013 I purchased a one year old 2012 Nissan Leaf (100% electric car) with 1,200 miles on the odometer. I drove the Leaf for over 6 years and 75,000 gas-free miles.

In 2019, I traded up to a new 2019 Chevy Bolt EV which i have driven over 80,000 miles and i am still driving today.

In 2025 I moved up yet again into a new, 2026 Chevy Silverado EV (CSEV) pickup that currently has clocked over 7000 miles on it odometer.

I drove all of these vehicles as daily drivers commuting to work daily and back in all weather, on paved and gravel roads, and up and down the mountains we call home. I drive an average of 40-45 miles/day and more on weekends. Due to the wonderful and growing EV charging network that continues to expand and open the roads to EV drivers – I can go almost anywhere with no problems. I have driven across NC, SC, TN, and several times to North central Florida without issue.

Here are a few of the most repeated myths followed by the peer-reviewed facts about EVs.

MYTH: It is very expensive to charge an EV.

FACT: Just the opposite. It costs me an average of 0 – .02 cents per mile to drive electric. I drive ~200 miles/week so for my use case I pay zero to $4/week for automotive fuel depending on where I charge my EV.
It is zero cost for fuel when I charge on solar-produced electricity (over 75% of the time). The remaining 25% of the charging is at home and rarely at community EV charging stations (level 2 and 3) where I usually pay around $2 – $12 to fully charge my EV and many of these stations are in fact – free. Many of these stations are also solar, hydroelectric, nuclear powered – so a good portion of that electric free-range fuel is renewably driven by locally produced energy sourced in the US (not half a world away in the mid east etc) and therefore, zero emissions and energy secure(no oil wars and dirty politics needed)!

FACT: Even when I account for the cost of all the electricity I have used to fuel both my EVs over the last decade – I have still saved many thousands of $$$$$ that I would have spent on single-use gas and oil had I continued to drive a toxic old fossil burner.

MYTH: EV’s have very short range, will run out of “juice” and leave you stranded.

FACT: While my LEAF did have very limited range at ~75 miles – the Bolt will travel up to 250 miles on a single charge and my CSEV will take me upwards of 475 miles on a single charge!! Like most newer Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powered vehicles they all have alert systems to let you know when your charge level is getting low. They also have sophisticated GPS navigation systems that allow you to plan your trip ahead of time taking into account stops at charging stations along the way.

While it is understandable that this lifestyle is not for everyone, advances are being made in the EV, battery, and charging infrastructure that, within a few years time, will put 500+ mile range capable EV’s on the roads from most of the world’s major auto makers.

FACT: No matter if you run out of a charge or you run out of gas – it is your fault for not planning ahead.

MYTH: “Electric Vehicles are not zero emissions, they run on coal, and are dirtier and more polluting than internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles that run on gas/diesel fuel.”

Let’s break it down.

FACT: Battery Electric Vehicles BEV’s (the focus of this report) do not run on anything but electricity and are themselves – truly and fully zero emission. That being said, depending on how that electricity is generated– the place it gets its electricity to charge its traction battery–could be “dirty” (coal) or “clean” (renewable energy) but in most places it is a combination of both so let’s dig deeper.

FACT: A small ICE car emits ~390 grams of Carbon Dioxide CO2/mile.

FACT: The average power consumed by a small EV is ~.25 KWh/mile.

FACT: ~907 grams of CO2/KWh is emitted from coal fired power plants in the dirtiest 100% coal-based electricity generation areas.

FACT: 907 (g) x .25 (KWh) = 226 grams/mile in dirtiest 100% coal-based electricity generation areas, which remains lower than the 390 grams from the small ICE car so in reality, even if your EV is charged in an area that gets all of its electricity from coal, EV’s are still cleaner than a comparable ICE powered vehicle… and FAR cleaner than these children.

MYTH: Building more EV’s will require us to build many more power plants to provide all the electricity to operate all of them.

FACT: EV’s are charged from the same utility grid that your mobile devices use. Like your devices, EV’s come with their own charging cable that plugs into a standard 120v outlet*. Like your mobile electronic devices they are most often charged at night, while you are sleeping, and when electricity generated from emissions-free wind (and no, wind turbines do not kill all the birds, feral cats, windows, pesticides and fossil fuels do), hydro, nuke power is in low demand, lower in cost, and goes mostly unused – so there is ample supply to power your EV. *In development now are inductive charging highway lanes that, when you need a charge, you will just simply drive in the lane and your car will charge while moving at speed! There are now available inductive charging pads (just like you can buy for mobile devices) but made for EV’s. This will eliminate the need to plug in your EV and one day you will be able to just park in an EV charging parking space or in your garage and your car will automatically start charging.

FACT: The US power grid is getting cleaner every day as more fossil fuel fired power plants are retired and more renewable energy power systems go online – so in these areas especially, EV’s are much cleaner.

FACT: Due to the fuel mix of the grid getting cleaner, EV’s get cleaner as they age. This is never a fact with ICE cars that constantly loose efficiency as they age due to wear and tear of all their moving parts.

Learn more here:
greencarreports.com/news/1086927_coal-makes-electric-cars-bad-no-plug-ins-show-coal-as-worse

and

ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/clean_vehicles/electric-car-global-warming-emissions-report.pdf

FACT: One parking space covered with a canopy of photovoltaic solar panels (2.5KW) in the southeast would produce around 3,292 KWh/year. This will operate an EV for around 13-16K miles of 100% emissions free driving on clean, sunshine generated electricity!

FACT: EV’s produce a portion of their own fuel via the process known as regenerative breaking – try to find an ICE powered vehicle that does that!

FACT: The average EV travels an average of 4 miles/Kilowatt hour (KWh) of electricity.

FACT: It takes 6 KWh of electricity to refine one gallon of gasoline (source US DOE).

FACT: The average EV can travel 24 miles on the power that it takes to refine just one gallon of gasoline!

FACT: It takes ~9 KWh of energy to extract and transport the crude oil that will be refined into that gasoline.

FACT: An EV could travel an additional 36 miles on this energy.

So, no new power plants are needed, especially if we do not produce the gallon of gas. So…get an EV, and drive 60 all-electric miles on the same amount of energy we are generating today to refine all that dirty gasoline…and fight all those wars to keep it flowing.

And…

Save the 44 gallons of water that it takes to refine that one gallon of gasoline! It is a no-brainer.

MYTH: It is very expensive to power an EV.

FACT: The average cost of electricity in the US is 12 cents/kWh. Therefore the average person driving an average EV 15,000 miles per year will pay about $540.00 per year to charge it. How much did you pay for gasoline/diesel last year? I bet it was much more than $540. Think about what could you have done with all that extra money you spent on gas and oil? Just think about it…or feel free to remain in denial of the facts. It is your choice, not mine – I made my choice decades ago.

FACT: Believe it or not – five 100 watt light bulbs left on continuously for a year use nearly the same amount of energy as it takes to power an electric car 15,000 miles! Here’s how: Five 100 watt light bulbs use 500 watts. In 24 hours they use 12,000 watt-hours or 12kWh. In 365 days they use 4,380kWh. A typical EV that uses 30 kWh for every 100 miles will use 4,500 kWh to drive 15,000 miles! Simply by turning unnecessary lighting off at your home, you can drastically reduce or completely eliminate your annual transportation fuel cost. Try doing that with an ICE powered vehicle! (The cost of LED lighting products has dropped recently so we have replaced almost all of our light bulbs in our house with LED’s. This has not only saved us money but we have also totally offset the cost of driving our EV just by upgrading our lights to LED!)

Learn more here: pluginamerica.org/drivers-seat/how-much-does-it-cost-charge-electric-car

Cars are not the only way you can reduce emissions by switching to EV’s

FACT: One piece of gas burning lawn equipment such as a lawn mower emits more hydrocarbon pollution into our shared atmosphere than a gasoline-guzzling crew-cab pickup truck! You would have to drive a 6.2L V8 truck almost 4000 miles to equal the emissions produced in 30 minuets of use by a gas powered 2-cycle engine such as a string trimmer (weed-eater). Why not use an all electric string trimmer or lawn mower—there are many available now and they all can even be fueled with renewable energy you can generate at home! I made the switch to all-electric lawn equipment over a decade ago and it just works. Even my two chain saws are all-electric.

MYTH: EV’s, solar, and wind power are not American because they do not create jobs or use the oil/gas that we fight deadly wars to acquire.

FACT: The Nissan Leaf is made in Smyrna Tennessee and provides good jobs to thousands of American and Tesla provides over 120,000 jobs!!

Today there are more Americans employed in solar construction/maintenance jobs than there are coal miners mining coal. The wind energy industry provides great jobs to over 50,000 Americans. And that’s just for starters…

FACT: Sourcing our energy domestically (be it solar, wind, hydro, coal—whatever the source) provides many good jobs to Americans and is much more efficient and much safer than traveling thousands of miles, dealing with governments—that are often hostile and feed money to terrorism groups—extracting it, then finally bringing it back to be refined and used only once- thats right, fossil fuels are single use and that single use comes at great cost and loss of life due to the needless wars that often must be fought to keep it flowing.

FACT: It is far more American to be self sufficient and produce your own energy at home, than it is to rely on an outside source to provide you with that energy.

FACT: You can power your home and your EV with off-the-shelf renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro, etc ) that you make at home…and even make a profit from the excess!

Maintenance

MYTH: EV’s are expensive to work on.

FACT: EV’s rarely need major servicing because they have fewer moving parts than ICE vehicles. EV’s have only a handful of moving parts in their power plant whereas the average ICE engine has thousands! Therefore, EV’s require far less maintenance to keep them “healthy” and are therefore they are much more economical to drive.

I have been driving electric for over a decade and over 160,000 miles, and my EVs have required no specialized routine maintenance by me other than the occasional washing and vacuuming, a set of new windshield wiper blades, adding a little air to the tires, and the occasional topping off of the washer fluid, changing the cabin air filters, and one set of brake pads on the LEAF – you know, the things you would need to do to any type of vehicular construct no matter its fuel source.

Had I been driving a legacy vehicle I would have had to spend far more time and money over the same time-frame. For example, to keep my 2013 Honda Pilot 4×4, (the last ICE vehicle that I owned) running in an efficient as possible manner (for a machine with so many miles – 120+k – and so many moving parts that can and will wear out due to constant use thereby lowering the fuel economy of the vehicle and lowering the amount of money in my bank account) I used a bio-based fully synthetic American made motor oil, and I change the oil filter when I change the oil. Just the oil/filter change and new spark plugs for the Honda cost us ~ $230** over its last 30k miles! Operational costs for user replaceable parts and non warranty covered parts for the Bolt EV during this same period of time = $55 (wiper blades and cabin air filter)!

The simple fact that EV’s do not have as many moving parts as petroleum powered vehicles makes them much more reliable and cost effective to operate than their fossil fuel powered counterparts. The do not have or need any of the parts that commonly wear out in gas/diesel vehicles such as: belts, chains, hoses, air/fuel filters, water pump, spark plugs, glow plugs, oil, filter, clutch, transmission, muffler, catalytic converter, exhaust pipe…they do not even have an engine.

MYTH: EV’s are new…scary…future technology.

FACT: Electric vehicles are anything but scary and nothing new. The electric motor that moves them has only a few long lived moving parts and is a proven technology that has been used to make our lives easier since the mid-late 19 century.
They pre-date ICE powered vehicles and were hitting the roads of the world in the late 1800’s – see the timeline here: energy.gov/articles/history-electric-car!

FACT: Most of our houses/businesses are totally electric. Washer, dryer, refrigerator, heating and cooling, lighting, entertainment systems, power tools…all electric…with many electric motors and systems that quietly work in the background keeping our lives comfortable. Why is it then that we continue to use outdated petroleum powered transportation systems to get around?

MYTH: “EV’s are slow, like golf carts, dangerous, and I heard that they catch on fire and burn to the ground all the time.”

FACT: EV’s are anything but slow. The little Nissan Leaf EV will go 0-60 in around 10 seconds. The Bolt EV 0-60 in 6ish, and the CSEV – 5 seconds. The Tesla Model S Plaid 100% electric car has the world record for the fastest accelerating production four-door car ever! It accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in a brain melting 1.8 seconds!

Dangerous, totally the opposite – the Tesla Model S was rated by the NHTSA as the safest car ever tested…in history! And each new Tesla product is safer than the last.

Fires, there have been around 287,000 vehicle fires per year since 2003…less than a dozen of those involved electric cars…ALL of the others were ICE powered vehicles.

News agencies just love to manufacture drama and the fact that gas powered cars burn all the time is not anything new, its not dramatic anymore…but let an EV catch fire and it is all over the headlines because sensationalist drama centered around anything new feeds the weak minded. (Note: I am not saying anyone reading this is weak minded because if you have read this far you obviously are interested in the facts and not the manufactured drama :-))

Think of it like this: if everyone had been driving clean, fast, safe, low maintenance electric vehicles for the last century, and someone tried to get you to drive or even ride in a vehicle powered by an incredibly toxic, flammable, explosive liquid fuel—what would you do? Personally, I would R.U.N.N.O.F.T!

MYTH: Electric vehicles are expensive.

FACT: While it is true that a new top of the crop EV will set you back over 100K, you can get a new EV such as a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt for less than $40k and a used one for much less. You must also remember to factor in that you will NEVER pay for gas and oil again and that in itself adds up to thousands of dollars/year…even when you account for the cost of the electricity used to fuel your EV! Then, when then you factor in all the money spent on tune-ups and engine/transmission/exhaust system repairs for most ICE powered vehicles – all the savings add up to reveal that most EV’s are much more economical to own and drive than your average ICE powered vehicle. Oh and since EVs don’t have catalytic converters to steal, you won’t have to worry about that issue…ever.

MYTH: When the battery wears out a new battery will cost more than the car is worth.

FACT: When an EV’s battery degrades to the point where it is no longer able to store enough energy to propel you in your daily commute, the battery can be easily replaced with a new one-it is as plug and play as the one in your mobile device…only larger. After the battery is replaced you essentially have a new car. Note: all EV manufactures have excellent battery warranties/leasing options that serve to help new EV drivers “ease into” a better way to drive and are great incentives for adopting a this technology.

MYTH: A used EV battery cannot be used for anything and is toxic waste and must be tossed in the landfill.

FACT: Used batteries can be recycled just like any battery but before that time comes they can be used in stationary power storage facilities, as back up generators connected to homes and businesses and off-grid power stations especially when connected to renewable energy power systems. Learn more here: nytimes.com/2015/06/17/business/gm-and-nissan-reusing-old-electric-car-batteries.html?_r=0

and here

greencarreports.com/news/1093810_electric-car-batteries-what-happens-to-them-after-coming-out-of-the-car

It is illegal in most places to toss out a 12volt car battery and it is the same with a used EV traction battery – and since they are fully recyclable, they can be remanufactured into new EV batteries over and over without needing to continually mine the earth for raw materials.
Check out https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/

MYTH: There is nowhere to charge an EV?

FACT: Most EV drivers charge their cars at home but when out on the road there are thousands of EV charging stations (EVSE) in the USA alone and the number is growing every day. To find out how many are near you just take a look at Plugshare.com.

FACT: Most EV owners love their cars so much that they have become “crusaders” of the technology and promote them every chance they get because they know from experience that that they are a much better way to drive.

MYTH: “EVs are “woke” democrat cars.” Yes, I have heard that bizarre comment from some people. Really, you are going there…why, and what productive purpose does it serve?

FACT: EVs are a transportation technology. Thay are the next most logical step in the story of transportation. Get over your attempt to politicize…everything. If you want to live in the past, go ahead. The only direction any of us can move in life is forward.

FACT based OPINION: Driving ICE powered vehicles is like purchasing a subscription to dependency on a highly toxic, highly addictive drug that shortens your life while constantly draining your bank account and damaging everything it comes in contact with.

OPINION supported by SCIENCE, RESEARCH, and EXPERIENCE: All of these reasons and more are why EV’s are superior to everything else on the road and one day in the near future gas/diesel will go the way of the dinosaurs.

Be the change you wish to see in the world and the world will change.

Special Thanks to Bob Harris of Black Bear Solar Institute for compiling some of the facts in this document! Learn more at: blackbearsolarinstitute.org

Special Thanks to the members of the Blue Ridge Electric Vehicle Club for supporting the future of transportation and renewable energy technologies.

I will never go back to gas.

All that being said, here is another take on this subject from the land down under:

“Alright, strap in because the dummies need infinite education.

Every time you clowns think you’ve kicked a goal with the “ahhh but wind turbines need oil, batteries need mining, steel needs coking coal” routine, I can practically hear the last two brain cells high-fiving. No shit, Sherlock. Nobody is disputing oil is useful. Oil is insanely useful. That is exactly the fucking point.

Oil takes millions of years to form. Millions. You don’t just whip that up in a factory between smoko and lunch. It is essential for medicine, agriculture, plastics, lubricants, fertilisers, cosmetics, clothing, electronics, about 98% of modern life. Nobody serious is saying “no oil ever”. What we are saying is maybe, just maybe, lighting the stuff on fire and huffing the fumes inside your air sacks like idiots isn’t the smartest use of it.

We should be stockpiling oil for this generation and future generations, not pissing it away by turning it into exhaust fumes so Dave can rev his Hilux at the lights. You want to know how dumb that is? Go stick your face behind a tailpipe and inhale for a few minutes. Let me know how that goes for your lungs, champ. That shit is carcinogenic. It is literally poison. That is why asthma rates are up, lung disease is up, and lung cancer is up. Burning petrochemicals and breathing them in turns cities into rolling chemistry experiments.

And don’t give me the “but we’ve always done it” crap. We also used to shit in holes and die of infected paper cuts. Progress happened.

Using oil without burning it, in products that last decades, medicines that save lives, fertilisers that grow food, plastics that actually make modern healthcare possible, that is smart. Wasting it by setting it on fire for transport when we have cheaper, cleaner alternatives is fucking moronic.

Electric transport and renewables are not about pretending oil doesn’t exist. They are about not being dumb enough to burn a finite, irreplaceable resource into the atmosphere like cavemen discovering fire for the first time. We don’t want to drag the planet back to the Carboniferous era where it was basically a Turkish sauna with ferns the size of buildings.

And here is the real punchline. While you’re pounding your chest defending fossil fuels, you’re donating your money straight to petrochemical giants and oil states. Congratulations. You are sending your hard-earned cash overseas so Saudi princes can buy another gold-plated toilet while you scream about freedom.

You don’t need to be Albert fucking Einstein to see this. Oil is too valuable to burn. Clean air is better than poison. And if you’re still clinging to this nonsense, it’s probably because you’re emotionally attached to the idea of setting ancient dinosaur juice on fire and calling it masculinity.

Do us all a favour. Stop confusing “oil is useful” with “burn everything forever”. One is intelligent. The other is fucking stupid.”
Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dj38Q2y4D/

PSA for today

On By StevoIn Environment, ScienceLeave a comment

A few days ago I had to drive our other vehicle to tote a load. This vehicle is wonderful in all ways but one – it runs on gasoline. At one point I needed to fill up its fuel reservoir with the expensive, toxic, highly explosive, refined, fossil based liquid hydrocarbons (aka gasoline/petrol) that it frequently needs (it only gets 12 – 16mpg) in order to be useful and of any value at all. When I pulled up to the pump I thought, as I always do, about all the nasty pathogens (bacteria, viruses, sputum, and other manner of nastiness) left on the pump handle by all the other plague rat humans who had used it since it was last cleaned…if it ever was…ugh. I took a chance and stuck the likely pathogen funk covered toxic death liquid spewing nozzle into my vehicle’s fuel port, got a squirt of sanitizer, and walked a few steps away so as not to breathe the potentially cancerous VOC’s, and waited (I know, I’m a bit of a germaphobe but being extra careful – especially today – is always a good policy). I noticed nearby two men with their upper bodies buried in the engine compartment of their older model pick up truck. They were covered in grease, working diligently as they tried to reason out whatever the problem was with their vehicle’s internal combustion engine and its hundreds of moving parts, tubes, pipes, belts and bits. I did not envy them as I have been there many times myself, in many similar situations, working on old cars and because of those times I now have great mechanical skills 🙂 – back to the story.
As my vehicle’s tank filled with highly volatile life destroying ancient fossil juice I noticed a car pull up on the other side of the pumps. A man exited the vehicle and proceeded to fill his tank. I immediately observed two problems – 1. He did not shut off the engine while pumping gas and 2. He was smoking. I thought about saying something to him but from his rough outward appearance I thought otherwise (I really do not like needless, energy wasting, confrontations). Instead I decided to protect life and limb and RUNNOFT so I stopped my tank from fueling before it was finished and removed myself from the danger zone. In hindsight the right thing to do would be to have gone inside the station and informed the attendant of the dangerous situation and that I will do the next time I witness a situation such as this. Sadly, I have seen this kind of unbelievable carelessness several times before (and reported it as well) and can’t help but wonder if these individuals are either just dangerously complacent in their use of a highly flammable and toxic substance, failed to listen to their parents, driver education teacher, or whomever taught them about the skills needed to drive a vehicle, or maybe they didn’t listen in science class, maybe they didn’t take a science class, maybe they have have a death wish, or maybe they believe they are magically protected by some invisible being or force, or maybe all of the above. Whatever the case may be if they keep it up they will eventually win a Darwin award and might just take a few of us careful, thinking people with them and that is what seriously scares me.
If you drive a vehicle that requires an expensive,* toxic to all life forms, highly explosive, refined fossil based liquid hydrocarbon as its fuel source (as I still do…for now anyway), then please, please be careful when you need to stop at public access fuel distribution centers because it is CRAZY out there!
Better yet, when you are able to one day get an EV and fuel up on your own porch/garage at night while you sleep without the dangers/costs/germs and crazy associated with all of the above – then please do so – you will be glad you did.
I know, many EV’s are currently more expensive that most gas powered vehicles and the EV market is pretty slim to nonexistent when it comes to 4×4 on/off road EV utility vehicles (that has changed since I originally penned this story: now we have several great choices with the Rivian R1T and R1S, Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado EV, GMC Denali EV, Hummer EV, and Cybertruck and more on the way) and vehicles that are able to haul loads but it is getting better and more affordable every day. However, if you need an around town daily driver and do not drive more than 150 miles/day you really should check out a new or used Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV or the Nissan Leaf. After you figure in all the costs of gas, oil changes, and tune ups (all gone when you drive an EV) – these two are the some of the best EV deals on the market.
NOTES: This story is not an attack on anyone. It is a commentary on the absurdity of the situations we often find ourselves in on a daily basis. It is also a commentary on the absurdity that is the reality of driving/energy use in our country and that how that out-dated and dangerous finite fossil fuel-based system is not the most proactive way to do things. Please also note that I do not work for Chevrolet or Nissan – the fact is that my almost 12 years of EV experience has shown me that driving EV is in almost every way a better way to drive and I am attempting to share some of my experiences with you all so you will be better informed and ready for the coming EV revolution.
My prediction is that by 2027-2028 most of you will be driving electric or planning to do so very soon. The value of daily driver gas cars such as Toyota and Honda anything – will be almost zilcho. The classics will never die (I hope) because they are pieces of automotive history that must live on on the roads and in museums. But the daily driver car of tomorrow is 100% electric powered – powered not by expensive foreign sourced, war funding, highly toxic, flammable, atmosphere, health and life killing petroleum-based fuels – but by domestically-sourced renewably produced electricity.
*these fuel products are expensive in so many ways including but not limited to: madly fluctuating end user cost at the pump, cost in pollution to the local, regional, global environment and atmosphere, cost in acquisition, refining and shipping, cost associated with war and terrorism, cost in human sickness, suffering, and death from all of the above…but due to government subsidies they are far lower in cost at the pump than they could be. If we were paying the true cost as many people do all over the world – most if not all of us would already be driving electric.

Something from my brain.

On By StevoIn anthropology, climate change, conspiracy, COVID-19, critical thinking, earth, Environment, nature, religion, Science, space, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The star we call Sol sent out its energy across the deep void of space…the oceans and land warmed…waters evaporated…clouds grew tall and mighty…wind blew, rains fell, and fell, and rivers jumped out of their banks…their mindless liquid fury eating up the ephemeral landscape while ending all the innocents in its path…the humans cried out – “Why?!?”

The heat and humidity continue to build and build…and the exhaustion and heat stroke drop more and more of us…the sick, the old, and the weak…the humans cried out – “Why?!?”

The land drys out, clouds move over, and, like socks on carpet in winter – friction charges them up like big fluffy sky capacitors and their charge is soon released in great jagged bolts of superheated plasma – igniting the dry lands below…

…and monsterous unstoppable wildfires race across the landscape indescrimanantly devouring everything and everyone in their path…while simultaneously sending choking toxic smoke far and wide beyond their perimeter…the humans cried out – “Why?!?”

The snows, glaciers, sea ice, permafrost, and ice caps melt, while those bedded and beached upon the shore watch as the waters rise, and rise, and rise some more – they build their stuff – buildings, roads, bridges, and walls – higher while they watch in disbelief as their homes are taken back by the mighty and timeless great blue ocean…the humans cried out – “Why?!?”

…and yet, the complacent, self absorbed, multi-colored, mostly hairless, big brained, bipedal apes that call themselves the humans continue to ignore…the reality.

Still they burn…like an addict sucking down cancer sticks as fast as possible while their lungs rot out of their chest…faster they drill baby drill and burn baby burn, more and more oil…more and more coal…more and more gas…more and more and more of this ancient, trapped sunlight and carbon-rich energy…these fossil fuels: the true and tested evidence-supported peer-reviewed root cause of all the “natural” disasters we are all now facing.

And yet, as they watch the sky and pray and cry for the lost – still they choose to blame and deny. And the humans cried out – “Why?!?”

Do they deny because an imaginary sky god or grinning political figurehead made its way into their brain and told them piles of lies about how things work?

I do not know, but I have a suspicion.

But my question remains…why?

Why can’t they think for themselves?

Why do they need a leader, a father figure, a tribe, a chief to tell them his why?

Why can’t they understand and support what their own eyes see?

Why do they continue to deny the facts and findings, the science, the reality?

They laugh and scoff and call it a hoax as they blame the rich, the scientist, the empathetic, the poor, the immigrant, the elderly, those who live differently than they do, and they always loudly blame the “other” – it is obvious to me that they must not care at all about their Mother…or father…or children…or all the “others” on “their” side…and the “other” side of all the imaginary lines they have drawn on pages, in the sands, and in their heads…lines that were intentionally designed to seperate and to create the fear and hate that feeds their bloody war machines and bloated bank accounts…that all are automated by and in support of all the ancient fossil fueled lies.

They often wrongly say the “other” “tribes,” the leftists, the hippies, the pot smokers, the mexicans, the women, the gays, yhe lesbians, and the science types made all these things happen with bribes, tricks, and planes, schools, books, and sprays, and “seeds,” and loads and loads of lies…all to build support to fund their own needs.

This is not reality.

The reality is this: the liers and deniers are in fact on both “sides.”

We are all to blame for our own demise.

They often pray and say their god(s) will keep them safe from the storms, the heat, the sickness and pain…and that it is also their gods who are punishing those who have died for some terrible “sin”…what a childish and heartless reply designed by some nasty old guys with dollar signs in their greedy uncrying black eyes.

Bad sports they are in this game of games while they point crooked fingers and yell hateful names…at all the “others” but never, in the mirror, never ever admitting they were wrong in the game, but always claiming they were wronged by the game…and yet, somehow, they are unable to own up to their own errors in judgement, unable to give aid to those who were maimed.

So many wonderful and beautiful people have tragically died, their lives, homes, and towns washed away, burned, bombed, blown down,

…yet still those that remain, still they choose to deny.

Why?!?!?

Still they cheat, swindle, disrespect, and lie through their perfect little grinning blood dripping teeth, while they get fatter and fatter like bloated parasites sucking the life out of you and me with their toxicly malignant pride.

Those that choose to rebel, to disagree and fight back…they are soon dissappeared. Murdered in cold blood by heartless, soulless, uncaring, brainless, tiny boned, shrunken, little old white men (descended from immigrants), and their throngs of ultra dangerous ultra proud boylike yes men and women – the ultimate toady brown nosers and arse kissers, in suits and masks, hoods, and pointy hats, who will lie rapid fire to your face while shiny gold crosses hang around their necks – nothing at all matters to them except to feel powerful and to win, win, win.

Yes, that is it I believe, they must win. If they lose out in their lust for “greatness” and power, they actually believe – in their tiny, dessicated, shrunken husk of a mind – that they have failed. So, no matter the cost to themselves, their family, city, country, environment, or the entire earth – no matter the cost to our species, they must win. They are the ultimate sore losers, the ultimate bitter, hateful, venomous, malignant, bullies.

When will they ever take responsibility?

What will it take?

Or are they so full of ego, greed, hubris, fear, meanness and hate that they will choose to go down with their ship while pointing their finger at those they have labeled as the enemy…when the real enemy is inside.

Buckle Up

On By StevoIn climate change, conspiracy, critical thinking, earth, Environment, NASA, nature, Science, space, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hurricane Helene and now just a few months later – this terrible flood in Texas.

This is yet another horrible and avoidable tragedy.
Please do all in your power to help those in need.


Shifting gears a bit –
Here’s the thing: when I was in college, I learned from my professors, and from my own research in the campus library and online, all about anthropogenic climate change/global warming or whatever you choose to call it. I learned why it is happening, I looked at all the evidence, and all these data, evidence, and facts, they needed no support – they stood alone. It was so obviously real that it made it past my logic and reason filters – and guess what, I understood and accepted it all as peer-reviewed reality.

Here’s the other thing: everything all those scientists (NASA, NOAA, NWS, etc, and all the independent scientists all over the planet studying the issue said would happen – is now coming to pass- heck it has been happening for decades.

I have watched as the climate has noticeably warmed – we didn’t need fans in our home until the mid 1990’s, or air conditioning until 2010 – and now, when the HVAC fails (due to the storms, power outages, etc.), all the floor and ceiling fans and our bodies own built-in cooling systems (sweat glands) can barely keep us from dangerously overheating.

The sea level has visibly risen on the beaches I have been visiting over the last 50+ years of my life.

The once frequent snows of “winter” have turned into cool and sometimes even warm rains…or super-concentrated cold spells – aka Polar Vortexes…vortices? – that have been colder than any cold I can remember.

I have watched springs and creeks dry up and trees die due to the unusually long periods of heat-induced drought.

Almost every year, I have witnessed more frequent and intense wildfires, as well as the unbelievable air pollution the fires bring.

Then there are the hurricanes – (Andrew, Katrina, Harvey, Helene!!!) – more and more powerful every season, more and more rain, wind, destruction.

We then have the wildlife species that never lived in my region, migrating into the wilds near my home – some examples include but are not limited to: the Coyote (the earliest to arrive), the Nine-banded armadillo, Fire ants, Bedbugs, mosquitoes, ticks, and, needless to say, many different nasty diseases – two of these are tick-vectored diseases that I have contracted and still suffer symptoms from – Rocky Mountain Spotted fever and Ehrlichia.

Anthropogenic climate change is an evidence-supported, peer-reviewed fact.

If you choose to not believe me or the thousands of climate scientists and researchers, then just watch and/or read the horrific headlines from the climate change-induced/exacerbated storms, floods, heatwaves, droughts, polar vertices, wildfires, toxic air and water pollution, sea level rise, etc, etc.

Or just walk yourself outside and wait a while.

This climate change thing is not a political plot or ploy to make the Democrats, “leftists” and “greenies” rich, that is ridiculous and you know it. Nor is this some sort of scam cooked up by “the Chinese” – this shit is real so please just keep your political (and religious) BS out of the important business of discovering the impacts of our species on the the evidence-supported peer-reviewed findings and facts of the natural world and its systems that support us all.

But even if still choose to ignore the evidence, the science, and the new reality of the dangerous situation we have made for ourselves by burning copious amounts of fossil fuels over the last few hundred years – say what you will and believe what and who you choose…but your belief in something or someone does not make your choice a fact – unless it has the evidence to back it up.

Like Evolution by Natural Selection, Climate Change has mountains of supportive peer-reviewed evidence. If you choose to not believe all these mountains of evidence, from all over the planet and even satellites orbiting in space…then all I can say to you is buckle up buttercup, and “enjoy” the ride because we are all riding on this crazy train of life together. There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and the cold beauty that some call mother nature is as mad as hell at the dumbass “thinking” ape clan for fukin up the planet – and I fear this is only the beginning and there is going to be some serious hell to pay.

Please remember – nature does not give one single hot puckered rodent arse about any of us, so you better learn how to take care of yourself. Be ready. Stay vigilant. Be prepared. And above all, do good things to help others in need around you, because we are all riders on the same 4.5 billion-year-old planetary boat afloat in the vast ocean of space and time.


One Love.


Namaste

Dreams are fun

On By StevoIn climate change, Environment, Science, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My dreams are usually bizarrely twisted versions of reality – but they are usually not anything to share…until now. I’m sharing the next two dreams purely due to the bizarre comedic nature of their freaky fun content.

Dream 1: I find myself in a vehicle traveling dangerously fast along an autobahn-like superhighway. I am in the back of the vehicle. It is a boxy, obviously an off-road “Jeep” type vehicle. It has many features that remind me of the 1960’s Series Land Rovers that I once owned and drove. A truly off-center difference is that the entire interior is carpeted in plush, deep, black shag carpet. It was really quite nice – in the dream. I then notice that I am sitting, not in a vehicle seat – there are no standard back seats or inward-facing jump seats as in some jeep-style two-door vehicles – I am facing forward and sitting in an old folding aluminum lawn chair with green plastic webbing. There are no seat belts and the seat is not attached to the floor as it should be. It and I are just at the mercy of physics should this wild ride abruptly end.

Weird. But it is about to get even weirder.

There is someone in the driver’s seat and someone in the passenger seat.

The driver turns to say something to the passenger and I recognize him – it’s Elon Musk. Then I recognize the passenger- it’s Neil DeGrasse Tyson. They are chatting about this new truck – so it must be that we are in Elon’s Cybertruck.

Cool.

LooBut it sure does not look like a Cybertruck on the inside. Anyhow, Elon then says into the air “Autopilot Engaged” then he gets up, climbs over the seats, walks past me, and gets a drink from the built-in bar, the bartender is a shiny stainless steel (probably 304L) robot who reminds me of Bender from Futurama – only chrome plated and more menacing with a HAL 9000-like huge red camera-lens-like eye and many more arms – I would guess at least 6 but he is waving them all around like Dr. Octopus so it was hard to count them. The bizarro-bartender-Bender-bot then handed Musk the drink – I believe it was a Mojito…but it was bubbling and glowing blue and had a mad scientist-like smoke-like vapor sublimating from its bubbling surface – Musk passes it to DeGrasse Tyson who thanks him and is laughing while sipping his drink and acting as if all this is nothing new.

I stand there watching the carnage and then say to myself: “This is just not possible, this is not reality – so this must be a dream and I am the dreamer. That is the only logical explanation of this event.”

All the while the Cybertruck is expertly navigating around all manner of speeding swerving cars that are smashing into each other, exploding into conflagrations of twisted metal and flesh, running off the roads, and smashing head-on into trees and careening off cliffs…suddenly the Cybertruck abruptly swerves and takes an exit onto a dirt road not much wider than the truck itself, it then accelerates to an unbelievable warp-like speed and everything out the windows is an unrecognizable blur – yet its electric drive train is noticeably and eerily silent…and somehow the Cybertruck is staying attached to the road – I think to myself “maybe it is using its cold-gas thrusters and/or Elon and team have invented anti-gravity technology…”

Cool.

Elon and Neil are laughing and drinking their bubbling blue smoking Mojitos and Neil says “How is it that physics isn’t coming into play here – by my best calculations we should be dead in the pool of glacial meltwater at the bottom of that giant crevasse?” I look left and yes, a giant crevasse – we are now on a glacier that is melting fast due to anthropogenic climate change brought on by excessive fossil fuel consumption…Musk says “It’s bad-ass Tesla technology Neil.” he laughs and Neil laughs with him and they drink more of their strange blue mojitos and all the while the Cybertruck is just carrying on without any issue as all hell is breaking loose around us…wait, are we flying?

All I can think about is how I am in a lawn chair, not wearing a seat belt, and the shag carpet was a nice choice – and then I wake up. WTF? I really wanted to see how that one ended.

Now I am worried that when I finally do get my Cybertruck – it won’t have the shag carpet or a bizarro-bartender-Bender-bot.

Dream 2: I’m in a public place. It seems to be a festival of some sort. I see a very buxom woman with long brown hair and a very low-cut tank top running a hot dog stand specializing in vegan brats – her sign reads “My wieners have all the length and girth you can stand.” Woah – really! That’s bold.

I then notice she seems upset. I move closer and she leans down to tell me something – when she does her massive breasts almost fall out of her tiny pink tank top and I notice she has sweat beading up all over her body and she is trembling with fear. She then says something about a snake. For a moment I wonder if her “snake” comment is just her way of coming onto me. My query is answered by her total fear-based reaction – she is clearly terrified of something. Obviously, I investigate further to see if I can assist her with her snake issue. She tells me there is a snake under her hot dog cart and she points in the direction – and I notice she has 2-inch-long electric-blue fingernails.

I look where she is pointing under the cart and discover a smallish snake. It is coiled in the grass near one of the cart’s tires. It is about 2 feet long. At first, it seems to be a Copperhead. Venomous, yes – but not anything to worry that much about as long as you do not get too close. So I get ready to go in and move the snake to a safe place so she can get back to selling her oversized phallically themed sweaty vegan brats.

As if all that was not strange enough…

Suddenly, the snake starts to rapidly grow! It grows and stretches to thousands of times its earlier size to become a monstrous snake-like creature about 20 feet in length with a girth like an elephant’s trunk. It has several rows of unusual crab leg-like venomous talon-tipped appendages below its head and dozens of black, unblinking eyes, and a huge venom-dripping stinger on the end of its whip-like tail. As it is writhing around above the hot dog cart the buxom woman and all the people nearby run off shouting in absolute terror…

Then I wake up.

Dang. I really wanted to see how that one ended.

No drugs, alcohol, or unusual foods were ingested before I went to bed. These are just the natural drugs produced by my own brain and some wild drugs they must be.

Dreams are fun.

Unless.

On By StevoIn climate change, critical thinking, earth, Environment, ScienceLeave a comment

Recently I read this article in The Guardian that really hit home with me how urgent the need is to stop burning things for energy.

Sadly, until our species stops burning long-dead life-forms – fossil fuels – as our primary sources of energy for our homes, businesses, and transportation systems, this trend will only continue. More people will sicken and die due to atmospheric, land, and water pollution directly and indirectly due to burning fossil fuels for energy. Then there are the anthropogenic climate change implications – but that is another can of worms for another day.

If you do not understand the issues and the connections between burning fossil fuels, pollution, climate change and the health and continuation for humans and wildlife then it is possible that:

– you may not understand the problem.

– you may understand the problem but feel that it is hopeless and that nothing you do will change anything.

– you may have the desire to make a change, but do not believe you have the ability or the means to start the change.

or

– you may not want to understand the problem.

– you may for some bizarre reason actually believe the rhetoric of the corrupt politicians who are in bed with fossil fuel corporations.

– you may be listening to and trusting those with agendas.

– while choosing to ignore those with the peer-reviewed evidence.

– you may have money invested in fossil fuels that you do not want to loose.

– you might be comfortable in the way things are – or were – and you do not want to change – even if that change would make you more comfortable, happy, wealthy, and provide your children and grandchildren with a better world.

– you may actually believe the ancient scribblings in a dusty old story book that tells you the earth and its resources are somehow “imperfect” “corrupt” or “evil” and are here for us to dominate and squander without any consideration for future people, wildlife, or the balance of nature.

– you may even somehow believe all of the above.

This is all really very sad.

These limiting, restrictive, erroneous, and destructive beliefs will only serve to make problems such as this far more malignant and deadly.

The cold, hard, inconvenient truth is this: our species must stop burning things for energy and transition as fast as possible to local, energy secure, clean, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, gravity, tidal and wave energy, and eventually – fusion. We must keep the majority of fossil fuels in the ground and use them only as fuel for systems and projects that do not play well with renewables such as rocketry – as well as keeping them in reserve as backups for when emergencies happen and as feedstocks for reusable, recyclable products that are made from them – such as plastics.

If we want our species to continue much longer into the future – we must listen to those with the evidence.

We must follow the evidence wherever it leads.

We must listen to the science.

This is the only way we will ever evolve.

It’s all a conspiracy!

On By StevoIn climate change, conspiracy, COVID-19, critical thinking, earth, NASA, religion, Science, UncategorizedLeave a comment

No, actually – it is not…I was just trying to get your attention 😉

I am sharing this link not because I was one of these people, I am sharing because many people have found themselves in this position and have been able to recognize the trap they were in and then get themselves out of it before it was too late. The link is a story of great advice from one of these individuals who recognized the danger and got out – others, however, are not so lucky and will need help from friends and family in finding their way out of the deep, dark, pit of conspiratorial thinking they have fallen into. Without a ladder or a rope of loving support from their loved ones – and sometimes the long arm of the law – they will dig themselves in even deeper and the ever-increasing depth of the pit will increasingly prevent them from escaping the gravity well they have fallen into – a gravity well that is crushing the life out of them and often, everyone around them.

IMHO, intentionally denying verifiable, peer-reviewed evidence and instead choosing to support conspiracy “theorist” “thinking” and belief systems – is one of the most dangerous threats we face in working toward a prosperous future for us all.

Have you unfortunately found yourself stuck in that bizarre world of conspiracies where you actually fully believe everything is a lie, a cover-up, a hoax?

You know what I’m talking about – but just in case you need a refresher – here are a few of the more common examples:

Area 51 is hoarding and hiding alien bodies/artifacts

The Apollo moon landings were staged/produced by Stanley Kubrick…

The earth is flat…or hollow…

Australia does not exist…

Lizard people are controlling our government…

Giants once existed…

Dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time…or dinosaurs never existed and their bones are a manufactured to give scientists a job…

Chem-trails are real…

Pizzagate…

911 was staged…

The “deep state”…

Climate change is a hoax…

Covid 19 is a bioweapon and was manufactured in a lab by Bill Gates and friends, and/or Bill Gates is putting tracking devices in vaccines to track/follow/control you…

Vaccines cause autism…

The democrats/republicans/greenies are plotting to take your freedoms…

The virus is not real and mask mandates are about control…

College brainwashes people to become liberals…

All that Qanon nonsense…

…yada, yada, yada…


If you believe any of these and/or similar bizarre claims and beliefs – without seriously analyzing and questioning the authenticity of those claims and beliefs…the what and the why of what and why you believe what you believe – and especially if you believe these things without any verifiable evidence to support your claims and beliefs – then you may have inadvertently become stuck/trapped in a cultish following that has hijacked your brain.

Ask yourself some serious questions:

Is this belief system taking up a large portion of my time?

Have I ended friendships or am I fighting with family members over it?

Have I dropped out of school or lost jobs because of it?

Am I living in constant fear of friends/family/neighbors/strangers that I once respected?

Am I afraid – terrified – of what may happen next?

Am I stockpiling food and weapons?

Am I always online “learning” and “researching” the latest claim, “theory” or “truth”?

Am I worshiping an ideal or a person in power/politics/prestige as a “savior” of humanity or our “tribe” or way of life?

Am I worried that friends who listen to and support the recommendations of science are the ones who have been duped?

Am I concerned and/or do I believe that education and knowledge are work of “the left,” “evil” or “the devil?”

Do I believe that I am 100% right about my beliefs because simply my belief system, my friends online, and/or that loudmouthed “woke” guy on YouTube, or my favorite end of the world/prepper/echo chamber website (that interestingly is always asking for money to support their cause) – tells me so?

If any of this sounds like you then please, get professional help now before it is too late.

The fact is this: if no evidence exists to support their/your claim, “theory,” or belief system – then in all the probability that exists – that claim, “theory” or belief system is – most likely – simply wrong/erroneous and/or manufactured – probably to make some slimy, smelly, troll in a dim, dank basement somewhere – loads of money – your money.

Sadly, you may have already lost your freedom to whatever the belief system it is that is controlling you and you will see everything and everyone as a lie, a hoax, a threat to you and your freedom.

Again, if any of this sounds like you then please, get help now before it is too late – before the gravitational pull of the lunatic fringe pulls you past the point of no return and you disappear over the event horizon into the black hole of darkness never to return to the land of the living.

If you can find the inner strength to realize you made a mistake – as the brave woman in this story did – then you can rescue yourself from the toxic world of conspiracy theorists and lies. Next is a story of a man who realized he was conned by the Qanon crazy and got out before it totally controlled his life.

Personal freedom comes when you find the inner strength to break the molds imposed upon you by the conspiratorial, religious, and political conditioning that ended your childhood trust in others and destroyed the insatiable curiosity all children have in the natural, real, observable, measurable, and so very fragile connections between all things in the cosmos.

Until you are able to shed the toxic skin of your past – or the mind predators of your present – you will run the risk of remaining easily controlled, divided, fearful, and under the thumb of the charlatans who want to own your life for their own personal gain.

True freedom does not come from without, it comes from within. It comes from letting go of all the things that have a hold on you, that control your thought process – and replacing them with only reality – even if the reality is that no one is really in control and we are all working, fighting, clawing to exist on a tiny, inconspicuous, remote, wet rocky speck of a rather ordinary planet orbiting just another ordinary star in just another ordinary galaxy in this vast ocean we call the cosmos.

We may not be all that special when it comes to the vastness of the cosmos, but each and every one of us are unique, special, one of a kind individuals and we each have wonderful gifts, talents, generosity, compassion, and love to offer to those around us. Let go of the imaginary things that control you and open your eyes and see reality as it really is – and then you will truly be free to live, share, and enjoy the life and time you have.

Life is not about the ending, it is about the living.

Live, laugh, love, learn.

Do good things.

One Love.

Be Like NASA

On By StevoIn climate change, critical thinking, earth, NASA, Science, UncategorizedLeave a comment

NASA is amazing.

In the late 1960 and early 1970’s they put a total of 12 human beings ON THE MOON with the

Apollo mission series.

NASA not only landed a dozen humans on the moon but they also put several different experiments on the moon – some that are still working to this day…

…and three Lunar Roving Vehicles – yes, NASA put “cars” on the moon…and they are all still there waiting for our return.

They then brought the astronauts, and hundreds of pounds of moon rocks they collected, safely back to earth for study – and they did this 6 TIMES!

Buzz Aldrin looks back at Tranquility Base and the Lunar Module Eagle.
Credit Neil Armstrong and NASA.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/apollo11-gallery

…oh, and they rescued three stranded astronauts who had a terrible mishap in space (Apollo 13) and brought them home safely.

Everyone cheers, waves American flags, and worships the astronauts and NASA as the amazing heroes they are.

Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin ticker tape parade. Credit NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/apollo11-gallery
Earthrise. Credit NASA.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1249.html

NASA sends multiple space probes, landers, and rovers to the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and many of their moons and then, sends back photos and videos and lots of science of these amazing places that astounds the inhabitants of our world greatly increasing our knowledge of our place in our home solar system, our galaxy, and in the cosmos.

The first Pale Blue Dot image. Credit Voyager Space Probe.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/540616main_pia00452-43_full.jpg
The second “Pale Blue Dot” image of Earth from Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft: http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2013/07/Cassini_s_Pale_Blue_Dot

People all over the planet are astonished, amazed, and humbled at the beauty and reality of this outstanding scientific knowledge drop.

NASA’s car sized Mars Science Laboratory “Curiosity” takes a “selfie” on MARS. Source: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html

NASA works with the ESA and other space agencies to land a space probe on a comet!

Yes, you read that correctly – a COMET!!!

Comet 67PCG as imaged by the Rosetta Space Probe. Source: http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Rosetta

After taking almost a decade to arrive at comet 67PCG the people of planet earth watched in awe as the tiny spacecraft Rosetta rendezvoused with the comet and then, released its even more diminutive lander Philae which later briefly touched down and later came to rest – albeit at an unusual angle – on this ancient wandering body in space. Amazing data on the origins of the solar system was gathered, people of earth were astonished at the preciseness of the calculations – the coding, the math, and the science – required to make all this awesome discovery happen for our species.

NASA (and many other space agencies) have put several massive space telescopes into orbit that reveal the existence of countless galaxies, solar systems, and over four thousand exoplanets – some similar to our homeworld – orbiting other suns, and many other amazing hidden secrets of the cosmos.

The Hubble space telescope above earth. Credit NASA.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html

People are again speechless and agape with awe at NASA’s skills at this science thing.

The Hubble Extreme Deep Field Image. Credit NASA. Source: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/xdf.html

NASA builds a fleet of reusable “space planes” – the Space Shuttle.

Shuttle Discovery in orbit with a piece of the ISS. Credit NASA. Source: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

…and then teams up with 15 other nations to build a massive space station – the International Space Station (ISS) – that is now orbiting 250 miles above our planet and moving at a speed of 17,500 mph.

The ISS above earth. Credit NASA. Source: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/overview/index.html

This ISS has been continuously occupied by different astronauts from many different countries for over 20 years.

ISS Pizza Party. Credit NASA. Source:

It is an outpost in space that allows us puny fragile humans to live and work in a weightless environment in order to further our knowledge of our species and its place in the universe – and to prepare for deep space missions back to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Expedition 24 flight engineer, looks through a window in the Cupola of the International Space Station. Credit NASA. Source: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/overview/index.html

BTW: This is a space station that you can use a smartphone locator app (ISSonLive, ISSLiveNow, ISSDetector and more) to find in the night sky and then see with your own eyes from your own backyard. People are enlightened and astounded to the reality of it all.

A Space shuttle above Florida, USA – photo taken from the ISS.
Credit NASA.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/overview/index.html

NASA launches thousands of satellites that allow us to monitor the weather to plan our day, know our exact location and navigate better upon the surface of the planet (GPS), communicate across the world (global satellite communications, satellite TV, satellite internet, satellite phone etc.) – people are like

YAY NASA GO NASA WOOT WOOT!

NASA tells the world – several years early – a total eclipse of our star – the sun – will be happening on a certain day, at a certain time down to the second on a future date – so you better be there in a very narrow zone of totality across the continent or you will miss this once-in-a-lifetime “Great American Eclipse” event. Everyone takes NASA’s word as gospel and a mass migration of humans moves into position along the described zone of totality and all witnesses this totally amazing total solar eclipse.

Crowds gathered nationwide to watch the spectacle.
Everyone was ready and in place for the once in a lifetime event.

The solar eclipse during totality, seen from outside Crowheart, Wyoming; the photograph uses exposure bracketing to show both the Sun’s corona and the surface features of the new moon itself, illuminated by earthshine. A few solar prominences are visible around the lunar limb. Credit: Michael S Adler

Just as NASA scientists had stated several years before the event – the moon passed between the sun and the earth and at the exact times and locations as NASA had previously predicted – the Great American Eclipse happened.

Mike drop.

——————————–

NASA and many, many other scientists (all the way back to Clare Patterson – who not only discovered the age of our planet but may very well have saved all of us from lead poisoning) tells us that our earth is very, very, very old – on the order of 4.55 billion years to be as exact as scientifically possible.

Earth gif. Source – the “interwebs.”

This astonishing fact is supported by tons of geologic evidence in the crustal rocks of the planet and our Moon as well as evidence from ancient asteroids and comets as well as in the chemical/geological makeup of all planetary bodies in our solar system.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_time_scale

More on this topic: https://www.space.com/24854-how-old-is-earth.html

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_the_Earth

Yet today, even with all the before mentioned NASA awesomeness, and all the piles of evidence…

…many humans continue to choose to claim our planet is less than 10,000 years old…see: Young Earth Creationism.

This topic would not be complete without debunking the bizarre myth that we humans lived alongside dinosaurs. Put simply – no, we did not. If we had, we probably would not be here because they were DINOSAURS!

Stated a bit more clearly and with awesome animations.

________________________

NASA uses its best science and technology to confirm our home planet is in fact round…and many, many, astronauts and spacecraft with cameras go into space and report that yes, our planet is in fact round.

Astronaut Mike Massimino over Earth. Credit NASA and Mike Massimino.

…and some people are like – NOPE. I just don’t believe it because from my point of view on the surface of the planet it just looks flat.

Riiiiiiight.

Some insight into the roundness of our planet.

Furthermore…

Imagine you are a bacterium on a beach ball – “Small sections of large curved surfaces will always look flat to little creatures that crawl upon it.” – NDT

I’ll let Neil Degrasse Tyson take it from here…

Source: NASA Blue Marble 2012. Credit NASA. Source: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-earth-58.html

___________________

NASA uses its best space and earth based tools (satellites, aircraft, ice cores, historic temperature readings, atmospheric monitoring stations, tree rings, lake and ocean sediments, and the peer-review process, etc.) to generate solid evidence supported by the vast majority of the planet’s scientists who study the earth’s climate systems to reveal their evidence to the world that our human activities are driving climate change by burning too many fossil fuels way too fast…

…and some people have chosen to totally ignore and deny this peer-reviewed evidence and are like –

“NOPE. I just don’t believe it.”

!!WTF humans WTF!!

If we do not want to have our home planet become another Venus…

Venus – Source NASA: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/overview/

…if we do not want our beautiful round planet to continue to be populated by a growing number of willfully ignorant, science and evidence doubting, conspiracy supporting, myth and legend preaching humans…

…if we do not want our species and many others to go the way of most of the dinosaurs…

…then, as we have done in the past in all matters of space and earth science, when it comes time to make the big decisions that impact us all and our shared environment – then we really need to start listening to NASA and the other experts who study our planet, our environment, and our climate and we need to fully trust them to guide us in our decision making process.

This is not rocket science but it is the definition of critical thinking: Disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, informed, and supported by evidence .

We need to be more like NASA.

We need to unite behind the science.

The future hinges on the decisions that we make today.

Choose Wisely.