Sunday, April 23, 2023

7 Hiroshima Bombs per second

What if you had a magical 1950s PU truck and a quarter tank of gas. Every time you used gas it is replaced by the gas you used – and a tiny amount more. Again magically, as you enter the freeway on-ramp and stick the pedal to the metal both the carburetor throat and the fuel jet internal diameter expand as well – again by tiny amounts. You merge going an idle cruise at 55 with plenty of room between your speed and the limit. In the meantime the gas tank gets fuller by tiny amounts, and the larger carburetor throat makes the engine run more responsively. But the freeway ends. You apply the not-magical brakes, but he-he-hey! Light turns green! Now you accelerate like a bat out of hell! Pretty soon, gas is leaking out. You could sell gas, except every other vehicle is also magical. Nobody wants it. Meanwhile the brakes are wearing out. The carburetor is eaten away from the inside. You are a long way from home now. The choice you have is to drive on until it all blows up or use what brakes you have to: Stop! Get out! And walk home! Climate change is like that. Burning fossil fuels drives climate change. Ocean absorption energy due to climbing atmospheric CO2 concentrations has accelerated from balance zero - to energy equivalences of over seven Hiroshima Atomic Bombs – EVERY SECOND! Tic7 . . Tic7 . . Tic7. . . and climbing . . .

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