Short version
Short summary of the documentary:
The basis of oil is plankton which lives in the sea. You need a thick layer of muddy organic dead, non-degraded plankton. For that you need:
*high CO2 concentrations in the air
*high temperatures
*no (polar) ice
*a lot of nutrients (food for plankton) in the oceans
Sounds familiar? With our industries and transportation we are hugely increasing the concentration of CO2, the temperature is rising, the polar caps are melting and our way of living results in a lot of nutrients reaching the seas due to dumping and erosion.
Hurray! We are busy creating perfect circumstances for new oil production! However, these circumstances are not the right circumstances for humans to live in: high levels of CO2, high temperatures, toxic, smelly, dead seas, lots of tropical storms and seriously disturbed ecosystems all over the world make living (as we know it) impossible.
In the past it was volcanoes producing high CO2 concentrations in the air. Lots of CO2 in the air results in higher temperatures resulting in melting of the ice caps resulting in near global stagnation of ocean waters (ocean streams are the result of interaction between warm and cold water).
High temperatures also lead to more evaporation and more heavy rainfall, resulting, in turn, in more nutrients being washed to the sea.
Now we are doing all this. We best stop this process, start demanding and using renewable energy sources, and keep our energy usage long (nice for your bills as well).
(No, sticking your head in the sand does not make it go away, AND it leaves sand in your ears…quite irritating..).
Last edited by Turtuga Blanku; 29th-June-2008 at 09:04 PM.
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