MILUTIN MILANKOVITCH 29 JUN 2014

MILUTIN MILANKOVITCH or in his native Serbian Cyrillic: Милутин Миланковић (1879 –1958) was a Serbian mathematician, astronomer, climatologist, geophysicist, civil engineer, doctor of technology, univ. prof, etc. Why would we want to know about him??? Because he explained the climate changes we are experiencing, and why they happen. This post is designed to provide a forum for sharing links & discussion on climate change. I have always believed that a healthy presentation of views helps us get to the truth. I personally don’t have much to add to the debate except to expose everyone to Milankovitch & his formulas that can calculate the climate in the past or future on earth or on some other planet.

Al Gore (with his “propaganda” movie “An Inconvenient Truth” & books) as well as similar PC politicians & scientists are simply spouting false science to cause people to blame mankind for global climate changes so that humanity gives up their rights. In contrast with their propaganda, Milanković contributed in many ways to science; two fundamental contributions were: “Canon of the Earth’s Insolation”, which characterizes the climates of all the planets of the Solar system, & the second is the explanation of Earth’s long-term climate changes caused by changes in the position of the Earth in comparison to the Sun, now known as Milankovitch cycles. These cycles explain the past ice ages, as well as today’s & tomorrow’s climate changes.

PLANETARY CLIMATOLOGY. Milanković created the science of planetary climatology by showing the mechanisms of how the movements of planets & moons, & other items were related. He built on the research & theories of others, for instance James Croll in the 1860s, but went way beyond them. His first published paper “On the mathematical theory of climate”(1912) described the present climate on Earth & how the Sun’s rays determine the Earth’s surface temperature. To come up with his solution he had to collate many influences into a cohesive model using such things as spherical geometry, celestial mechanics, higher calculus & theoretical physics. This all is called Planet insolation. The next year he was able to mathematically calculate the intensity of insolation and provide a formula for figuring out the earth’s climate at a particular time without direct measurements. Milanković wrote: “…such a theory would enable us to go beyond the range of direct observations, not only in space, but also in time… It would allow reconstruction of the Earth’s climate, and also its predictions, as well as give us the first reliable data about the climate conditions on other planets.” This then is a glimpse of the enormous contribution that this man gave us. He explained in accurate detail the ice ages, and how to calculate the insolation in any given geographical latitude and for any annual season. The variations in insolation were responsible for the series of ice ages. Our climate changes today are just that, variations in insolation, & have nothing to do with people driving cars & breathing.

WHY HIS WORK IS SO IMPORTANT. Recently, LA State rep. Lenar Whitney, who supports energy independence thru oil & natural gas exploration & is a candidate for U.S. House of Reps, got spotlighted for calling global warming “perhaps the greatest deception in the history of mankind.” Further, Whitney correctly warned that the global warming scam is a ruse to destroy the free enterprise system & an excuse for more govt. control over the economy. Her words, “The conspiracy of global warming has had a devastating effect on the American dream… but now capitalism & our energy industry are under attack, and the hoax of global warming is the dagger. Americans must stop putting up with this ruse. There’s too much at stake. We need to free America’s energy producers to power a new American Renaissance… energy security is real; global warming is not. It is merely a strategy designed to give more power to … Big Government.”

ON THE OTHER SIDE, Obama stated that “denying [man-made] climate change is like arguing that the moon is made of cheese.” The solutions that are tossed around are a carbon tax or cap-and-trade — as well as subsidies for environmentally beneficial technologies and taxes on goods or activities that generate emissions (such as gasoline taxes, roadway usage fees and congestion pricing — all of which reduce driving). The NRDC, an example of a group issuing PC views, claims, “Climate change is the single biggest environmental and humanitarian crisis of our time….Heat waves, wildfires, floods and droughts hit us hard in 2012 (the warmest year on record for the United States). Scientists warn that if we don’t address climate change, this is just a taste of what we could expect in the years ahead.” The implication is that it is something we have caused and therefore can change! They continue, “A new analysis, performed by consulting firm Tetra Tech for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), examined the effects of global warming on water supply and demand in the contiguous United States. The study found that more than 1,100 counties — one-third of all counties in the lower 48 — will face higher risks of water shortages by mid-century as the result of global warming. More than 400 of these counties will face extremely high risks of water shortages.”

I can categorically state that we are risking water shortages because of high water use & poor water management. It has nothing to do with global temperature changes. When I lived in western KS in the early 70’s, we knew that at the rate that water was being pumped out of the underground aquiver, that we were pumping it out faster for irrigation & industry than it could rejuvenate. The water table went down as predicted. However, one thing the global warming propagandists are proposing does sound beneficial—R&D. Public/Govt. supported R&D has been tremendously important in the past: their funding has played a role in the development of just about every major energy technology (a few examples are: nuclear energy, solar cells, aeroderivative combustion turbines, hydraulic fracturing called “fracking” for natural gas & oil, and compact fluorescent light bulbs). Govt. partnerships have helped private R&D. R&D can help in things such as emissions reductions. If performance standards for technology are to be greener, then joint R&D efforts can reduce the trauma to the economy.

SUMMARY. This post has introduced the great man of science Milutin Milanković , a man who provided formulas for determining the climate at any point in time & place on a body in the solar system. It has discussed in short form some of the issues involved in the debate on climate change, in order to provide a platform for readers, if they want, to contribute more links & discussion on this issue. Contributors can practice being clear & concise. We have a responsibility for our environment, WHAT IS IT?