Thursday, June 6, 2013

the dance of the seven vales

Dentist visit this AM, all good stuff.  But halfway through it the lady cleaning my teeth leans in, well she's already right there, but, leans in and asks in a whisper voice, do I believe in global warming, "sure things are getting warmer", she says, "no one can deny that, but is it global warming?"  Well that was exhausting to think about, it's getting warmer but not warmering,  or I guess that was her point.

For events like this I am prepared, the convert beckons.  She already droped the first vale and  the dance of the seven vales begins.   I open with "if 99% of the doctors agree that rattlesnake bites should be treated, do you instead listen to a neighbor who advises against it?  OH, second vale slips off.  "What's causing it" she asks.  CO2 from fossil fuel mostly.  She spins away with "CO2, how would that do it, is it melting the ice?"  Complete confusion on her part as #3 falls.  I explain CO2 is a constant and made our atmosphere possible through the greenhouse effect, problem is burning coal and oil is moving it from underground into the sky where it blocks infrared heat from escaping into space increasing the greenhouse, a net bad thing.  4th vail floats off.  "But I heard they don't know where the CO2 comes from" she offers and skips back.  Oh not true, CO2 molecules have a fingerprint through an isotope, when they catch one they can tell if it is an old one thats been cycling around from tree to horse to grass to fish to lung to leaf, or if it came out of the coal mines.  Stunned the 5th and 6th vale fall together, and I can see almost everything now and.......and the damn Dentist barges in rambling and poking and schuffling exrays like a deck of cards, says good teeth, whacks away at the computer, next appointment set, and I'm on the way out.

Damn, I almost had it all.  7th vale, damn those are hard to get off sometimes.


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