Are Atheists Really Fools?

by Roderick C. Meredith


I have before me two newspaper articles with which I strongly disagree. Although I generally love the Wall Street Journal and find its articles and editorials very helpful and stimulating, the articles I am referring to are written in my opinion-- by a couple of "educated fools" --well-known scientist Richard Dawkins and religion writer Karen Armstrong. In an article titled "Man vs. God" (WSJ, September 12, 2009), they "debated" evolution, science and the role of religion. Dawkins came down hard against the idea of a real God and against religion in general. He asserted, "Evolution is the universe's greatest work. Evolution is the creator of life, and life is arguably the most surprising and most beautiful production that the laws of physics have ever generated."

Dawkins went on making fun of God and describing the glories of evolution. But is his kind of reasoning based on fact? Is his supposed "scientific approach" all neat and tidy?

No!

For in his remarks praising "Darwinian life" and denigrating God, Dawkins cheerfully said, "What is so special about life? It never violates the laws of physics. Nothing does (if anything did, physicists would just have to formulate new laws ' --it's happened often enough in the history of science). But although life never violates the laws of physics, it pushes them into unexpected avenues that stagger the imagination."

Do you see Dawkin's problem? He starts out with an already existing universe. This universe has basic "laws" which he admits are never broken! Later, he goes on to admit, once again, "Never once are the laws of physics violated, yet life emerges into uncharted territory."

Think about this preposterous reasoning!

This supposed "great" scientist admits that "never once are the laws of physics violated." Yet he somehow fails to grasp that something or someone had to create these laws of physics and the entire universe that is filled with inviolate laws. It is obvious to most truly sincere and thinking persons that the interrelated and overlapping laws of physics, chemistry, and other areas of science must have been created by a Higher Power--an awesome Being--with a mind far above the human mind. He set in motion these laws and created the beauty, the delicacy and the constancy of this universe to sustain the laws that govern our lives.

As letter-writer Joseph Furman replied a week later in response to the article: "I only had two semesters of college physics, so I must have missed the part where Mr. Dawkins' much vaunted laws of physics began permitting man to love, laugh and cry" (WSJ, September 19, 2009).

Who indeed brought about the creative mind which man alone possesses--and the ability to back off and laugh at himself, to love, and to sometimes give with no thought of a return, and to have a deep spiritual longing with recognition that there must be a higher power?

The so-called "scientists" who try to bypass the basic fact of an entire universe filled with consistent laws and a host of creatures and creations that interact with each other in a way that beautifully "works"--"these people are indeed lacking in understanding and wisdom. As the Psalmist wrote, "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God" (Psalm 14:1).

For her part, religion writer Karen Armstrong wandered around with "touchy feely" ideas that frankly prove nothing. She stated, "The best theology is a spiritual exercise, akin to poetry. Religion is not an exact science but a kind of art form that, like music or painting, introduces us to a mode of knowledge that is different from the purely rational and which cannot easily be put into words."

Indeed, she had a hard time rationally putting her ideas into words! It is sad that, in the name of "religion," this kind of response was chosen to supposedly rebut the atheist Richard Dawkins. For, her response showed no understanding of true religion--nor of a genuine approach to the God of the Bible.

Part of the problem facing these confused individuals is revealed in Aldous Huxley's statement in his well-known book, Ends and Means. This famous thinker and philosopher admits, "Most ignorance is invincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know. It is our will that decides how and upon what subjects we shall use our intelligence. Those who detect no meaning in the world generally do so because, for one reason or another, it suits their books that the world should be meaningless" (p. 312).

Indeed, it is not "fashionable" to believe in a real God. For people like to deny the truth of revealed prophecy in His inspired word, the Bible. But the truth remains! If you have not already done so, write for your free subscription to our Tomorrow's World Bible Study Course. There, you will learn for yourself the truth about fulfilled prophecy. You will see, for example, how God inspired Isaiah to write about the activities of King Cyrus of Persia 200 years in advance--"events confirmed by secular history and your Bible! Yes, my friends, this is a real God! Is He real to you?

People soon will have to believe in God--for He is right now beginning to intervene powerfully in world affairs in very specific ways which we at Tomorrow's World have been telling you about for years! Fulfilled prophecy is very difficult for the skeptic to refute. For it not only has happened--as I indicated--"but you can now see it continuing to happen all around you, if you truly understand prophecy and read your daily newspaper or watch a television channel that actually gives world news.

This very Work--which produces the Tomorrow's World television program and Tomorrow's World magazine--is a continuation of the Work led by Herbert W. Armstrong--a well-known servant of Christ who died in 1986 at age 93. In August 1950, he wrote in The Plain Truth magazine, "No all-out full-scale war is prophesied between Russia and the United States. The famous prophecy of Ezek. 38 and 39 foretells a Russian invasion of Palestine, much later, not against the North American continent" (p. 2).

Remember, dear reader, that back then the vast majority of Bible "prophecy students" were proclaiming that Ezekiel 38 foretold a Russian attack on the North American continent! Often, as we have noted repeatedly, Mr. Armstrong stood alone in proclaiming the Truth of what actually was and is happening in world affairs.

Writing in The Good News in April 1952, Mr. Armstrong proclaimed (at a time virtually no one expected this): "Russia may give East Germany back to the Germans and will be forced to relinquish her control over Hungary, Czechoslovakia and parts of Austria to complete the ten nation union. Europe will have a free hand to destroy America and Britain as prophesied" (p. 16).

How could Mr. Armstrong possibly have known 37 years in advance that Russia was not to become America's greatest challenge--and was not to attack us directly? How could he have known that Russia would, in fact, give East Germany back to the Germans and be forced to relinquish her control over Germany, Czechoslovakia and parts of Austria?

Because, my friends, there is a real God who inspired this information in His Holy Bible! That same God is speaking to your mind now through this Work! We have told you that unless America and the British-descended peoples come to a genuine national repentance such as has never been seen before, they will continue their downward spiral! Almost everything will seem to go wrong. For the Eternal God told our forefathers that if we do not obey His commandments and statutes, He would bring upon us "terror" and then "wasting disease and fever" (Leviticus 26:14-17). We have witnessed--and will continue to witness--all kinds of terror, including terrorist attacks on our cities, our seaports, our airports, our railway stations and our other forms of transport. And we will soon be entering a time of "wasting disease" such as we have never experienced before.

God tells us that if we will not repent, He "will break the pride of your power" (Leviticus 26:19).

To understand these facts, please write for our free booklets, The Real God: Proofs and Promises and Prophecy Fulfilled: God's Hand in World Affairs. You need this vital information! You need to have the intellectual and spiritual honesty to prove to yourself that most of the "educated fools" around you who deny God's existence are the ones who are really "out of touch"!

And you need--with all your heart--to get "in touch" with the real God who gives you life and breath, who is now intervening in human affairs before setting up His very real Kingdom or World Government to finally bring peace to a very confused world. May God help you to be willing to face genuine facts. And may He help you to act on the precious Truth that He alone can provide!

 

Dr. Roderick C. Meredith is editor in chief of Tomorrow's World magazine. His article is reprinted from the Nov. - Dec. 2009 issue, "The Truth About 2012: Hollywood vs. Humanity". Republished here by special permission from the Living Church of God.


Noah's Arc..Biblical legend or scientific reality?

by Blog Administrator

{The photo above is a half scale replica of Noah's Arc built in the Netherlands by Dutch Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible. The Ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. Photos and captions courtesy of various news and information sources -Ed.}

The bible indicates that a great flood was initiated by God because the earth was filled with violence and blood. (Gen 6)

There are historical accounts of a great cataclysmic flood in many cultures admitted by secular historians. The legend of Gilgamesh describes the great flood as recorded in Indian folklore. Although secular historians discount the flood as nothing more than a myth perpetuated in folklore, there is much physical evidence apart from the bible that affirms the great flood.

40 days and 40 nights: The biblical account maintains that the great flood was initiated by rain for 40 days and 40 nights and that the fountains of the deep were opened. The rain would have been driven by the fountains of the deep erupting into the atmosphere from a cataclysmic event such as an earthquake. A Mid-ocean ridge traversing the earth like the seams of a baseball suggests that a fault in the earth's crust released this pressurized water.

The earth's tilt and/or wobble was likely altered from the huge mass of water now accumulating on the earth's surface, resulting in dramatic climate change after the flood.

Photo: Working Replica of Noah's Ark Opened In SCHAGEN, Netherlands

The resulting flood depth may be estimated by a simple calculation. The total known water on earth is 1.4 billion cubic kilometers or 4.592E18 ft3 (cubic feet) of water. The earth's surface area can be estimated from 4/3 Pi(r)2, where r= earth's radius.

Then 4/3 * (3.14) * (2.089E07 ft)2 = 1.827 E15 ft2 (Sq. Feet). The maximum flood water height attainable is then: 4.592E18 ft3/1.827 E15 ft2 = 2513 ft. So the water depth during the flood could not exceed 2513 ft and must be near the maximum depth after 150 days by the Genesis account. The height of the pre-flood mountains was therefore 2500 ft or less.

The earth before the flood was not 75% water as it is today. The bible only mentions one sea in which the four rivers leaving the garden of Eden, emptied, i.e. Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates. The release of water from the fountains of the deep would create massive change in the earth's surface, pushing up huge uplifts and creating vast sea trenches. The Isthmus of Panama is evidence of tectonic plate shift created by flood post trauma in which billions of tons of water were released under pressure.

"Contrary to previous evidence..the Isthmus of Panama was most likely formed by a Central American Peninsula colliding slowly with the South American continent through tectonic plate movement [during and after a great flood].. The canal's maintenance also exposes sediment layers and marine animal fossils, as well as strata of rocks and clay specific to numerous environments, including lagoon, delta, swamp, woodland and dry tropical forest." This is the expected progression of the land as the great floodwaters continued to abate. So the higher mountains that we observe today would have been created during and after the great flood.

Preflood seawater composition was very different, only mildly salty compared to 35,000 ppm salinity today. The evolutionary account of origin also makes a similar claim for mild salinity in the early oceans: "In the beginning the primeval seas must have been only slightly salty. But ever since the first rains descended upon the young Earth hundreds of millions of years ago [or thousands of years ago as in a great flood] and ran over the land breaking up rocks and transporting their minerals to the seas, the ocean has become saltier." - Herbert Swenson, US Geological Survey Publication. So how did the seas get so salty?

Given the huge underground caverns of salt and other mineral deposits throughout the earth, water released from beneath the crust, i.e. from the fountains of the deep, would have passed through many of these beds on its way to the surface leaching out minerals. Salt and other dissolvable solids would be picked up by the floodwaters and transported to the newly created seas. It likely took centuries for the salt levels to attain their present day levels as opposed to evolutionists' claim of 'millions of years'. Periodic melting of the polar icecaps causes certain regions of the oceans to be less salty.

The materials contained in seawater are consistent with known mineral deposits across the globe and provides good support for the bible's account.

The flood not only accounts for the origin of the oceans but also of the rich petroleum deposits we find today. Oil is formed from the remains of tiny plants and animals (plankton) that died in ancient seas between 10 million and 600 million years ago during a great flood. After the organisms died, they sank into the sand and mud at the bottom of the sea. Bacteria acting in the underground caverns where dead animals and plants were trapped after the floodwaters had abated, produced vast quantities of crude oil.

Seawater also contains the two most important gases for sustaining life, oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Availability of Food after the flood:

Evolutionists have claimed that there would have been no food available after the flood because of the salt water. It should be noted that saltwater isn't always detrimental to plant growth, plants exhibit some tolerance depending on the degree of salinity. Belgium suffered salt water flooding of many of their crop fields during the 2nd world war but were still able to grow: "Seawater flooding in Belgium produces bumper Crop"

Supplies may have been low immediately after disembarking from the ark but seaweed (kelp) would have been abundant. It's rich in Iodine, so it could have been eaten by both man (as it is in Japan) and beasts, a boost to the immune system. Especially helpful in lieu of disease from contact with human and animal waste in the arc and being near dead creatures immediately upon leaving the arc.

The bible says: "Make thee an Arc of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark; and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch..The length of the arc shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 cubits, and the height of it 30 cubits." - - Gen 6:v14-15

Photo: A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine.  Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been

Ark construction and feasibility

The Ark was most likely space frame or Semi-monocoque (hybrid) design rather than rib and keel construction. This eliminates the hogging associated with ships like the USS Constitution not to mention the logistic problems of a 300 cubit (600') keel.

No one knows what gopher wood is today. Several ideas have been put forth suggesting that it might be some form of laminated construction material or simply pitch saturated wood. If the latter, then why state the double requirement for pitch "within and without"? Would not the term 'gopher' itself convey that meaning? And, if it's a laminate, then why isn't it stated as to how the layers are to be developed as God did when telling Moses on the mount to take care to make all the things He commanded according to the patterns given?

The fact that gopher wood is not mentioned anywhere else in the flood account implies that it was a wood well known to the inhabitants of the time. It may be just another term for a common tree variety today that fell out of usage after most perished in the flood. Brazilian Ipe {eepay} is a wood known by many different names, some of which are 'Amapa', 'Greenheart', Tahuari'... etc. The unique 'gopher' designation could describe a variety of wood species just as the term 'Santos Mahogany' does.

"Santos Mahogany is grown in countries all the way from Mexico to Argentina... This rich species of Mahogany is deep reddish-brown to orange-brown in color in its heartwood. It is tougher and stronger than typical Genuine Mahogany, and it wears incredibly well over time. "

If the Arc's dimensions can be taken literally then why not the type of wood? Gopher, like 'Santos Mahogany', could have grown only in the area where the ark was built. Destroy the habitat and you destroy the species. Extinction is not unknown in our own time. The available supply of Gopher wood may have been destroyed either by the force of the flood, a higher salt-water concentration or simply an over abundance of water from the ensuing deluge.

The term 'gopher' does not necessarily infer a stronger wood than other species but perhaps it simply offered superior decay resistance like Ipe. Ipe resists insects, moisture and rot, highly desirable characteristics for a construction material during the 100 year long building of the Arc. Gopher may have been a wood better suited to marine use, just as one selects maple for building furniture, rather than cottonwood or elm. Many kinds of wood today are capable of satisfying the structural loading requirements of the Arc such as Hickory, Teak, and White oak.

The Arc and its frame would have been constructed with trunnels or dowel pins made with a hardwood like locust. Although Brazilian Ipe and Locust woods are difficult to work by hand, they make excellent fasteners because of their shear resistance 2060 psi and 1760 psi respectively. All wood in and outside the Arc would have been coated with a pitch sealant.

Pitch: a dark oily liquid obtained by distillation of coal tar, used as a preservative for wood. Pitch contains some 150 different compounds, creosote is one used to preserve wood such as rail ties. Noah's pitch likely didn't depend on distillation. "There are examples of stave churches that have been preserved with pine tar for nearly a thousand years.."

Photo: Deck not quite ready in time for the opening...

Arc construction began in May of 2005.

Huibers did most of the work himself with his own hands, of course, using modern tools and with some occasional help from his son Roy.

The bible indicates that there were 3 decks. The door or gangway would have been located at the 2nd deck elevation, whether in the side or in one of the ends, is still a matter under consideration. An earthen or wooden ramp would have had to be built by Noah and his family for the animals to board.

In the real Arc, ramps would have guided the animals to the upper or lower decks. Noah, his family and smaller animals and birds were likely on the top deck where the Arc's windows provided light.

Rainwater could have been collected during the 40 days rain depending on how the Arc's windows were fashioned. The food supply could be augmented by fishing from an Arc window at either or both ends of the ship.

The Coelacanth (see-la-kanth) fish "..astonished ichtyologists..[who] had been convinced that the last coelacanths were found only off eastern Africa, mainly in the Commoros archipelago. They had been thought to have died out around the time dinosaurs became extinct {70 million years ago -Ed.}, until one was found there in 1938. "

Photo: The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark opened for the first crowd of curious townsfolk to behold the wonder.

In Noah's full size Arc, there would be room for some 35,000 species in small cages not including those that could survive in the sea.

Animals taken aboard the ark would have likely been very young, despite the obvious accommodation benefit, they would have longer lives in which to reproduce and replenish the earth. Small animals and reptiles would not grow dramatically in one year on the arc and reptiles are known to go long periods without food. In the dark holds of the ship, the animals would have spent most of their time sleeping.

The vertebrates would require approximately 146 railroad cars to house at the smallest 18" cubit dimension and the ark could contain some 500-railroad cars at the smallest dimension of the cubit.

There would be adequate storage space for food and water for each creature.
Photo Rampway similar to what would have been used to guide animals above or below the main deck.

It's calculated that the real Arc drew between 19 to 24 feet of waterline with its cargo and "..all manner of food" and water.

The first deck would have been completely submerged.

Dinosaurs & Man: (Job 40, v15-23 and Job 41, v15-21 ): "..in 1856, French workers were digging a railway tunnel when something monstrous stumbled towards them, emerging from a large boulder from the Jurassic period, that they had just split open... it was examined by a palaeontologist, and identified as a Pterodactyl.."

Evolutionists claim that man experienced a brush with extinction in the past, which supports the role Noah and his sons had in repopulating the earth.

'Human line 'nearly split in two': "The Genographic Project's findings are also consistent with the idea - held for some years now - that modern humans had a close brush with extinction in the evolutionary past [Or from a great flood!]. The number of early humans may have shrunk as low as 2,000 [or just Noah & his family!] before numbers began to expand again in the Late Stone Age. "

Photo: Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras,  bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold.

Skin color after the flood: (Acts 8:v27) If Adam and Eve were Middle Eastern in complexion, all the variations of man from Caucasian to Negroid could have been passed along to the generations from this genetic trait through Noah. The people of like coloration would have tended to separate into like bands or tribes. Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin.. "In fact, several scientists said..new work shows just how small a biological difference is reflected by skin color. The newly found mutation involves a change of just one letter of DNA code out of the 3.1 billion letters in the human genome -- the complete instructions for making a human being."

Pigmentation Gene - SLC24A5: The anthropology of race and the discovery of a skin color gene, SLC24A5 ".. researchers then looked at two different human populations in which people with European and African ancestors had mixed relatively recently - African-Americans and African-Caribbeans. They found that, on average, people with two copies of the European version of the gene had the lightest skin. People with two copies of the non-European version of the gene had darker skin, and people with one copy of each version of the gene had skin color somewhere in between. "

Further Evidence of the great flood: Trees petrified in the aftermath of the flood: CONCLUSION.." The evidence presented here provides a basis for additional detailed research that could be done. Such research would be beneficial for our understanding of these unique fossil deposits. Offhand, the in situ model would appear to be the simplest and most natural explanation, but closer examination uncovers features that are difficult to explain for trees in growth position. A transport model involving the flotation of trees and organic debris in a body of water, as illustrated in Spirit Lake, gives a better fit to the data as observed in the Yellowstone Petrified Forests. We propose that the Yellowstone Petrified Forests provide an example of catastrophic deposition" as in the onset of a great flood.

"Now that I am old and Gray...give me the time to tell This new generation (and their children too) About all your mighty miracles." (Psalm 71:18 ) The bible says what it means and it means what it says.

Attachments:

          Noah's Arc Wind Effects.doc (329KB)

    Noah's Arc _HeaveDowelPinEffects5_11_10.doc (154 KB)

         Noah'sArcStructuralSummary3_7_11.doc (240KB)

       Noah'sArcRollstability12_10_11.doc (116KB)

 

Comments

Re:Noah's Arc..biblical legend or scientific reality?

by Allen Williams on Sat 27 Jun 2009 10:13 PM CDT | Profile | Permanent Link

There are two planned upgrades in addendum form for Noah's Arc. The first is a summary of structural calculations on the full size Arc, now included as Attachment 1. The second is a future update on dynamic analysis of roll stabiliry under different assumed sea and wave formations. - Ed.

Re: Re:Noah's Arc..biblical legend or scientific reality?

by Anonymous on Tue 12 Jan 2010 01:32 PM CST | Permanent Link

Arc Statistical tests on Acceleration Data have been added as of 1/12/10 - Ed.


Re:Noah's Arc..Dynamic Roll Resonance analysis

by Allen Williams on Tue 28 Jul 2009 01:16 PM CDT | Profile | Permanent Link

Attachment 2 is the first part of the dynamic analysis of the Arc under different sea and wave conditions. The first section is roll resonance in beam sea conditions.

This attachment will be updated as additional simulation results become available

Noah's Arc..Dynamic Heave Resonance analysis

by Anonymous on Sun 03 Jan 2010 01:03 PM CST | Permanent Link

Attachment 2 has now been upgraded to reflect Heave resonance tests under four distinct sea conditions. It includes acceleration, i.e. dy/dt effects on structural integrity.

Further sea tests under wind loading conditions are forthcoming as time permits.

Noah's Arc..Coincident Heave and Roll Resonance effects on Dowel Pin Fasteners

by Anonymous on Tue 11 May 2010 09:37 AM CDT | Permanent Link

The Arcs wooden fasteners have been evaluated for Heave and Roll Resonance effects:

In the event of a coincident heave force occurring during some portion of an Arc roll, additional stress is transmitted to the wooden dowel fasteners. Although such dowels have been used in the construction of a wide variety of joints, which resist axial, shear, moment and torsion forces, the dowel pins are subjected only to axial or shear forces here. Torsion forces are avoided.

Re:Noah's Arc..biblical legend or scientific reality?

by Anonymous on Sat 18 Feb 2012 09:49 AM CST | Permanent Link

The 'Wind-Sea effects on Arc Arc stability' attachment has been added.



Cold Facts on Global Warming: Global temperature caused by doubling atmospheric CO2 is bounded by an upper limit of 1.4-2.7 degrees centigrade

{The article below supports the observation that Anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide are not significantly affecting either global warming or climate change. These man made sources of CO2 are calculated and documented in Global Warming or global fraud? This is an abridged version of the original T. J. Nelson piece, still quite lengthy but well worth the read. It is reprinted by permission of the author. The complete article is available here. - Ed. }

Photo above: Absorption of ultraviolet, visible, and infrared radiation by various gases in the atmosphere. Most of the ultraviolet light (below 0.3 microns) is absorbed by ozone (O3) and oxygen (O2). Carbon dioxide has three large absorption bands in the infrared region at about 2.7, 4.3, and 15 microns. Water has several absorption bands in the infrared, and even has some absorption well into the microwave region. {Peixoto, J.P. and Oort, A.H., Physics of Climate, Springer, 1992, p. 118.}



by T. J. Nelson

What is the contribution of anthropogenic carbon dioxide to global warming? This question has been the subject of many heated arguments, and a great deal of hysteria. In this article, we will consider a simple calculation, based on well-accepted facts, that shows that the expected global temperature increase caused by doubling atmospheric carbon dioxide levels is bounded by an upper limit of 1.4-2.7 degrees centigrade. This result contrasts with the results of the IPCC's climate models, whose projections are shown to be unrealistically high.

There is general agreement that the Earth is naturally warmed to some extent by atmospheric gases, principally water vapor, in what is often called a "greenhouse effect". The Earth absorbs enough radiation from the sun to raise its temperature by 0.5 degrees per day, but is theoretically capable of emitting sufficient long-wave radiation to cool itself by 5 times this amount. The Earth maintains its energy balance in part by absorption of the outgoing longwave radiation in the atmosphere, which causes warming.

On this basis, it has been estimated that the current level of warming is on the order of 33 degrees C. That is to say, in the absence of so-called greenhouse gases, the Earth would be 33 degrees cooler than it is today, or about 255 K (-0.4° F). Of these greenhouse gases, water is by far the most important. Although estimates of the contribution from water vapor vary widely, most sources place it between 90 and 95% of the warming effect, or about 30-31 of the 33 degrees. Carbon dioxide, although present in much lower concentrations than water, absorbs more infrared radiation than water on a per-molecule basis and contributes about 84% of the total non-water greenhouse gas equivalents, or about 4.2-8.4% of the total greenhouse gas effect.

The 33 degree increase in temperature is not caused simply by absorption of radiation but mostly by the Earth's adaptation to higher temperatures, which includes secondary effects such as increased water vapor, cloud formation, and changes in albedo or surface reflectivity caused by melting and aging of snow and ice. Accurately calculating the relative contribution of each of these components presents major difficulties.

Traditionally, greenhouse gas levels are presented as dimensionless numbers representing parts per billion (ppb) multiplied by a scaling factor (global warming potential- GWP) that allows their relative efficiency of producing global temperature increases to be compared. For carbon dioxide, this scaling factor is 1.0. The factors for methane and nitrous oxide are 21 and 310, respectively, while sulfur hexafluoride is 23,900 times more effective than carbon dioxide. The GWP from carbon dioxide is primarily due to the position of its absorption bands in the critical longwave infrared region at 2, 3, 5, and 13-17 micrometers.

Methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, CFCs and other miscellaneous gases absorb radiation even more efficiently than carbon dioxide, but are also present at much lower concentrations. Their high GWP results from their molecular structure which makes them absorb strongly and at different wavelengths from water vapor and carbon dioxide. For example, although ozone is usually thought of as an absorber of ultraviolet radiation, it also absorbs longwave infrared at 9.6 micrometers. These gases account for another 1.3% of the natural greenhouse gas effect. The increase in the global energy balance caused by greenhouse gases is called "radiative forcing".

The GWP of a greenhouse gas is the ratio of the time-integrated radiative forcing from 1 kg of the gas in question compared to 1 kg of carbon dioxide. These GWP values are calculated over a 100 year time horizon and take into consideration not only the absorption of radiation at different wavelengths, but also the different atmospheric lifetimes of each gas and secondary effects such as effects on water vapor. For some gases, the GWP is too complex to calculate because the gas participates in complex chemical reactions. Most researchers use the GWPs compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Even though most of the so-called greenhouse effect is caused by water vapor, about 1-2 degrees of our current empirically-measured temperature of roughly 288 K (59° F) can be attributed to carbon dioxide. Water vapor is at least 99.99% of 'natural' origin, which is to say that no amount of deindustrialization could ever significantly change the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. Thus, climatologists have concentrated mostly on carbon dioxide and methane.

Figures from the U.S. Department of Energy show that the pre-industrial baseline of carbon dioxide is 288,000 ppb. The total current carbon dioxide is 368,400 parts per billion, or 0.0368% of the atmosphere. The ocean and biosphere possess a large buffering capacity, mainly because of carbon dioxide's large solubility in water. Because of this, it's safe to conclude that the anthropogenic component of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration will continue to remain roughly proportional to the rate of carbon dioxide emissions and therefore is in no danger of being saturated, which would allow all the emitted carbon dioxide to go into the atmosphere.

Of course, climate, like weather, is complex, nonlinear, and perhaps even chaotic. Increased solar irradiation can lower the albedo, which would amplify any effect caused by changes in solar flux, making the relation between radiation and temperature greater than linear.

Increased temperatures also cause increased evaporation of sea water, which can cause warming because of water's greenhouse effect, and also can affect the radiation flux by creating additional clouds.

The arithmetic of absorption of infrared radiation also works to decrease the linearity. Absorption of light follows a logarithmic curve -->

Figure 1: Transmitted light is a logarithmic function of concentration. This curve is the familiar Beer's Law.

as the amount of absorbing substance increases. It is generally accepted that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is already high enough to absorb almost all the infrared radiation in the main carbon dioxide absorption bands over a distance of only a few km. Thus, even if the atmosphere were heavily laden with carbon dioxide, it would still only cause an incremental increase in the amount of infrared absorption over current levels.

The net effect of all these processes is that doubling carbon dioxide would not double the amount of global warming. In fact, the effect of carbon dioxide is roughly logarithmic. Each time carbon dioxide (or some other greenhouse gas) is doubled, the increase in temperature is less than the previous increase. The reason for this is that, eventually, all the longwave radiation that can be absorbed has already been absorbed. It would be analogous to closing more and more shades over the windows of your house on a sunny day -- it soon reaches the point where doubling the number of shades can't make it any darker.

What does saturation mean?

The "saturation" argument does not mean that global warming doesn't occur. What saturation tells us is that exponentially higher levels of CO2 would be needed to produce a linear increase in absorption, and hence temperature. This is basic physics. Beer's law has not been repealed. CO2 is very nearly homogeneous throughout the atmosphere, so its concentration (as a percentage of the total) is about the same at all altitudes.

The presence or absence of water vapor has no bearing on whether radiation is absorbed by CO2. Water vapor is a red herring: it has essentially no effect on what CO2 does. Where water vapor becomes important is in the earth's response to CO2.

Saturation does not tell us whether CO2 can raise the atmospheric temperature, but it gives us a powerful clue about the shape of the curve of temperature vs. concentration.

Linear Climate projections:

The linear projection shown here, while obviously simplistic, is a more straightforward argument than those used in climate models, because it does not treat the radiative forcing caused by carbon dioxide separately from the planet's adaptation to it. In other words, we did not just build a model and add carbon dioxide, but instead took numbers that are based on empirical measurements and extended them by a small percentage.

Figure 2: Estimated greenhouse gas-induced global warming plotted against greenhouse gas concentrations expressed as a percentage of current-day values. The black curve is a linear extrapolation calculated from the DOE estimates of total current greenhouse gases. The sharp jump at the right is the data point from one computer model that predicts a nine degree increase from doubling current levels of carbon dioxide.

From the numbers, it is easy to calculate, assuming a linear dependence of temperature on greenhouse gas concentrations, that a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide

would produce an additional warming of (0.042 to 0.084) x 33 = 1.38 to 2.77 degrees centigrade.

Our calculation also assumes that the increase in temperature is linearly proportional to the greenhouse gas levels. However, as indicated above, the relationship is not linear, but logarithmic. A plot of temperature vs. gas concentration (expressed as a percentage of current-day levels) would be a convex curve, something like the blue curve in Figure 2. Thus, 1.4-2.7 degrees is an upper bound, and depending on the exact shape of the blue curve, could be an overestimate of the warming effect.

This 1.4-2.7 degree estimate is comparable to the estimate of 1.4 degrees associated with the "empiricist" school of the University of Delaware, University of Virginia, and Arizona State University. An increase of 1.4 degrees was also predicted by P.J. Michaels and R.C. Balling using the NCAR Community Climate Model 3 model, after the large increases in projected carbon dioxide in the original paper in which the model was described were replaced with more realistic ones.

Because a linear increase in temperature requires an exponential increase in carbon dioxide (thanks to the physics of radiation absorption described above), we know that the next two-fold increase in CO2 will produce exactly the same temperature increase as the previous two-fold increase. Although we haven't had a two-fold increase yet, it is easy to calculate from the observed values what to expect.

Between 1900 and 2000, atmospheric CO2 increased from 295 to 365 ppm, while temperatures increased about 0.57 degrees C (using the value cited by Al Gore and others). It is simple to calculate the proportionality constant (call it 'k') between the observed increase in CO2 and the observed temperature increase:

This shows that doubling CO2 over its current values should increase the earth's temperature by about 1.85 degrees C. Doubling it again would raise the temperature another 1.85 degrees C. Since these numbers are based on actual measurements, not models, they include the effects of amplification. These estimates assume that the correlation between global temperature and carbon dioxide is causal in nature. Therefore, the 1.85 degree estimate should also be regarded as an upper limit.

Figure 3: Calculated Temperature rise as a function of CO2 concentration.

It goes without saying that the results shown here depend on the accuracy of the original 33 degree estimate and the validity of extrapolating the existing curve out by an additional small increment. However, we can check the plausibility of the IPCC's result by asking the following question: Instead of 33 degrees, what number would result if we calculated backwards from the IPCC estimates?

Using the same assumption of linearity, if a 9 degree increase resulted from the above-mentioned increase of greenhouse gas levels, the current greenhouse gas level (which is by definition 100%) would be equivalent to a greenhouse gas-induced temperature increase of at least 107 degrees C. This means the for the 9 degree figure to be correct, the current global temperature would have to be at least 255 + 107 - 273 = 89 degrees centigrade, or 192° Fahrenheit! A model that predicts a current-day temperature well above the highest-ever observed temperature is clearly in need of serious tweaking.

What about secondary effects, such as ice melting, changes in albedo, and so forth? Doesn't this increase the predicted temperature beyond the 1.39 to 1.76 degree estimate? In short, no. Because these calculations are based on observed measurements, they automatically take into account all of the earth's responses. Whatever way the climate adapted to past CO2 increases, whether through melting, changes in albedo, or other effects, is already reflected in the measured temperature.

Some climatologists, making assumptions about ever increasing rates of carbon dioxide production, assert that the doubling will occur within a few decades instead of a few centuries. However, they are doing sociology, not climatology. The only honest way to estimate the change of CO2 levels is by using a simple linear extrapolation; otherwise, we are merely indulging in speculation about future social trends. At the current rate of increase, CO2 will not double its current level until 2255.

Conclusions:

Although carbon dioxide is capable of raising the Earth's overall temperature, the IPCC's predictions of catastrophic temperature increases produced by carbon dioxide have been challenged by many scientists. In particular, the importance of water vapor is frequently overlooked by environmental activists and by the media.

The above discussion shows that the large temperature increases predicted by many computer models are unphysical and inconsistent with results obtained by basic measurements. Skepticism is warranted when considering computer-generated projections of global warming that cannot even predict existing observations.

{T. J. Nelson is a practicing research scientist at a non-profit institute affiliated with a large University. - Ed.}


Fibonacci's Golden Mean…Evidence of Design or Evolution?

by Allen Williams


We have often heard from evolutionists that those holding the view that life is a product of Intelligent Design are ‘Creobots’ or ‘ID’iots, as if there was nothing more than one’s emotions or a less evolved intellect in order to consider the possibility of design rather than natural selection.

Evolutionist, Richard Dawkins claims, that the ‘God delusion’ is behind the notion of design and purpose to mankind and its surroundings. Is this true? The field of mathematics is a highly structured and orderly application of human reason and logic, which did not evolve but was developed through incisive thought and mathematical tests.

The principles of mathematics developed through observation and the desire to quantify what was observed. It’s definitions, identities, and axioms define an absolute truth, which is unerring and undeviating, and is the basis that establishes the theorems of application. The foundation of Mathematics rests on logic and is a "deductive study of numbers, geometry and various abstract constructs". - Columbia Encyclopedia, 1991. So, how is the mental reasoning that allows truth to be discovered in the world of numbers, suddenly flawed when it comes to discovering the truth of an Intelligent Designer?

One evolutionist claims that "Real life is not binary, it uses real numbers (I’m not saying that binary numbers aren’t real, but that real life can use rational and irrational numbers). At the core, proofs in biology are not different from proofs in mathematics. "

Really? Well, then if real life can use irrational numbers to represent physical phenomena then it can equally utilize binary numbers, i.e. ‘0, 1’ to describe the state of certain life conditions. After all, what is life or death but a binary function? You’re either alive or dead, there isn’t any in-between. Now according to this evolutionist’s statement, if numbers in life forms can be shown to be real and part of a family, then that would constitute evidence for the existence of an Intelligent Designer as it would for the existence and validity of a mathematical theorem.

In Fermat’s Last Theorem, where equations of the form xn +yn = zn, have been shown to be irreducible and modular, therefore part of a family of elliptic curves. So, is there any biological evidence of some common mathematical relationship in living plants and animals? If not, then this would tend to support evolution’s notion of randomness in creating life but if so, then design is inferred.

An Italian mathematician by the name of Leonardo Fibonacci or more properly, Leonardo da Pisa brought the modern decimal numbering system to Europe in 1200 AD. His travels as a merchant throughout Algeria, Syria, Greece, etc., brought him into contact with the Arabian number or 10 based number system. He is best known for a simple mathematical series introduced in his publication, Liber Abaci, named as Fibonacci numbers in his honor. The series begins with zero and each successive number is the sum of the last two, i.e. 0 + 1 = 1 and 1 + 1 = 2, etc. 0, 1, 1, 2, 3 , 5 , 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 and so on defines the series.

A unique attribute of the series is that dividing a number by the preceding smaller one yields a ratio called the ‘golden mean’ or ‘divine number’, as it is called. It’s the ratio of the current number in the Fibonacci series, i.e. x(n+1) divided by the previous number x(n), i.e. 55/34 = 1.6176. This number series can be visualized as a group of boxes or rectangles as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Fibonacci Blocks

Now, consider the line segment, 'ac'


               a                                                b                                                         c

If we postulate that there exists an optimum ratio, i.e. height to width, which may be represented by the line segment above. We can pick an arbitrary point along the line to represent this optimum, called 'b', then: ab/bc = bc/ac

An optimum ratio is an ideal length relationship between line segments. Such a relationship might be expected to be more than simply an interesting intellectual exercise. The line segment ratio in our example is the length of bc to ab. Now if we set ab = 1 and let x represent the segment bc, we have:

1/x = x/(1+x)

(1 + x) = x2. This can be put into standard quadratic form as:

x2 – x –1 = 0 with a root of 1 + Sqrt(5)/2 = 1.618, or the golden ratio. The equation may also be expressed in terns of its coefficients:

x2 - (b/a)x – 1 = 0 where a = 1 and b= x.

The term (b/a) approaches a finite limit for the series as the Fibonacci ratio approaches infinity:

LIM [(b/a)] -> µ = 1.618. This relationship is also found to exist in angle groups as well as lines.

This remarkable property is by no means restricted to the series developed by Leonardo Fibonacci but occurs in limitless mathematical sequences. For example take the polar coordinate axes, 0, Pi/6, Pi/4, Pi/3, Pi/2, 2Pi/3, 3Pi/4, 5Pi/6, Pi, 7Pi/6, 5Pi/4, and so on. A Fibonacci series can be created from the polar axes themselves by adding together the last two numbers to get the next one in the sequence, which are: 0.79, 0.79, 1.84, 2.63, 4.47, 7.10, 11.57, 18.67, 30.24, 48.91, 79.15, and so on. A plot of the sequence is shown in Figure 2. 

This length to width relationship produces what is referred to as the ‘golden rectangle.’ It occurs time and again throughout nature, in the human body, as well as the animal and plant world. Note its similarity to both the Fibonacci spiral and the seashell of Figures 5 & 6 respectively.

"Phideas, the Greek sculptor and many others in Greece and Egypt used this relationship in creating their works of art and architecture.

Furthermore the ratio and the golden spiral are ubiquitous throughout creation", so says Frederick A. Willson in "Ubiquity of the Divine" (Golden) Ratio and Fibonacci Numbers Throughout the Heavens and Earth." See also: http://plus.maths.org/issue3/fibonacci

Figure 3 shows the plot of progressive (b/a) calculations of the polar axes as determined from the polar series of Figure 2. Note that this series limit is the predicted 1.618, the same ratio as our line segment, 'a-c' above demonstrates.

"The Golden Mean or Phi occurs frequently in nature and it may be that humans are genetically programmed to recognize the ratio as being pleasing. Studies of top fashion models revealed that their faces have an abundance of the 1.618 ratio." – Frederick A. Willson in "Ubiquity of the Divine." See: Fibonacci Numbers in nature

Human DNA

Human DNA exhibits this same divine number or golden mean. The double helix structure of DNA shown in Figure 4, measures 34 angstroms long by 21 angstroms wide for each full cycle. So, 34/21 = 1.619. The length between major and minor grooves, the blue and yellow line), exhibits this same 1.618 ideal ratio.

Human DNA: http://goldennumber.net/dna.htm

Figure 4. – Human DNA
(Photo: Double Helix)

Francis Crick, the discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA has calculated the probability that such a complicated molecular string could have formed on its own as essentially zero. The biological code written into the human cell would fill 1,600 pages.

There is as much information in the cell as is contained in 600 encyclopedias. Cell mechanics are also extremely complex: "Life at the molecular level is composed of tiny machines…There are more machines inside the human body than all the combined factories of the world… There are 2 trillion chemical processes that take place in the human cell." - Michael Behe, ‘Darwin's Black Box’.

Genetics has shown that mankind is all ONE blood (Acts 17:26) requiring no more than a 0.012% variation in DNA to account for all the outward physical characteristics, including skin color.

It seems a stretch to the logical mind that evolution not only produces life by random acts of chance but has also produced it in an optimal aspect ratio of length to width, i.e. 1.618: 1. In one case, natural selection's chance combinations purportedly create life through confusion, while on the other hand, we have evidence of Intelligent Design as noted in I Corinthians 14:33, which states that "For God is not the author of confusion.."

Intelligent Design’s ‘Anthropic Principle’ suggests that there are a series of optimum constants necessary to support life, one of which is the spiral galaxy. There are three basic galactic forms, elliptical, irregular and spiral. However, only spiral galaxies have a near round orbit capable of supporting life.

Figure 5 – Spiral Galaxy
(Photo: Ursa Major)

The golden mean in spiral galaxies: http://www.wisdomportal.com/Geometry/SpiralPage.html

Many plants exhibit the Fibonacci series in petals, leaves, sections and seeds: http://goldennumber.net/plants.htm Fibonacci numbers are also found in living organisms including the cochlea of the human ear: http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_17.htm

Figure 6 - Fibonacci Spiral
(Photo: Nautilus Construct)

Using the blocks of Figure 1, we may construct an idealized spiral by drawing a series of lines through the diagonals of each of the Fibonacci squares and then connecting them with a series of smooth curves or chords as shown in Figure 5.

The resulting figure looks remarkably like the Nautilus seashell of Figure 7. 

Figure 7: Nautilus Shell (Photo: http://www.sacredarch.com/sacred_geo_exer_shell.htm )


Matter, Chance and Time are the trinity of evolution. And so, unique mathematical relationships conflict with material science’s assertion that there are no absolute truths. The fact that a unique aspect ratio is so pervasive through out nature is strong evidence of intentional design rather than chance combinations in matter as evolutionist’s have asserted.