The Straight Dope 04/07/2006

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

You are subscribed as: [[email protected]]

To unsubscribe CLICK on the URL below this line:
mailto:[email protected]
If you can't "click" above, then send a blank email to:
[email protected]
____________________________________________
THE STRAIGHT DOPE 04/07/2006

Dear Cecil:

Robert Essenhigh, a professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State,
has written an essay disputing the idea that human activity is causing
global warming. He is part of an academic group that opposes the Kyoto
treaty. Although I have a PhD in physical organic chemistry and have
done some work in environmental areas, I cannot dismiss his arguments
out of hand. Is Professor Essenhigh right and can we all go out and buy
SUVs? Or are there convincing arguments to the contrary? With the Kyoto
treaty on the rocks, it'd be nice to know. --Jon Kapecki, Rochester, New
York

~~~~~~
Looking for the perfect gift for that wedding, birthday, or
bar mitzvah? Straight Dope books are the very thing! 
See http://www.straightdope.com/store.html
~~~~~~

Cecil replies:

I get a lot of letters like yours, Jon, basically asking me, a weekly
alternative newspaper columnist, to resolve one of the great
controversies of our age. No problem, that's what I do. Given an
800-word limit, however, you'll excuse my taking a few shortcuts.

So here we go: Are greenhouse-gas emissions from our fuel-guzzling cars,
power plants, etc, a significant contributor to potentially catastrophic
climate change? Answer: Beats me. But you know what? It doesn't matter
even if they are.

First, Essenhigh. The professor argued in a 2001 article in Chemical
Innovation that average global temperatures were rising but that,
contrary to wide popular and scientific opinion, human activity wasn't
the principal cause. Rather, the fluctuations we're now seeing are part
of a natural cycle that's been going on for eons. Essenhigh's reasoning
appealed largely to common sense: Carbon dioxide, the most widely
discussed greenhouse gas, is part of earth's vast store of carbon (about
150 billion tons), which is continually being cycled through the oceans,
the atmosphere, and vegetation. The human contribution to atmospheric
carbon in the form of CO2 is small, less than 5 percent of the total
carbon reservoir. Ergo . . .

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060407.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #1 - 03/05/1993

Dear Cecil: 

Please debunk the "missing day" theory described in the enclosed flyer.
--Ross Rhone, Chicago  

Dear Ross:  

Debunk it? Hey, I want to believe in it.  I also want to believe that Jimmy 
Hoffa and Elvis are running a 7-Eleven in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Unfortunately, 
we're out of luck on all counts.  

The best known version of the tale, a classic bit of "xeroxlore" that 
creationists have been passing around for more than 20 years, is 
attributed to one Harold Hill, supposedly a consultant to the
NASA space program. It seems a bunch of "astronauts and space
scientists" at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland,
were using a computer to calculate the orbits of the sun, moon, and
planets so that a satellite sent up today would not crash into something
a hundred years from now. This entailed figuring the position of the
heavenly bodies many centuries into the past. (Why I don't know; I'm
just telling the story.) 

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_083.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #2 - 06/08/1990

Dear Cecil: 

Is man a meat-eater or a vegetarian by nature? According to the enclosed
clipping from a vegetarian magazine, "The intestinal length of
carnivores (meat-eating animals) is three times the body length to allow
for quick removal of flesh wastes that putrefy in the intestines. Man's
intestine length, like other herbivores, is six times his body length
and is designed for digesting vegetables, grains, and fruits." I'm not a
meat-eater but my girlfriend is and she is not convinced man is a
natural vegetarian. We decided to leave it up to you. (Why I agreed to
this I don't know, it's obvious from your aggressive tone that you like
your steak rare.) Please, don't embarrass yourself by quoting that
garbage from the National Beef Council that meat is our best source of
protein. Even high school kids know better than that. --L. Williams,
Culver City, California  

Cecil replies:  

Listen, wimp--whoops, too aggressive. Gimme some of that tofu burger.
Ah, I can feel the testosterone receding already. Now then, let us reason
like gentlemen. There are some intelligent arguments for vegetarianism,
but claiming that man is "naturally" herbivorous isn't one of them. The
settled judgment of science is that man is an omnivore, capable of .
eating both meat and vegetables, much as certain four-year-olds might
like to convince their mothers otherwise.  Like the hard-core carnivores,
we have fairly simple digestive systems well suited to the consumption
of animal protein, which breaks down quickly. Contrary to what your
magazine article says, the human small intestine, at 23 feet, is a
little under eight times body length (assuming a mouth-to-anus "body
length" of three feet). This is about midway between cats (three times
body length), dogs (3-1/2 times), and other well-known meat eaters on
the one hand and plant eaters such as cattle (20 to 1) and horses (12 to
1) on the other. This tends to support the idea that we are omnivores. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_087.html

____________________________________________
Here's how you can get your OWN FREE Subscription:
Send a blank mailto:[email protected]
____________________________________________
Copyright 1995 - 2006 Chicago Reader, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
You may forward this document by email ONLY if you
include the entire document INCLUDING the information
at the bottom of this publication
____________________________________________
Visit our good friends at Joke A Day http://www.jokeaday.com
They're kind enough to mail THE STRAIGHT DOPE for us.
Join the World's Largest Daily Humor List and receive daily
laughs in your email by sending mailto:[email protected]