93 thousand volcanoes

[LeftHander]

I am checking my math over the next few days....



But we would need 93,000 Mount Kilauea volcanoes erupting simultaneously for 155 years to match the amount of energy humans have released from the consumption of oil, gas and coal since 1850. At any given time about 20 volcanoes are actively erupting in the world.

I am not talking about green house gases. We have unleashed that much energy (in BTUs) that was locked in a potential energy state for millions of years into a closed system...

So if anyone thinks human impact on our closed system called Earth is tiny....I am convinced they are sadly mistaken.

Calculations are based on:

5.8 × 10^6 BTU - barrel equivalent (BBE) Energy released in burning one barrel of oil.
The estimated total BTUs produced in burning coal, oil and gas since 1850, converted to barrels based on yearly global BTU figures from the U.S. Department of Energy. (something like 100 quadrillion BTU's for oil alone per year)

272 Trillion BBEs total

Then with the estimated caloric output of Mount Kliauea's 1956 136 day eruption (43 X 10^12 calories) converting that to BBE's.

1 calorie = 0.00396566683 BTU

I got a number that was about 93,000.

So we know energy is not destroyed, but changes it's form....where are all those BTU's going?

Global Warming.

We are literally cooking ourselves and the planet is trying to cool off by absorbing the energy we released by changing the state of water from ice to liquid water and liquid water to water vapor...the planet is reacting to us.

[whistle]

1. So that would be the same as having 1.644 Mount Kilauea volcanoes

...each day, or are you saying that the oil consumption Buts released over the 155 year period is the same as having had 93,000 Mount Kilauea volcanoes erupting simultaneously and continuously 24/7 over the same time frame?

That seems incredible! In fact, if that had happened our entire earth would have been covered with volcanic ash hundreds of feet deep by now. But show the math and let it be scrupulously examined. There are certainly tens of thousands of smoke stacks spewing their filth and pollution into the atmosphere all over the world and the numbers just keep growing year after year.

[Viking12]

2. Sorry, but NO.

According to EIA, the world energy consumption was 421 quadrillion BTU's in 2003. Based on conservation of energy laws, where did these Btu’s go? Answer: To Useful work (electricity, propulsion, motors, etc.); To Direct products (lubricants, asphalt, etc.); To Space heat, and To Waste heat. Waste heat is insignificant in the big picture concerning global warming.

[TheMadMonk]

4. All energy eventually becomes heat.

Entropy runs downhill.

[Viking12]

5. 'Eventually' being the key word in this context.

The OP suggests that eventually is now and, thus, contributes to global warming. That is inaccurate as we've temporally fixed a great deal of that energy.

[BadgerKid]

3. self-expunged