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Re: [Phys-l] Climate Change - Is it Controversial?


Coal amd oil are N forms because I don't consider them to be alive. But, were they once alive with conventional thought?


--- On Tue, 3/10/09, chuck britton <britton@ncssm.edu> wrote:

From: chuck britton <britton@ncssm.edu>
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Climate Change - Is it Controversial?
To: rcarlson@physicstoolkit.com, "Forum for Physics Educators" <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu>
Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 8:42 PM
On Mar 10, 2009, at Mar 10(Tue) 9:05 , Robert Carlson wrote:
It matters to me as to the conservation of carbon on
Earth and to how it dances between lifeforms and elemental
carbon or other other forms. If we say the amount of carbon
on Earth has stayed fairly constant over the last billion
years, then some of this carbon has been in the form of life
(L) and some of it has been in the form of nonlife (N). So,
how has this ratio changed over the history of the Earth and
is L/N now greater, less than, or equal to previous history?

I'm curious (at least briefly)

Diamond is the archetypical (N) form of carbon? also
carbonate minerals?

Coal & oil are the (L) forms? along with currently
living stuff

or are we considering Thomas Gold's non-biological oil
sources as likely? (in spite of the ubiquitous life-form
markers?)