Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Global Warming & Its Effects

Nick DAlleva

Global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer have been a concern over the last two decades and have recently become a very prominent global issue and a topic. While many opponents argue against the existence of the greenhouse effect, proof of it can be seen throughout nature.

The most prominent effect of global warming exists in the climate change over the past years. Many people are unaware that global warming causes and changes all types of weather. The heating of the earth causes the magnitude and strength of weather conditions to increase. As the oceans get warmer, the intensity of hurricanes amplifies in power and devastation. In addition, many costal cities and regions have recently been experiencing flooding, caused by the melting of the polar icecaps. The Arctic’s perennial icecaps decline in area by nine percent each year. In the past thirty years, over ten national records were set for the highest temperatures in the summer and winter. Droughts and forest fires have been occurring dramatically more often in the past century. All of these effects have been directly linked to the release of greenhouse gases.

Each year the United States spends over 20 million dollars buying fossil fuels. This country emits one fourth of the world’s greenhouse gases; the most prominent of these gases is carbon dioxide, which is released from the burning of fossil fuels. Global warming has been a global issue for many years now. Some countries and people claim to be only vaguely concerned with the cause because they were unaware or uninformed of the issue. Roger Revelle, an oceanographer, helped to call out the problem to the public. After not receiving much feedback towards his cause, he criticized different governments in a jocular manner. He called warming “the great geophysical experiment.” He said, “The experiment is to load the atmosphere with as much carbon dioxide as possible, add a few other harmful gases, and see what happens.” Recently, several countries have been passing laws to prevent the world’s overheated destiny. Even with the setting of new rules and regulations, the earth continues to warm each year. Minimal efforts made to reduce the release of greenhouse gases, specifically carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, increase the rate and intensity of global warming.
Another area affected by global warming is the animal kingdom and nature. The number of animals per specie has been decreasing annually due to harsh environmental changes. As the polar icecaps melt, all creatures that live there are left without shelter. For example, as seal dens have been melting, the number of seals has dropped. Events that occur in the spring, such as mating, migrating, laying eggs, and returning from hibernation have been taking place approximately 5.1 days earlier than they were fifty years ago. The early occurrence of these events proves that the earth is getting warmer each year. More proof of warming is the evidence of many animals traveling farther from the equator as they migrate. Although this change has been occurring with various creatures, butterflies and mosquitoes are being found the farthest from their natural habitats. Even though butterflies do not cause any known problems with the environment, mosquitoes are carries of malaria. This deadly disease has dangerously spread to new regions across the globe. If the world continues to warm, this issue, along with many others, will continue to grow.
A third type of evidence of global warming can be found in plants. Vegetation in an area differs concurrently with the climate of that same area. Throughout many parts of the world, flowers bloom 7 days earlier and trees reproduce 10 days earlier, both since 1900. As the growing seasons vary from very wet to very dry, agricultural growth cannot adapt. In some recent years, regions’ crops have been both flooded and dried out. Due to the depletion of the ozone, many crops cannot survive. Another problem is the movement and increase of allergens. Carbon in the atmosphere allows plants to go through photosynthesis more rapidly, allowing allergens to grow in number. This evidence found throughout all of nature makes it very clear that global warming is a huge issue.
A combination of various actions and, in some cases, not enough action causes global warming in the world today. The leading cause of global warming is the ongoing burning of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, along with the other greenhouse gases of methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluocarbons, is the cause of the greenhouse effect. This effect is dangerously increasing as the gases are being released in greater quantities. These gases not only build up to keep heat in the atmosphere, but they also thin the ozone layer. Some areas have been so thinned by the gases that there are holes present in the ozone. These dangerous holes allow harmful UV rays from the sun to reach the earth. UV rays are the main cause of skin cancer. As the earth continues to increase its pollution level each year, the number of skin cancer patients increases.
Because it releases carbon dioxide into the air, the burning of fossil fuels is an environmentally harmful practice. Carbon dioxide can be absorbed by seawater. If the water is cold, it can hold more gas. Unfortunately, with global warming, the temperature of the oceans has been increasing. As the temperatures increase, more carbon dioxide is released. This vicious circle will continue to occur unless scientists cannot this from occurring. Particularly, petrol, or gasoline, is a leading source of the release of these carbon dioxide compounds. Petrol contains hydrocarbons that release carbon dioxide when they are burned. This reaction is unfortunately unavoidable. The only solution is a different fuel source. Carbon dioxide, once released, lasts up to 100 years in the atmosphere. It is the most abundant heat-absorbent gas besides water vapor, which is not considered as a greenhouse gas because it rains back to the earth in a continuous cycle. The Mauna Loa Observatory has been measuring the level of carbon dioxide daily since 1958. Since their research began, the level in the atmosphere has drastically increased by 47 parts per million. Carbon dioxide makes up about one-half of the causes of global warming.
Although carbon dioxide largely harms the environment, the other greenhouse gases have a large impact in the atmosphere. Methane, the next most prominent harmful gas, comes from cattle, asphalt, coal, oil, and rice fields. Lasting only ten years, methane absorbs thirty times more heat than carbon dioxide. Another greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide, lasts approximately 180 years and absorbs 200 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide comes from microbes in soil that are found in fertilizers. Slash-and-burn farming and the burning of some fossil fuels also emit nitrous oxide. The final greenhouse gas, chlorofluocarbon, lasts 400 years in the air and retains 16, 000 times more heat. Chlorofluocarbons escape from various cooling systems. The combination of these four gases results in the retention of intense amounts of heat.
Throughout the world, various nations have been joining to help prevent or slow the process of global warming. On February 3, 2007, French president, Jacques Chirac, proposed a new plan to prevent global warming. He stated, “It’s our responsibility. The future of humanity demands it.” Forty-five nations, not including the United States, joined him in his efforts. Al Gore, however, is very involved with global warming and the greenhouse effect; he supports Chirac and plans to help. As it is the largest contributor to global warming, the United States unfortunately supports only voluntary reduction programs.
The issue of global warming affects nature, people, and the economy. To some people, global warming is not of their concern because they feel it does not affect them. Although they may not realize it, global warming affects everyone, especially the future generations. Scientists mathematically simulate the globe’s weather systems. Their complex equations, called general circulation models (GCMs), are so complex and involve countless elements that they can take days to solve. Environmentalists verify that the hazardous combination of flooding and drought will significantly increase within the next century. The standard sea level has been rising annually for a while now. Some say that if the earth continues on the path it is on, then 95% of the Great Barrier Reef will disappear by 2075. They calculate that the glaciers in Glacier National Park could melt by 2030, and 37% of all species could be extinct by 2050.
Scientists directly link disease to global warming. Exposure to various climate or animal related diseases will increase in number and possibly brutality. Experts agree that skin cancer’s rapid rate of increase could be caused by the holes in the ozone layer. As these holes grow in size and number, the quantity of patients will also increase. Aside from natural and heath issues, the world’s economy is also at risk. Ross Gelbspan, author of Boiling Point, a book about Earth’s climate change from global warming, spoke about his book to the public in 2004 stating, “Climate issues will eventually tear holes in the global economy.” Research can show that if current weather patterns continue, the cost of insurance will increase drastically over the next few years. Gelbspan is one of many authors and scientists who look into the future to warn people what is to come; unfortunately, most people do not listen.
When people are trying to get others involved in the cause, a common problem that arises is the lack of motivation. Many people do not realize that if they can slow the rapid warming process, then there will be more time to develop alternate energy sources, such as nuclear fusion. Holland and Germany, along with several small countries, have recognized this possibility and have committed to an 80% reduction of all greenhouse gas emissions. If the United States would get involved in a program such as this, then the greenhouse effect would occur much slower than it does today. The world, especially America, needs to take action now. Stephen H. Schneider of the National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCRA) once stated, “By the time we find the greenhouse warming had damaged earth’s ability to feed its people, it will be too late to do much about it.”
In conclusion, the world needs to put forth a stronger effort to prevent global warming; the greenhouse gasses suffocate the earth more each day. If countries make a greater effort to slow global warming, the world’s predestination may not be reached until many years later. Individually, people can recycle, use fuel-efficient cars, carpool, and simply raise awareness. As said by Elmer Robinson, the director of Mauna Loa Observatory had once said while speaking of global warming, “The true enemy is us.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This article has been provided by Specialty Answering Service. Specialty is available as a Maryland answering service and Wisconsin answering service provider. We answer for each client 24 hours a day and follow their instructions to handle each inbound or outbound communication perfectly.

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1910 Forest Fire - A Glimpse Within The Gates Of Hades

Marlene Affeld

The 1910 Fire was the largest forest fire in American history, perhaps in the history of the world. Now, almost one hundred years later, the blackened ghosts of giant cedars stand in silent witness to the devastation and death that rode the wild winds of August.

In just over 48 horrific hours, starting in the late afternoon of Saturday, August 20th, the raging inferno devoured more than 8 billion board feet of virgin timber on 3 million acres in western Montana and northern Idaho, caused the deaths of 78 firefighters and 8 civilians and decimated 13.5 million dollars of personal property. Other forest fires have been more deadly, but none moved as savagely or swiftly across such a vast timbered wilderness as did the massive fire of 1910.

Accounts of the firestorm mention Edward Stahl, a forester, who wrote of flames that shot hundreds of feet into the night sky “fanned by a tornadic wind so violent that the flames flattened out ahead....swooping to earth in great darting curves, truly a veritable red demon from hell”.

Hurricane velocity winds turned canyons into crematoriums. Of the 86 who perished, 28 or 29 firefighters - history is unclear - attempted to outrun their deaths only to be trapped in a vertical canyon.

Hysterical, in a state of confusion and shock, men fled for their lives, the caustic smoke searing lungs and obstructing vision. The fires, the dense smoke, the intense, blinding heat and the crackling flames were inescapable. Many men, too terrified to face death by fire, took their own lives by gunshot. One man jumped from a burning train. Two firefighters surrendered to their fate and simply walked into the flames as their companions watched in horror from where they had sought refuge in the overhang of a creek bank.

Eyewitness accounts describe the terror experienced by those who fought the 1910 fire and lived to tell about it. One survivor told a newspaper reporter, "The fire turned trees and men into weird torches that exploded like Roman candles".

Excerpts from Ranger Edward Pulaski's accounting of the fire on Placer Creek near Wallace, Idaho. Pulaski was a Ranger on the Coeur d'Alene National Forest in 1910.

His personnel file included this evaluation, written by his boss, Forest Supervisor, W. G. Weigle: "Mr. Pulaski is a man of most excellent judgement; conservative, thoroughly acquainted with the region, having prospected through the region for over twenty five years. He is considered by the old-timers as one of the best and safest men to be placed in charge of a crew of men in the hills".

"True to form, Ranger Pulaski guided his crew through darkness and a raging inferno driven by hurricane-force winds, to the safety of the War Eagle Mine tunnel. In the years following the fire, he was lionized for his heroism, perhaps in part because he was everyone's vision of what a hero ought to took like. He bore a remarkable resemblance to the actor, Gregory Peck, stood six-foot three, had steel-blue eyes, and struck a commanding presence everywhere he went".

"Some crying, some praying" - The mine timbers at the mouth of the tunnel caught fire, so I stood up at the entrance and hung wet blankets over the opening, trying to keep the flames back by filling my hat with water, which fortunately was in the mine, and throwing it on the burning timbers. The men were in a panic of fear, some crying, some praying. Many of them soon became unconscious from the terrible heat, smoke and fire gas ... I, too, finally sank down unconscious. I do not know how long I was in this condition, but it must have been for hours. I remember hearing a man say, 'Come outside, boys, the boss is dead.' I replied, "Like hell he is." I raised myself and felt fresh air circulating through the mine. The men were all becoming conscious. It was five o'clock in the morning... “

"Shoes burned off we had to make our way over burning logs and through smoking debris. When walking failed us we crawled on our hands and knees. How we got down I hardly know. We were in a terrible condition, all of us hurt or burned. I was blind and my hands were burned from trying to keep the fire out of the tunnel. Our shoes were burned off our feet and our clothes were in parched rags... “

Another survivor of the fiery holocaust described the devastation - ”The green, standing forest of yesterday was gone; in its place a charred and smoking mass of melancholy wreckage. The virgin trees, as far as the eye could see, were broken or down, devoid of a single sprig of green. Miles of trees - sturdy, forest giants - were laid prone... Men, who quenched their thirst from small streams, immediately became deathly sick. The clean, pure water running through miles of ashes had become a strong, alkaline solution, polluted by dead fish, killed by the lye. Thereafter we drank only spring water".

Blueprint For Disaster

The winter of 1909-1910 was bitter cold with little snow cover. East bound weather fronts from the Pacific that normally buried the area in tens of feet of snow, instead vented their fury on the Cascades. Only a small percentage of that moisture was carried inland as far as northern Idaho and western Montana. The area received less than a half inch of precipitation from January to June and was the driest in anyone’s memory.

The temperature soared and late evening thunder and lightening storms, bereft of moisture, sparked wildfires across the wilderness. By mid May Glacier National Park was already under siege. Multiple fires broke out across the high county of northern Idaho and northwestern Montana, as men and pack teams rallied to battle the outbreaks. Reports came in daily from the Blackfoot, Cabinet, Clearwater, Flathead, Lolo and Kaniksu forests of new wildfires that swelled to triple their size at a speed faster than a man could move.

In 1910 Timber management was still a new idea in the United States. In 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt established The United States Forest Service to manage the national forests with the goal of providing the county with a consistent supply of quality water and timer. At that time the focus was on conservation and policy mandated that the best way to conserve the timber reserves was to protect them from forest fire.

Although newly formed and inexperienced, the US Forest Service clearly recognized the immediate danger of the situation and recruited thousands of men to fight the ever growing numbers of remote forest fires across the northwestern states.

Prospectors packed up their gear and moved out of the high country, settlers and ranchers buried equipment or removed it from harms way and moved families and animals closer to the river. Town and camp residents up and down the trail were encouraged to relocate to areas of safety in Spokane or Missoula.

As the fire season progressed, so did the number and size of fires that raged across the wilderness. Equipment, experience and manpower were in short supply. Joe Haim, a graduate from Washington State College in 1909, was employed as a surveyor in the Coeur d' Alene National Forest and described the hardships and handicaps faced by the fire fighters. “There were no trails or roads and we had to go in 65 miles to get to the fire when we were first sent out . . . it took more time getting into the country than to put out a small blaze.” Joe Haim reportedly held his terrified crew at gunpoint to keep them from fleeing a fire they could not possibly escape. His decisive and heroic action saved many lives.

The drought continued into the summer and the many inches of rain that annually blessed the area failed to arrive. Hot dry winds wicked moisture from the forest floor, drained creeks and shriveled the usually verdant meadow grasses; crops failed and livestock suffered. All the necessary elements for a catastrophic firestorm were in place.

On August 20th, a fierce cold front spawned hurricane velocity winds that feed fresh oxygen to the many scattered fires. Previously controlled, low intensity fires mushroomed into a gigantic fireball, dormant fires crowned and trees exploded into a blazing inferno several miles wide and hundreds of feet tall. Poisonous smoke blackened the countryside as day instantly turned to darkest night. In Denver, 800 miles away from the epicenter of the firestorm, the temperature dropped 19 degrees in 10 minutes and at 5 PM a roaring wind descended upon Denver, obliterating it with toxic smoke from the fires to the northwest.

Firefighters scattered throughout the forest were caught unaware. Impeded by the intense heat, blinding smoke and hazardous terrain, many were trapped and unable to flee the conflagration. Some survived by crawling into caves or mine shafts or by drenching themselves with water and laying down in creeks and streams. Residents of the small towns fled the area by train or stayed and desperately lit back fires against the terrifying wall of flame racing towards them.

By the morning of August 21st the devastation was evident and mind boggling. Over a third of the town of Wallace, Idaho was incinerated. Nearby Grand Forks lay in ruins. On the other side of the Lookout Pass the towns of DeBorgia, Taft, Haugen and Henderson were destroyed. Dense smoke filled the sky as far east as New York State and south to beyond Denver, Colorado. Sailors navigating in the Pacific reported that they could not see the stars through the smoke veil.

Two days later, on the 23rd, a secondary cold front swept in from the Pacific dropping a deluge of heavy rain. The “Big Burn” was finally extinguished, however not before lives were lost and lives were changed forever by the experience. It will be centuries before a normal forest is restored.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marlene Affeld has a passion for the environment and all things natural. A seasoned traveler, Marlene enjoys sharing her experiences with others. Visit Marlene's site at Nandu Green for Eco-Friendly living options.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

Are you ready for hurricane season?

Alan D. Crowetz

As hurricane season is upon is, this article helps you find what you need to know to get a hurricane preparedness plan for your firm's IT. Nobody wants to hear about it or think about it, but the fact of the matter is hurricane season is upon us. Hurricane season officially started on June 1st and runs through November 30th in the Atlantic. While risking sounding like a home improvement store commercial, are you prepared for hurricane season?

Hurricane preparedness for your business IT systems consists of a proper disaster recovery plan. A proper disaster recovery plan consists of a tested, functional image based backup system that is rotated or replicated offsite. Most firms have some type of backup in place, but has the backup system been tested? Does anyone in the office really have a plan to get the office back up and running if disaster strikes? These are all very important questions and should be answered as part of your firm’s disaster recovery plan.

A proper test of your firm’s disaster recovery plans involves more than just recovering a file or two and calling your test complete. A full restoration of your image based backup to another physical server is the best way to find out if your backup will truly keep you protected if you need to rebuild at another location. Software suites such as Symantec System Recovery allow you to take the image from your current server and place it onto a new server with different hardware, or in a pinch, one could even restore to a powerful workstation as a temporary solution.

To summarize what was said above, here is what your disaster recovery plan should entail:

Image based backup system
Offsite rotation or replication of backups
Yearly test restore of backups to physically different or spare hardware
A detailed plan of action: What to do? Who to call?
Multiple office users aware of backup procedures in case someone is unavailable if disaster strikes

Infostream can help guide your firm to a successful disaster recovery plan. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us through our website http://www.infostream.cc or call us at 561.968.0046, as we are here for you!

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Severe Weather: 5 Tips for Coping with Weather Stress

Sara Healy

When severe weather hits where we live, there WILL BE weather stress. This stress can lead to irritability, sadness, fear, or even guilt. Here are five tips that might help you, or someone you know, cope more effectively with severe weather stress.

When severe weather is upon us, we experience weather stress. Our bodies go into crisis mode. Adrenaline starts to flow in reaction to the emergency situation. This helps us take action. We seek safety and protect ourselves and our family from the impact of the weather.

It's after things calm down that weather stress begins to turn on us. The adrenaline that helped us during and immediately after the severe weather does not go away. Even as flood waters begin to recede, stress levels often continue to rise. This is when weather stress can be very dangerous.

Unfortunately, we frequently don't realize what's happening. The physical crisis has passed. Therefore, we may ignore our stress. That is, until our normally calm and cool neighbor suddenly blows up in anger, our children begin to have nightmares, or we find ourselves crying on the shoulder of a stranger for no particular reason.

Suddenly, we realize something's not right. We got through the worst of it, but our friends, family and others are still showing symptoms of severe weather stress.

What can we do? Here are some tips that may help you, or people around you, cope more effectively with prolonged weather stress:

** Recognize that people may feel irritable, sad, angry or guilty after a weather disaster.

These feelings are very common! So, be patient with yourself and others. People may not act normally after severe weather hits. Like any crisis, this kind of weather causes emotional trauma. Usually with time, this trauma heals itself. If it doesn't, seek out qualified help for yourself or encourage others to seek it.

** Share your experiences with others.

Getting your feelings out about a weather disaster is very important. It helps you feel more in control and less vulnerable. In addition, sharing what's happened to you and hearing the stories of others, creates a feeling of togetherness in the weather crisis, which keeps you from feeling isolated.

** Take good care of your physical condition.

Stress takes a BIG toll on your body. Eat healthy foods as much as possible. When it's safe, find ways to exercise or get out of your house. Also, remember to relax and rest, even if you've got a lot of cleaning up to do. Taking good care of yourself and your family will help relieve the effects of weather stress.

** Help others in your neighborhood, community and town.

Assisting others in your community is a way to do something positive. When you're involved in helping someone else, you don't have as much time to feel stressed about your own situation. In addition, sharing the work created by a weather disaster reinforces your sense of community.

** Remember to laugh.

However incongruent it may seem to laugh, it's actually good for you during a weather crisis. Laughter is a wonderful stress buster. It has been proven to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, improve the immune system and, in general, make you feel better. So, go ahead and laugh and encourage others to do so too.

Severe weather is a fact of life. When it hits where we live, there WILL BE weather stress. Therefore, as we prepare our homes for severe weather, so too should we prepare ourselves emotionally for the impact of this weather. Recognizing weather stress and taking steps to alleviate it is the best way to keep it from overwhelming us.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sara Healy is a life coach who helps people with life and career transitions using their strengths and values. Find out how she can help you make positive changes in your life by contacting her at: http://www.sarahealy.com

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

Maps Of The Human Mind

Martin Mak

The human mind think in pictures and mental maps help us to visualise ideas, concepts and enhance memory and learning. Like the maps our forefathers use to navigate the oceans and discovery new lands, mental maps help us to think out of the box.

The human brain learns and orientates itself by forming mental maps of familiar places and situations. Similar to a physical map, these mental maps not only shows the perception of the maker, they form landscapes in their own rights.

“Looking at a map can teach us more with our eyes in an hour than we can learn from our ears in an entire day”. This valuable insight was expressed in 1605 by the cartographer Thomas Fuller. By looking at a historical map, you will get an idea of how strongly a particular image of the world can determine people’s thoughts and actions. For many thousands of years, most Europeans believe that the world was flat and therefore had no idea of the real position of the continents and the oceans in relation to one another. This conviction imposed considerable limitations on how far seafarers were willing to travel. It obviously hindered any endeavours for discovery. This was because people believed that they would fall off the edge of the Earth if they traveled far enough. They had a limited idea of the vast expanse of the oceans and the lands beyond the horizon.

Before sea adventurers could venture into new lands and uncharted seas, a new picture of the earth had to be thought of. Once this gained gradual acceptance, the speed with which exploration took place took off. Bit by bit, mile by nautical mile, the whole world gradually opened up to explorers and discoverers. If the Genoese seafarer Christopher Columbus (1451 to 1506) had not had the audacity and vision to imagine that the earth might be round, and that new land might be discovered by sailing westwards, sea exploration might have been held back by decades or centuries. Later generations of Europeans would have held on to the erroneous opinions that Asia was on the eastern part of the world and cold therefore only be reached by crossing the eastern oceans.

In our modern work life, we often use many expressions that show the significance of visual pointers for human action. For example, when your company has embarked on a marketing plan, you might say that you can “see what is wrong with our marketing strategy and decide on the next course of action”. Quite often, it is very difficult to organise an action without having a mental picture of the result you wish to achieve. For example, if you have a problem, the solution to that problem comes easier if you can visualise it. Then you devise a map to find solution or routes to solve the problem or work around the problem. Similarly, mentalists who to achieve great feats of memory recall use mental maps to train their memory and improve their memory techniques. Students have also been trained to use mental maps to improve memory, their study skills and accelerate their learning. They do this by breaking down course structure down to subjects, down to topics and down to detailed concepts or formulas, much like the a map of a city or town.

Basically, your mind think in pictures and having such mental paths help anyone from a busy executive, managers or marketing people to plan new campaign or product strategies. The paths make it easy to link a seemingly unrelated concepts or ideas to a bold new strategy or package an old product into something new using fresh ideas. With such mental maps, you use your ability to retrace paths in your mind and to store maps to your memory in a manner much more easier than you think.

So like the maritime maps of old, new frontiers are being discovered by understanding the natural way the brain thinks, stores information and solves problems. All made possible because mental maps frees the limitation of conventional human thinking.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Martin Mak has developed a new program to help people enhance their memory and learning experience. Find out how with his free and popular ecourse at

http://www.mightymemory.com/memoryarticle.html

Monday, November 12, 2018

Humanization in daily life and religion

Humanization is the giving of human qualities to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and so on. In Greek the concept is called Anthropomorphism, a word that means 'human form'.

In the language of speech and writing, humanization is a kind of common metaphor, designed to create an emotional impression. Examples are: the bosom of the earth, the howl of the wind. It is one of the most characteristic traits of humankind.

In everyday life, thinking about important objects is common as having human qualities. Advances in artificial intelligence can make humanization an even more significant phenomenon. Artificial intelligence greatly increases the humanization threshold of computers. Advanced computers can display specific human behaviors, such as learning from error or expecting to receive certain information. Of course there are also robots that mimic the movements and shape of people. At the same time, many devices are already operating according to instructions in speech.

Humanization of animals has been accepted since the dawn of mankind. There are alternative books and teachings dealing with the comparison between human traits and animal traits. The theme is common in children's books. Examples include: Isofus Proverbs, Animal Farm, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows, and so on.

Walt Disney took the theme of comic anthropomorphism and brought it to the center of culture. A central part of the children's time is devoted to watching cartoons, in which animalism is very common. Characters from Mickey Mouse, Kermit the Frog, Bugs Bunny, etc., are for the children a significant imitation heroes.

The pantheon of gods in Greek mythology is entirely of humanized figures: Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Poseidon, Eros, Venus, Mars, and others. Mythology stories are mostly the story of the gods' plots among humans. Below the gods there is a level of demi-gods, which is the result of a pairing between the gods and ordinary human beings, who became human beings with divine attributes, such as Perseus, Hercules, and Psyche.

In the Hindu religion there are many deities, each of which has specific and distinct human characteristics.

The monotheistic religious faith generally considers it wrong to describe the God of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as human. God is abstract in form and properties. However, it is very difficult for the average person to describe God without an anthropomorphic framework. It should also be noted that the biblical creation story describes God creating man in His image.

Modern geographers are aware that religion can be a starting point for building an ethnic and national identity, and religious ideology and practice have a great influence on location. Immigration processes have also created landscape changes, as there are many immigrant communities defined by religion.

Public places not defined by religion in the recent past, including the city, the neighborhood, the street, the schools, and many domestic spaces, and at the same time parts of the media and the economy, have become areas that combine religious practice in an informal manner. In this way, humanization has, in fact, became the most important driving force in interpersonal communication.

Rocks in human figure forms are a powerful attraction

The fox is one of the most beloved animals

Heroes of Walt Disney

Child and robot

Zeus, the head of the gods in Greek mythology

God creates man in his image and likeness

in the fresco in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Jesus Christ - a person who has become a divinity

Buddha - a human being who became a deity

The god of fortune in Chinese culture

Ganash - a Hindu god with an elephant head and a human body

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Imaginary anatomy and art

The basic actions through which a person's mind is reflected are through his care of his body: cleanliness, concern for health, eating, and the like. We think of the anatomical body as our internal reality. A means through which one can examine society, culture and the human condition. But our bodies are hidden from us. What happens under our skin is mysterious, frightening, fascinating. In the distant past, the inner structure of the human body was a matter of speculation, fantasy, and little research, and there were very few attempts to present it in pictures. The development of anatomical research, together with the invention of printing and the subsequent flow of printing technologies, helped to inspire new and striking anatomy. Imaginary anatomy flourished, full of information but also strange, surreal, beautiful and ridiculous - exposes the external world as much as it exposes the inner world.

At the beginning of the modern era the boundary between art and science was undefined yet. Anatomy experts and their artistic partners used familiar ways of portraying them through religious and artistic landscape symbols. The artists tried to create precise illustrations, but also surprising, beautiful and entertaining.

Between 1680 and 1800, anatomy experts began to explore the imaginary elements of the scientific illustration. The reliability of anatomy, they claimed, was impaired by visual delusions, imaginary landscapes, and comic poses. When the ancient printing technologies became sophisticated, a style of brilliant and dreamy hyper-authenticity emerged, which showed, with great artistic talent, more sophisticated knowledge and an updated perception of the interior of the body.

In the 1930s, Fritz Kahn in Germany produced a series of books on the inner workings of the human body. He used metaphors taken from the industrial world: production lines, internal combustion engines, refineries, power generators, telephones, and so on. The body in Kahn's works was 'modern' and productive, a subject emphasized visually through innovative art. Although his books sold well, his Jewishness, and his preaching for public reforms, made him the target of Nazi attacks. He fled to America in 1940.

The anatomical presentations in recent years offer us traces of our inner selves. The artist / scientist / journalist Alexander Ciaras is inspired by the worldview that the anatomical body is a microcosm, a 'small world', and what is found in the external world is also found within man and is revealed through the science of anatomy. Ciaras uses body scanners and laser holograms to create images of the human body that combine an accurate description with an artistic touch.

In everyday life, we are surrounded from all sides by spectacular visual representations of our body organs, from the entire body, through individual organs, to microscopic cells. These perceptions are embedded in every move we make. It seems that the eye is not satisfied with these illustrations, and the brain asks them for more and more, without ever finding the way to satisfy what he wants.

The systemic approach, which has taken a great deal of control over all areas of scientific thought today, has led to anatomical and biological systems in general being compared to artificial systems used by man, as well as information systems. The action of the human body is defined as the action of different systems, and the systems created by man in all spheres of existence try to learn from the manner in which these systems work and enact them.

One of the central themes in art is 'nature landscapes'. Artistic freedom allows the artist to create imaginary landscapes on the canvas, which, after hanging on the walls, become an inseparable part of the world picture of the occupants of the house.

Classical architecture places emphasis on the 'human front' of the buildings. This was achieved through design, decorations and sculptures. The combination of human figures and textures on the façades of luxury houses and squares contributes to the urban landscape.

While the anatomical description is committed to scientific precision in describing the human body, the art of painting enjoys great freedom in this field. The creation of plastic art that combines people with landscape descriptions unites them. Descriptions of the landscape become the reflection of man, and vice versa. Many of the great painting artists anthropomorphized the landscapes that were the background to the characters that were the theme, and one example is the Mona Lisa background.

Before the Renaissance there were no landscape paintings, at least not as we understand them. If anything, landscape was just a background view of the human figures. It was gradually changing. When the trees, the mountains, the fields, and the oceans began to stand out, a strange phenomenon occurred: the anthropomorphic landscape. Human forms in fact merged with the landscape, as if nature is nothing without the human narrative. It was as if one could not appreciate an art that did not returned in reflection, in the literal sense of the word.

These paintings usually included a hidden face in the landscape, as if to indicate that the earth was the one that shaped them, and its meaning is only the use made of it. This was especially true for some 17th century artists in the Netherlands. They produced a large number of works depicting the silhouette of a bearded man appearing in profile over rocky mountains. The beginning of the trend can be traced to the image created by the scholar Kirscher. He said that his design was inspired by a story about the plan in ancient times to sculpt a huge figure of Alexander the Great on Mount Athos.

Impressionist painters who were considered unacceptable at the end of the 19th century, but whose works are sold at record prices at the beginning of the 21st century, emphasized the general impression that the figure and the landscape combined, at the expense of the accuracy of the description. In this style, it is much easier to combine the subject with the landscape in the background and to prominently portray the human essence, both physical and spiritual.

The painter Salvador Dali described with his brush surrealistic visions in which the human body crumbles against a desert landscape, thereby creating an authentic combination of anatomy and geography. The painting is a political protest against the war. Dali was able to create a shocking picture, which leaves a great impression on the viewer, because of the frame created by the body organs against the sky, a composition that is a call to action for the subconscious.

Post-modern artists deconstructed the scenes they described for the basic elements. They created a way to describe the living and the inanimate with molecular tools. The postmodern architecture has abandoned the pure functional style, with its straight lines and flat, transparent facades, typical of skyscrapers in city centers. Architects like Frank Ghery have returned to human integration in the landscape of buildings they have planned, by creating structural disorder, which is actually a fitting facade of the physical sensation in the spatial environment of the building, and simultaneously gives a sense of its goals.

Artists today use digital technologies to create images in the style of fantastic realism and science fiction which is widespread in comics and cinema, with works such as Metropolis, Blade Runner, The Spirit in the Shell, Star Wars and others, whose plots take place in geographically imaginative places. At the same time, the body of the human characters in them is usually hybrid, part of it natural and part artificial. The theme of these works is always how much the human attributes can be stretched through anthropomorphism.