Hummer H2

Overview

The H2 is built under contract by AM General at a specially constructed plant in Mishawaka, Indiana, USA. Although it shares GM's GMT820 truck platform with the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon, those vehicles differ in many ways and are constructed in three other GM plants. The H2's final frame assembly is made up of 3 sections: The front uses a modified GM 2500-Series (or did until November 8, 2009) utility frame, the mid-section is all new and is completely boxed, and the rear section uses a modified GM 1500-Series frame which is upgraded for the 8,600 pound (3629 kg) gross vehicle weight. The 2008 Hummer H2 does 0-60 in 8.0 seconds.

H2 sales were initially strong, but fell to 28,898 for 2004 and 23,213 for 2005. ^[1] GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced on June 3, 2008, the closing of several truck and SUV plants saying high fuel prices have produced a rapid and permanent change in consumer preferences. Wagoner also said GM is looking at possibly selling its Hummer unit after reviewing the SUV brand that is based on military vehicles. The Hummer H3 mid-size SUV gets about 13 to 14 miles per gallon in city driving in the most recent EPA ratings. The H1 and H2 are even larger vehicles with lower MPG, but these are not required by the EPA to post the MPG. The brand has become the symbol to many members of the public of a gas-guzzling large U.S. vehicle. From: [1]

Application

The H2 has a massive truck frame and has a wider-than-average track firm that may offer stability against overturning compared to some of the more common light truck SUVs, although objective tests have not been performed by the government or other outside parties due to its specialized vehicle class. It is marketed as both a general purpose vehicle and as an off-roadFord Excursion, the H2 is also a very common vehicle for a limousine conversion. vehicle. Because of mass marketing by GM, it is primarily used as a passenger vehicle on typical roads. Along with the

The Hummer H2 is also prominently featured on CBS' CSI:Miami, driven mainly by the chief of the Miami-Dade Police Department crime lab (Lt. Horatio Caine, played by David Caruso), as well as three of his colleagues: Detective Calleigh Duquesne (played by Emily Procter), Eric Delko (played by Adam Rodriguez) and Ryan Wolfe (played by Jonathan Togo).

In the 2007 film Transformers, the Autobot field medic Ratchet transforms into a Search and Rescue-themed Hummer H2 for his vehicle/disguise mode. Production designer Jeff Mann had a car built from scratch: "We looked at some military Hummer ambulances and some Red CrossH1 foundation which eventually evolved into a search and rescue vehicle with a crazy color, kind of chartreuse green.^[2] vehicles from the '80s that had an

Fuel economy

General Motors does not provide official H2 fuel economy ratings on the gasoline engine it comes with ^[3]. Motortrend observed 12 mpg. ^[4] Car and Driver observed 10 mpg. ^[5] A reviewer at about.com got 8.6 mpg. ^[6] Edmunds got 9.2 mpg.^[7] Four Wheeler magazine observed 10.8 mpg in their final long term report of an H2 SUT (pickup). Their worst tank was 7.2 mpg and best tank was 15.3 mpg. ^[8] Consumer Guide observed 10.7 mpg, even with mostly highway driving. ^[9] Automobile Magazine averaged less than 10 mpg. ^[10] US News observed 9.5 mpg according to its trip computer. ^[11] Cars.com observed 11.4 mpg according to its trip computer in mostly highway driving. Most vehicles (between 90% and 98%) get higher MPG when driving on the highway, due to reduced acceleration and braking (which burns more gasoline); hybrid cars are an exception to this rule. Car and Driver notes that the 2008 H2 is more efficient than previous models. ^[12]

Gasoline and diesel usage and pricing

The usage and pricing of gasoline (petrol) results from factors as crude oil prices, processing and distribution costs, local demand, the strength of local currencies, and the availability of local sources of gasoline (supply). Since fuels are traded worldwide the trade prices are similar, the price paid by consumers largely reflects national pricing policy: some regions, such as Europe and Japan, impose high taxes on gasoline; others, such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, subsidise the cost.^[1]

Western countries have among the highest usage rates of gasoline per person. The largest consumer of gasoline is the United States, which used an average of 386 million US gallons (1.46 gigalitres) of gasoline each day in 2005.^{[citation needed]}

Example from Germany 2007, 1.319 €/L=US$7.65/gal

Average gasoline prices around the world, May 2008. Brighter-coloured countries have more expensive gasoline.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_usage_and_pricing

Basic mechanism (greenhouse effect #2)

Solar radiation at top of atmosphere and at Earth's surface.
Pattern of absorption bands generated by various greenhouse gases and their impact on both solar radiation and upgoing thermal radiation from the Earth's surface. Note that a greater quantity of upgoing radiation is absorbed, which contributes to the greenhouse effect.
Pattern of absorption bands generated by various greenhouse gases and their impact on both solar radiation and upgoing thermal radiation from the Earth's surface. Note that a greater quantity of upgoing radiation is absorbed, which contributes to the greenhouse effect.

The Earth receives energy from the Sun in the form of radiation. Most of the energy is in visible wavelengths and in infrared wavelengths that are near the visible range (often called "near infrared"). The Earth reflects about 30% of the incoming solar radiation. The remaining 70% is absorbed, warming the land, atmosphere and ocean.

For the Earth's temperature to be in steady state so that the Earth does not rapidly heat or cool, this absorbed solar radiation must be very closely balanced by energy radiated back to space in the infrared wavelengths. Since the intensity of infrared radiation increases with increasing temperature, one can think of the Earth's temperature as being determined by the infrared flux needed to balance the absorbed solar flux. The visible solar radiation mostly heats the surface, not the atmosphere, whereas most of the infrared radiation escaping to space is emitted from the upper atmosphere, not the surface. The infrared photons emitted by the surface are mostly absorbed in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases and clouds and do not escape directly to space.

The reason this warms the surface is most easily understood by starting with a simplified model of a purely radiative greenhouse effect that ignores energy transfer in the atmosphere by convection (sensible heat transport) and by the evaporation and condensation of water vapor (latent heat transport). In this purely radiative case, one can think of the atmosphere as emitting infrared radiation both upwards and downwards. The upward infrared flux emitted by the surface must balance not only the absorbed solar flux but also this downward infrared flux emitted by the atmosphere. The surface temperature will rise until it generates thermal radiation equivalent to the sum of the incoming solar and infrared radiation.

A more realistic picture taking into account the convective and latent heat fluxes is somewhat more complex. But the following simple model captures the essence. The starting point is to note that the opacity of the atmosphere to infrared radiation determines the height in the atmosphere from which most of the photons are emitted into space. If the atmosphere is more opaque, the typical photon escaping to space will be emitted from higher in the atmosphere, because one then has to go to higher altitudes to see out to space in the infrared. Since the emission of infrared radiation is a function of temperature, it is the temperature of the atmosphere at this emission level that is effectively determined by the requirement that the emitted flux balance the absorbed solar flux.

But the temperature of the atmosphere generally decreases with height above the surface, at a rate of roughly 6.5 °C per kilometer on average, until one reaches the stratosphere 10-15 km above the surface. (Most infrared photons escaping to space are emitted by the troposphere, the region bounded by the surface and the stratosphere, so we can ignore the stratosphere in this simple picture.) A very simple model, but one that proves to be remarkably useful, involves the assumption that this temperature profile is simply fixed, by the non-radiative energy fluxes. Given the temperature at the emission level of the infrared flux escaping to space, one then computes the surface temperature by increasing temperature at the rate of 6.5 °C per kilometer, the environmental lapse rate, until one reaches the surface. The more opaque the atmosphere, and the higher the emission level of the escaping infrared radiation, the warmer the surface, since one then needs to follow this lapse rate over a larger distance in the vertical. While less intuitive than the purely radiative greenhouse effect, this less familiar radiative-convective picture is the starting point for most discussions of the greenhouse effect in the climate modeling literature.

The term "greenhouse effect" is a source of confusion in that actual greenhouses do not warm by this mechanism (see section Real greenhouses). Popular discussions often imply incorrectly that they do; this error is sometimes made even in materials from scientific or governmental agencies (e.g., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency[3]).

Solar radiation at top of atmosphere and at Earth's surface.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_house_effect

Greenhouse effect #1

The greenhouse effect is the process in which the emission of infrared radiation by the atmosphere warms a planet's surface. The name comes from the incorrect analogy with the warming of air inside a greenhouse compared to the air outside the greenhouse (see "Real Greenhouses" below). The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824 and first investigated quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896.^[1]

In the absence of the greenhouse effect, the Earth's average surface temperature of 14 °C (57 °F) would be about -18 °C (–2.2 °F) .^[2] Global warming, a recent warming of the Earth's lower atmosphere, is believed to be the result of an enhanced greenhouse effect due to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In addition to the Earth, Mars and Venus have greenhouse effects.

A schematic representation of the exchanges of energy between outer space, the Earth's atmosphere, and the Earth surface. The ability of the atmosphere to capture and recycle energy emitted by the Earth surface is the defining characteristic of the greenhouse effect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_house_effect

Proboscis Monkey (Bekantan)

The Proboscis Monkey (Nasalis larvatus), also known as the Monyet Belanda, the Bangkatan or simply the Long-nosed Monkey. The Proboscis Monkey is a reddish-brown arboreal Old World monkey. It is the only species in monotypic genus Nasalis.

Appearance

A distinctive trait of this monkey is the male's large protruding nose from which it takes its name. The nose is thought to be used in mating and is unique to the males of the species, reaching up to 7 inches in length. Besides attracting mates, the nose serves as a resonating chamber and works by amplifying their warning calls. When the animal becomes agitated its nose swells with blood, making warning calls louder and more intense.^[3]

Males are much larger than females, reaching 72 cm (28 inches) in length, with an up to 75 cm tail, and weighing up to 24 kg (53 pounds). Females are up to 60 cm long, weighing up to 12 kg (26 lb). This large sexual dimorphic difference is greater than in any other primate.

The Proboscis Monkey also has a large belly, as a result of its diet.^{[citation needed]} Its digestive system is divided into compartments, with bacteria that digest cellulose and neutralize toxins from certain leaves. This lets the monkey eat leaves and remain in the forest canopy. The contents of their stomach weigh about a quarter of their whole body.^[4] A side-effect of this unique digestive system is that it is unable to digest ripe fruit, unlike most other simians.^{[citation needed]} The diet consists mainly of seeds, leaves, mangrove shoots and unripened fruit.^[5]

Ecology

Proboscis Monkeys grooming

The Proboscis Monkey is endemic to Borneo's low elevation mangrove forests, swamps, and lowland riparian forests.^[6] It lives in small groups of 10 to 32 animals. Group membership is very flexible, and animals are known to move from group to group quite often.

The Proboscis Monkey lifestyle is both arboreal and amphibious, with its mangrove swamp and riverine environment containing forest, dry land, shallow water allowing wading, and deep water requiring swimming. Like other similar monkeys, the Proboscis Monkey climbs well. It is also a proficient swimmer, often swimming from island to island, and has been picked up by fishing boats in open ocean a mile from shore. While wading, the monkey uses an upright posture, with the females carrying infants on their hip. Troops have been filmed continuing to walk upright, in single file, along forest trails when they emerge on land, the only non-human mammal, with the exception of gibbons and giant pangolins, known to use this form of locomotion for any length of time.

Status

Due to ongoing habitat loss and hunted in some areas, only about 7000 are known to still exist in the wild. In Sarawak, the population of this species has declined from 6500 in 1977 to only 1000 in 2006. The Proboscis Monkey is evaluated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES.^[2]

Other names

While the official Indonesian name for this monkey is Bangkatan, an Indonesian nickname is 'monyet belanda', meaning 'Dutch monkey' or 'Orang Belanda', the Indonesian word for 'Dutchman', as Indonesians noticed the Dutch colonisers often also had a large belly and nose.

Proboscis Monkey[1]
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 2.3)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Cercopithecidae Subfamily: Colobinae Genus: Nasalis É. Geoffroy, 1812 Species: N. larvatus
Binomial name
Nasalis larvatus Wurmb, 1787

from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bekantan

Global warming

This article is about the current period of increasing global temperature. For other periods of warming in Earth's history, see Palaeoclimatology and Geologic temperature record.

Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-twentieth century, and its projected continuation.

The average global air temperature near the Earth's surface increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the hundred years ending in 2005.^[1] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes "most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gas concentrations"^[1] via an enhanced greenhouse effect. Natural phenomena such as solar variation combined with volcanoes probably had a small warming effect from pre-industrial times to 1950 and a small cooling effect from 1950 onward.^[2][3]

These basic conclusions have been endorsed by at least thirty scientific societies and academies of science,^[4] including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries.^[5][6][7] While individual scientists have voiced disagreement with some findings of the IPCC,^[8] the overwhelming majority of scientists working on climate change agree with the IPCC's main conclusions.^[9][10]

Climate model projections summarized by the IPCC indicate that average global surface temperature will likely rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the twenty-first century.^[1] This range of values results from the use of differing scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions as well as models with differing climate sensitivity. Although most studies focus on the period up to 2100, warming and sea level rise are expected to continue for more than a thousand years even if greenhouse gas levels are stabilized. The delay in reaching equilibrium is a result of the large heat capacity of the oceans.^[1]

Increasing global temperature is expected to cause sea level to rise, an increase in the intensity of extreme weather events, and significant changes to the amount and pattern of precipitation. Other expected effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, modifications of trade routes, glacier retreat, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.

Remaining scientific uncertainties include the amount of warming expected in the future, and how warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but there is ongoing political and public debate worldwide regarding what, if any, action should be taken to reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences.

Global mean surface temperature anomaly relative to 1961–1990

Mean surface temperature anomalies during the period 1995 to 2004 with respect to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Warming