Burning Issues

Spontaneous combustion occurs when an object bursts into flame from a chemical reaction within, apparently without being ignited by an external heat source. Some objects have been scientifically proven to burst into flames without an outside heat source.

92-year-old, Dr. J. Irving Bentley was last seen alive on the evening of December 4th, 1966 by friends visiting to say goodnight at about 9.00pm. The following morning Mr. Gosnell, a meter reader let himself into Mr. Bentley's house to go to the basement to check the meter. Gosnell had permission to enter Dr. Bentley's house because Dr. Bentley had limited mobility and could only move about with the help of a walker. Once in the basement Gosnell could smell a strange odor and then could see a light blue smoke. Worried, he went upstairs to investigate. Dr. Bentley's bedroom was filled with smoke and in the bathroom there lay the charred remains of Dr. Bentley. All that was left of the old man was the lower half of his right leg with his slipper still on it. The rubber stoppers on his walker which lay beside his remains were still intact and the bathtub was hardly scorched. Gosnell ran for help. It was first thought that Dr. Bentley set himself on fire with his pipe, but it was soon discovered that his pipe was still on it's stand by the bed in his bedroom.

Dr. Bentley's case and several hundred others like it have been labeled "spontaneous human combustion" (SHC). Although he and other victims of the phenomenon burned almost completely, their surroundings, and even sometimes their clothes, remained virtually untouched. Over the past 300 years, there have been more than 200 reports of persons burning to a crisp for no apparent reason.

The hundreds of spontaneous human combustion accounts have followed a similar pattern: The victim is almost completely consumed, usually inside his or her home. What makes spontaneous human combustion so peculiar is that the extremities often remain intact. Although the torso and head, including the bones, are charred beyond recognition, the hands, feet, and/or part of the legs may be unburned. Also, the room around the person shows little or no signs of a fire.

Several theories have been formulated. First, spontaneous human combustion is caused by excessive amounts of alcohol in the body. One of the most popular proposes that the fire is sparked when methane builds up in the intestines and is ignited by enzymes. Other theories speculate that the fire begins as a result of a buildup of static electricity inside the body or from an external geomagnetic force exerted on the body. New theories suggested that the phenomenon is the work of a new subatomic particle called a pyroton, interacts with cells to create a mini explosion. As of March 2005, no one has offered a valid scientific proof of a theory explaining spontaneous human combustion.

In August 1999, BBC broadcast in prime time entitled Spontaneous Human Combustion. And more recently in 2005, National Geographic Channel aired a program on SHC.

Skeptics argue there is no such thing as Spontaneous Human Combustion. Fact or Fiction, SHC sure gave me goose bumps.

Flirting with Disaster

It said 254 million people were affected by natural disasters last year - nearly three times as many as in 1990. "Alarmingly, this is getting worse."

According to the bulk of scientific opinion, the reason is because the world is getting warmer. It is difficult, if not impossible, to prove the causes of this warming, but many scientists are convinced that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere are to blame.

Some GHG gases like hydro carbons, methane and nitrous oxide are released as by products of certain industrial process which adversely affect the ozone layer, leading to global warming. 60% to 70% of GHG emission is through fuel combustion in industries like cement, steel, textiles and fertilizers.

Kyoto Protocol is a voluntary treaty signed by 141 countries including European Union, Japan and Canada for reducing GHG emission by 5.2% below 1990 levels by 2012. However, the US, which accounts for one-third of the total GHG emission, is yet to ratify the treaty, citing “economic harm” as the reason. The consequences are as heartbreaking as they are terrifying.

The two major countries opposed to the treaty are the USA and Australia, based on the public statements of their governments. In Australia the climate is expected to become significantly warmer: by 2070 the annual average temperature is predicted to increase by 1°C to 6°C over most of Australia. The number of extreme rainfall events – such as those leading to flooding – is also expected to increase, even though most of the country is anticipated to become drier overall in the 21st century.

The hurricane that struck Louisiana and Mississippi was nicknamed Katrina by the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming. When the year began with a 2-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause was global warming. Katrina formed over the Bahamas in August 2005, made its first landfall, as a Category 1 hurricane. It weakened to a tropical storm as it moved offshore. However, the system regained strength in the warm waters (caused by the GHG) of the Gulf of Mexico, becoming a Category 5 hurricane. Some early predictions in damages exceeded $100 billion.

Isn’t it economic damage enough? How many more such economic damages can a economy handle to ward off the cited “economic harm”. The major responsibility of curbing emission rests with the developed countries, which have accumulated emissions over a long period of time.