Petroleum Bombs

The news media has influenced the general public since the day it was created. Many issues the media covers are exaggerated to get people to react. Like it or not, that is the media’s job; to grab the public’s attention so they will watch or read more. Regardless of this idea, there are concerns present in society that do render enough importance to cause apocalyptic thinking. War has always concerned nations because of the destructive nature it does to a country’s economy, government, military force, landscape and so on. The way wars are fought always changes. Technological advancement and battle techniques are always improving in order to impose the most damage to an enemy. Warfare is becoming trickier to predict and wars are taking longer to end as other countries change up the usual conventions that combat used to be held to. The U.S. current war on terror isn’t even on any country in particular. The U.S. is trying to eliminate all forms of terrorist activities but America only has assumptions to where the terrorist groups are hiding. This proves to be challenging and it has resulted in the elongated period of time that the U.S. has had presence in Iraq. Various countries are being accused of storing nuclear weapons which instills fear into any human being because, when used, nuclear bombs are the most powerful weapon that exists. Critics will argue that even if these countries posses weapons of mass destruction there is no reason that the bombs will ever be used. The world’s dependency on petroleum is enough for any country to use nuclear bombs as a reason to get the oil that their nation needs. Saudi Arabia is the prime supplier of petroleum to the world and the second most supplier of oil to the U.S. Once oil reserves start to reach extreme lows the Middle Eastern countries will be forced to supply less and less oil to the U.S. and the world. A nuclear war on oil is a far shot to most civilians but the world’s dependency on oil should not be taken lightly. If conflicts occur between countries it is not a stretch to imagine an all out nuclear war which predictably could lead to the apocalypse.

Since World War II, nuclear weaponry has been on the forefront of every nations mind. Nuclear weapons are the ultimate tool for control and whichever nation can get their hands on them immediately becomes a threat to every other country on earth. The atrocity of nuclear bombs is unmatched by any other weapon. On the fateful days of August 6th and 9th of the year 1945 the U.S. demonstrated the true killing power that atomic bombs possess. The only uses of nuclear weapons in warfare are America’s “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively on those historic dates. In his article “Nuclear Weapons, Deterrence, and Crisis Escalation”, Daniel S. Geller has the death count surmounting 220,000 people, not including anyone who died from radiation or other causes. After dropping the bombs other countries took notice and began designing and building their own nuclear bombs. The U.S. and Soviet Union took building bombs to an extreme which began the arms race known as the Cold War. Although there was never another bomb dropped, the severity of two nations trying to build as many nuclear weapons as fast as they could can’t be ignored. The arms race finally slowed in the late 1980’s ending the period of exponential atomic weapon growth. Anxieties of nuclear weapons have always existed, but in modern society the concerns of nuclear weaponry are growing rapidly. The most recent example would be the invasion of Iraq. With worries that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction people don’t feel safe like they used to. Now just turn on the news and one will see that North Korea, Iraq, and Iran (also known as the “Axis of Evil”) are all threatening the world by acquiring nuclear weaponry. Afghanistan has been pursued for holding nuclear weapons also and it seems that everyone is joining the trend of building nuclear weapons. It’s not possible to prove whether or not these countries hold or will use these weapons, but if atomic bombs are used the destruction will be insurmountable and will reminisce conditions that can be comparable to an apocalypse.

Now throw oil in to the mix. Oil is arguably one of the most important imports that America buys. According to the Energy Information Administration the U.S. purchased and used over 7 billion barrels of oil in 2003, just shy of ¼ of the total amount of oil consumed in the whole world. This number may be surprising, but critics will argue that we’ve maintained a steady majority use of oil in the world and there hasn’t been a need to change yet. The problem with this is that China is going through an industrial revolution and their oil use is only second to America. Reporter Joe McDonald for CNBC.com reported that China’s economy is growing at an annual rate of 11.2% and their petroleum consumption is expected to increase by 17.4% when 2010 arrives. If the U.S. continues on the path of burning ¼ of the world’s oil per year and China’s annual oil consumption rate continues at over 10%, then gas prices will rise to outrageous prices and petroleum will become extremely scarce. Put all future predictions aside and oil is still a problem right now. Saudi Arabia is the number one producer and exporter of crude oil and that’s not likely to change for awhile. The American government and society have adopted the idea that Iran is holding weapons of mass destruction and they are therefore a threat to the U.S. and the world. This situation proves problematic because the U.S. is fighting terror in the Middle East while mass importing petroleum from Saudi Arabia. If the U.S. decides to take any form of military action toward Iran it will be a very dangerous situation. Iran has full access to Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves and refineries, and to U.S. oil tankers. It would be no problem for Iran to destroy Saudi Arabia’s production of oil with the weapons they are accused of holding. If this occurs then the world will be out of its main exporter of oil and will lose 10,665 barrels of oil produced a day (statistic given by the Energy Information Administration). If Iran decides to take military action against the U.S. oil fleets instead, terrible if not worse outcomes can arise. The U.S. is estimated to have over 10,000 active nuclear bombs and America might not hesitate to use them in a quarrel over oil. Even if Iran fails to take any military action whatsoever, even if the U.S. just lets Iran be and chooses to never invade, petroleum is still running low. The main producers of petroleum reside in the Middle East and eventually oil will run dry. Before this happens, however, the petroleum producers will be forced to significantly decrease the amount of barrels that are exported each year. Critics will claim that alternatives for gas will be ready by the time that oil is gone. Currently there are two alternatives to gas, which is the main commodity that crude oil is converted to. Ethanol and hybrid cars have been created to silence the doubters who claim that there is no alternative to fuel. Each has its problem and more importantly no one is taking measures to find effective alternatives for all other aspects that crude oil is used to make. Ethanol is a corn based fuel that is environmentally friendly and looks very good politically. For every unit of energy that it takes to create ethanol, ethanol puts out one unit of energy. Basically, this unit of energy could have been spent somewhere more productive instead of wasting it on an energy source that is ineffective. The use of ethanol also raises the prices of food everywhere. It doesn’t take an economist to figure out that milk prices have risen enormously the past year. This is because the money spent on corn to feed cows is now being spent to create ethanol. Here’s another problem with this inefficient fuel; there are no active stations for the public to even use ethanol if they wanted to. When’s the last time you’ve been driving by and seen an ethanol station? It is only a matter of time before ethanol dies and disappears from the world. Hybrid cars have their problems too, but not near as many that ethanol contains. Hybrid cars are efficient and are a good stepping stone toward a gas- free future. They still use gas, though, and even if every person on earth changed to a hybrid, gas consumption would still be a problem. Problems arise in this situation because it is ridiculous to think or believe that every person on earth would convert to a hybrid. Green Car Congress.com reported that hybrid cars went up 10% in the last quarter which is another good sign for gas supply. To believe that there will be magically a solution to the scarcity of oil is ludicrous; nations must start plotting new ideas now in order to avoid a future that will have no oil. If alternate solutions are not created then a grave future is in store. Nations will take desperate measures to acquire oil; a conventional war won’t break out, but instead a nuclear war which, if relied upon, will result in the apocalypse.

The concerns for nuclear weaponry and oil scarcity are present everywhere. The media and news may exaggerate certain ideas, but atomic bombs and petroleum shortage are very real anxieties that if handled incorrectly can lead to the apocalypse. Wars are a natural part of society and it only seems a matter of time before the whole world is involved. Countries like North Korea, who aren’t even involved in the major petroleum trade, are just waiting for the moment to cause havoc in the world. Kim Jong-il and other dictators can be the key factor to a full on war among a vast variety of nations. If the petroleum consumption continues at the current rate then the world will have to fight for the oil they desire. Nuclear weapons are the single handed most powerful weapon the world has ever seen, and countries could result to using them if oil scarcity becomes that bad. If the bombs are dropped, the destruction that will result is undeniable. The world will become a full on battlefield if a nuclear war erupts. The news often covers the gas prices and small countries who acquire nuclear weapons. The anxieties that society holds for both of these ideas is causing apocalyptic thinking and it is justifying that indeed the apocalypse may be a petroleum war fought with petroleum bombs.