Slashdot Mirror
Cleaner Air Could Speed Global Warming
Hugh Pickens writes "Scientists estimate that the US Clean Air Act has cut a major air pollutant, sulfate aerosols, by 30% to 50% since the 1980s, helping greatly reduce cases of asthma and other respiratory problems. But NPR reports that this good news may have a surprising downside: cleaner air might actually intensify global warming. One benefit of sulfates is that they've been helpfully blocking sunlight from striking the Earth for many decades, by brightening clouds and expanding their coverage. Researchers believe greenhouse gases such as CO2 have committed the Earth to an eventual warming of roughly 4 degrees Fahrenheit, a quarter of which the planet has already experienced. But thanks to cooling by aerosols starting in the 1940s, the planet has felt only a portion of that warming. And unlike CO2, which persists in the atmosphere for centuries, aerosols last in the air for a week at most, so cutting them would probably rapidly accelerate global warming. The author of 'Hack the Planet' says: 'As we take away that unexpectedly helpful cooling mask, we're going to be facing more global warming than we expected.'"
We tried all kinds of shit to satisfy your mythical existence and you just keep on whining. Going to buy two cases of Aqua-Net right now and spray em all night long.
I don't see the connection. Are you saying it's too late for us to ruin things? Because while we may have only been here for a miniscule fraction of the Earth's current history, we still have billions of potential years ahead of us here (barring a comet strike or a black hole).
And I'm willing to bet you'd still be pretty pissed if someone broke into your house and knifed you, even if it was 11:59.
Think we're harmless? We've fucking dried up an entire sea. We're responsible for deforestation on a massive scale. The Holocene extinction is what we call the mass-extinction that results from our activities. And do you dispute the theoretical possibility of a nuclear holocaust?
I guess it depends on what you consider "major." In the long run, it's unlikely (although not impossible) that we will completely wipe out life on this planet, true. But we destabilize ecosystems, we destroy biological diversity. That's pretty major.
As to the article, well, whatever. The scientists never said aerosols were "good" or "bad" -- just that while they cause pollution, they also slow warming. Facts don't have intrinsic value; they simply are.
It never ceases to amazes me that the same group of people who crucify the Catholic church for their persecution of Gallileo (in the 17th century!) consistently do the exact same thing to climate change scientists. For a group that claims to be intelligent and driven by reason, this is a glaring exception. This is letting your opinions taint your view of the facts. Slashdot is primarily libertarian. Therefore, they do not like big government. However, if manmade climate change is a real phenomenon, that would prescribe government intervention. Therefore Slashdot continues to believe that there's some ulterior motive behind the whole thing.
I'm not sure what -- I've heard accusations of a conspiracy to make money from carbon taxes, but the what we stand to lose (in the short run) is far more than what we stand to gain. And I've heard others say that the UN is dangerously trying to increase its power, which is ridiculous. Oooh, the scary nonbinding resolutions, and the intimidating respect for national sovereignty.