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Famous Paintings Help Study the Earth's Past Atmosphere

houghi (78078) writes "From European Geosciences Union: 'A team of Greek and German researchers has shown that the colours of sunsets painted by famous artists can be used to estimate pollution levels in the Earth's past atmosphere. In particular, the paintings reveal that ash and gas released during major volcanic eruptions scatter the different colours of sunlight, making sunsets appear more red.' The original paper can be found here. In the last 150 years, the sunsets have become redder, likely reflecting increased man-made pollution."

7 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. artistic licence... by buzzsawddog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because we know they never used artistic license to paint something that is less than realistic...

    1. Re:artistic licence... by bluegutang · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And because we know artists from past centuries had access to exactly the same paints and color ranges that we do today...

  2. Enough with the Climate Change Articles Slashdot by marcgvky · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We get it, you are climate change believers.... can we move on.... please.

  3. Re:Clutching at straws by marcgvky · · Score: 0, Insightful

    No, it's not settled. If you actually READ the literature with an honest mind, you would see that there is no proof that we are having a major influence on any part of things. "Climate Change" is the new socialist religion.... you can't really prove it using scientific method, ergo it's more of a faith than a science.

  4. Re:Not just Man-made... by aaron4801 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Paraphrasing the summary: 'Volcanic eruptions make sunsets more red, therefore, redder sunsets in paintings reflect man-made pollution.' WTF?

  5. wow by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When I read the title I thought to my self "That's a clever way to word something, so people will be outraged, read the article and then find that it's really about them sampling paint and finding pollutants there." But no, it was as ridiculous as the title suggested. Can we revoke their science card?

  6. Re:Clutching at straws by Stumbles · · Score: 3, Insightful
    "... the existence of those striking sunsets is, in itself, often a sign of artificial or natural pollution altering the sunsets."

    Or just their fucking imagination, geesh what mental gyrations "scientists" and the holy believers will go through to "support" their religion.

    --
    My karma is not a Chameleon.