Pages

Jump to bottom

2 comments

1 funky chicken  Tue, Dec 13, 2011 7:01:12am

Finally! One reason I get so irritated by all the attention paid to “global climate change” and the endless and very, very expensive (and carbon-generating) meetings about carbon dioxide emissions is that it has totally eclipsed issues of other pollutants and what can be done to cut their release.

People can argue all day about carbon dioxide, but nobody can argue that mercury and arsenic are normal or (snort) beneficial components in the atmosphere.

And until the EU stops importing the vast majority of their soybeans from South America, slash and burn in the Amazon won’t stop, which is an enormous problem. But those S. American soybeans are cheaper than N. American, so … say goodbye to more and more rainforest every year.

But we can slash release of mercury, arsenic, lead, sulfur, and nitrogen pollutants with currently available technology. So let’s focus on that, and invest whatever money is budgeted for the next UN climate change confab into doing that. It’s equally important, and not controversial.

2 Interesting Times  Tue, Dec 13, 2011 10:33:33am

re: #1 funky chicken

People can argue all day about carbon dioxide, but nobody can argue that mercury and arsenic are normal or (snort) beneficial components in the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide can have plenty of immediate nasty effects as well:

on August 21, 1986, a limnic eruption occurred at Lake Nyos which triggered the sudden release of about 1.6 million tonnes of CO2; this cloud rose at nearly 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph).[4]

“One survivor, Joseph Nkwain from Subum, described himself when he awoke after the gases had struck:

I could not speak. I became unconscious. I could not open my mouth because then I smelled something terrible … I heard my daughter snoring in a terrible way, very abnormal … When crossing to my daughter’s bed … I collapsed and fell. I was there till nine o’clock in the (Friday) morning … until a friend of mine came and knocked at my door … I was surprised to see that my trousers were red, had some stains like honey. I saw some … starchy mess on my body. My arms had some wounds … I didn’t really know how I got these wounds …I opened the door … I wanted to speak, my breath would not come out … My daughter was already dead … I went into my daughter’s bed, thinking that she was still sleeping. I slept till it was 4:30 p.m. in the afternoon … on Friday. (Then) I managed to go over to my neighbors’ houses. They were all dead … I decided to leave … . (because) most of my family was in Wum … I got my motorcycle … A friend whose father had died left with me (for) Wum … As I rode … through Nyos I didn’t see any sign of any living thing … (When I got to Wum), I was unable to walk, even to talk … my body was completely weak.”

All told, that CO2 eruption suffocated 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock to death.

re: #1 funky chicken

But we can slash release of mercury, arsenic, lead, sulfur, and nitrogen pollutants with currently available technology. So let’s focus on that, and invest whatever money is budgeted for the next UN climate change confab into doing that. It’s equally important, and not controversial.

According to the modern GOP and their corporate enablers, it is:

There are reports that on December 19th the Environmental Protection Agency will promulgate the long awaited standards to require coal fired power plants to reduce their mercury, arsenic, lead, and other toxic pollution. The dirtiest utilities and big coal companies have launched an eleventh hour pressure campaign to convince President Obama to delay or weaken the implementation of these safeguards that would prevent 1,400 premature deaths per month.


This page has been archived.
Comments are closed.

Jump to top

Create a PageThis is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). Then browse to a site you want to post, select some text on the page to use for a quote, click the bookmarklet, and the Pages posting window will appear with the title, text, and any embedded video or audio files already filled in, ready to go.
Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.
Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT
LGF User's Guide RSS Feeds

Help support Little Green Footballs!

Subscribe now for ad-free access!Register and sign in to a free LGF account before subscribing, and your ad-free access will be automatically enabled.

Donate with
PayPal
Cash.app
Recent PagesClick to refresh