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This seems incredibly vacuous: > Acid in the atmosphere can come from large volcanic eruptions and manmade emissions from industry It's not surprising that th
by hasbroslasher 10y ago
This seems incredibly vacuous:
> Acid in the atmosphere can come from large volcanic eruptions and manmade emissions from industry
It's not surprising that the atmosphere isn't as acidic now, as there has been a decline in volcanic activity in the last 100 years (purely statistical noise).
In fact, it's rather harmful to push the "hey we're making improvements" narrative when there is still so much to be done to prevent global environmental catastrophes.
- ced 10y agoCould you support your assertion that the variation shown in the graph is due to volcanic activity? To me it looks like "steady increase after WWII, up to critical levels, then subsiding after the clean air acts of the 1970s". But I have no background in the subject. http://www.nbi.ku.dk/Nyheder/nyheder_16/luftens-syreforurening-er-minimeret-til-foer-industrialiseringen/forGertie-1280.jpg http://www.nbi.ku.dk/Nyheder/nyheder_16/luftens-syreforureni...
- hasbroslasher 10y agoSure, here's a really simple one: https://www.metabunk.org/sk/Volcanic-activity-1945-2015.png https://www.metabunk.org/sk/Volcanic-activity-1945-2015.png Interestingly, this graph shows volcanic activity declining after the passage of the clean air act - perhaps the gods of volcanism heard our pleas. In all likelihood, yeah, it was a combination of the two factors, but it did bug me that they ignored below-average global volcanism post 1970.
- wycx 10y agoGlobal volcanic activity is an imperfect proxy, however. For instance, about 20% of present day global volcanic SO2 emissions are from a few volcanoes in Vanuatu (Yasur, Lopevi, Ambrym, Ambae, Gaua and Vanua Lava).
- sliverstorm 10y agoVictories are good. If the narrative is 100% gloom and doom and never acknowledges a shred of success, people become fatalistic and give up.
- jcoffland 10y agoSo I think you are implying that if it's not negative news about the environment then people shouldn't be hearing it. I hate this attitude that the environment is indisputably in a headlong rush to hell. This to me is much more detrimental to the efforts to make positive environmental changes. The general public will not trust science if they are not being told the truth whether a particular truth supports a particular agenda or not.
- hasbroslasher 10y agoMake no mistake, this is no attitude, this is a stating of facts: http://www.soas.ac.uk/cedep-demos/000_P500_ESM_K3736-Demo/unit1/page_11.htm http://www.soas.ac.uk/cedep-demos/000_P500_ESM_K3736-Demo/un... Good news is fine, but rare. Important good news rarer. Find me good news and I may change my tune, until then I'll continue to remind you of the Pacific garbage patch and the global water crisis. The general public will only trust science if it comforts them - no one wants to believe that the type of environmental degradation late capitalism promotes is possible. The general public will not believe that eating hamburgers contributes to water shortages, that driving automobiles causes global climate problems, that our trash is causing the oceans to acidify into a pool, barren of life... They will believe their post-consumer-waste Starbucks cup is saving the world, and that they are heroes.
- parineum 10y agoI found some good news here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12531603 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12531603
- jcoffland 10y agoHave you stopped driving, eating hamburgers and creating trash? Or are you just killing the mood at parties? I'm all for taking action that will make a difference but there is no point in getting all worked up about what might happen when there's nothing you can do about it. Humans have been convinced that the world is about to end for thousands of years. Let me know when it actually happens.
- b34r 10y agoThe article specifically pointed out that they had a way of separating industrial sources from volcanic, etc. RTFA.