5 ms·
I’ve lived in London the past decade and had problems with air pollution (got bronchitis a number of times in the last few years). Just today my GP suggested g
by jeffwass 7y ago
I’ve lived in London the past decade and had problems with air pollution (got bronchitis a number of times in the last few years).
Just today my GP suggested getting an inhaler. And I just found out a guy I work with got an inhaler last week.
It’s insane how bad the air pollution is, estimated to cause 40k premature deaths each year.
Meanwhile the government hardly does anything (though see below). People feel it’s their divine right to drive old dirty diesel vehicles and how dare the government impose any restriction on this polluting behaviour.
Luckily London just set up the ULEZ (ultra low emission zone) in a small part of central London, making older dirty cars pay a fee if they enter. But they’re not extending the ULEZ to Greater London for another two and a half years. Or another 100k premature deaths.
- jodrellblank 7y agoYou could say the same thing about driving at all. People think it's their divine right to drive, even though driving at all reports 165,000 casualties of all levels in the UK, per year: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-provisional-estimates-year-ending-june-2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casua... And the government does nothing. Except speed bumps, which people complain about, mandatory car maintenance, which people complain about, traffic lights everywhere, which people complain about, speed cameras, which people complain about, regulate emissions, which people complain about.
- deevolution 7y agoHopefully non autonomous driving becomes illegal. Its a lethal weapon and we shouldnt be trusting humans with cars
- 2Ccltvcm 7y agoWe should all just become vegetables plugged into the matrix so we can't possibly hurt ourselves or others. We would be valuable vassals providing energy to our overlords. I can't wait for your future.
- veritas_veritad 7y agofalse dichotomy- there exists a world in which cars are not the normal mode of transportation because everything you could possibly want is within walking distance and intra-city travel is something you do only occasionally.
- Tade0 7y agoDoes there though? I personally would be interested in living in a 1mln+ city that's 99%+ car free.
- veritas_veritad 7y agowould be or would not be- I'm confused by your statement
- Tade0 7y agoI wanted to say that while I would like to live in such a world, I can't think of an example.
- core-questions 7y agoI couldn't possibly want to leave the city, drive down a logging road, tour around, and enjoy my personal freedom, right? Why would anyone want that, when someone might possibly have a small chance of dying because of it?
- veritas_veritad 7y agoit's not just the small chance of dying, though- it's the very real and cumulative effects of driving cars in general. We have laws around being able to pump raw sewage into rivers and lakes as well as laws around leaving depleted uranium anywhere remotely possible of causing harm (and even then it probably still isn't great) You're welcome to leave the city via some means that doesn't pollute the atmosphere. Walk, bike, etc. It's really whiney of you to feel so incensed that you can't just do whatever TF you want because "mah freedoms" when those activities are contributing to a degradation of the livability of the planet. Yes, we as a species have reached the point where there are things we _can_ do that we _ought not_ do. Sucks I guess?
- distant_hat 7y agoBut then you'd be trusting software developers with cars. What if a botnet of cars activates and tries to mow down everybody around?
- nan0 7y agoYou must have read Seeker by Douglas E Richards :)
- prepend 7y agoMaybe the same law can make commenting on web sites illegals. Sitting and lethargy kill many more than driving.
- jodrellblank 7y agoThe people commenting kill themselves. The people driving kill and injure other people. I don't know how widely reported it was outside the UK, but Prince Philip (Queen Elizabeth's husband) is 97. In January this year, he drove his car into a car with two women and a nine month old child in it. He was OK, the women required hospital treatment (but were not seriously injured). "Prince Philip unhurt in crash" said the BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46912691 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46912691 "Prince Philip will not be prosecuted [..] We have decided that it would not be in the public interest" said the Crown Prosecution Service. ( https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/14/prince-philip-will-not-be-prosecuted-over-car-crash-cps https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/14/prince-phili... ). He voluntarily surrendered his driving license after that.
- Chris_Chambers 7y agoPeople like you should be forbidden from all forms of communication.
- 2Ccltvcm 7y agoThe UK government permits new cars to be sold with tailpipe emissions which are VASTLY higher than those of comparable vehicles in the USA. The Dieselgate scandal never ended outside USA. It's just business as usual in Europe. The UK government is complicit in knowingly allowing manufacturers to sell extremely polluting diesels. The green initiatives in the UK are hilariously inadequate because so many brand new cars are diesels with extreme emissions levels compared to comparable cars sold in the United States. American market diesels do not pollute anywhere as much as UK market diesels.
- cs02rm0 7y agoSource?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- wcoenen 7y ago> The UK government permits new cars to be sold with tailpipe emissions which are VASTLY higher than those of comparable vehicles in the USA. What I could find about the latest standards does not seem to support your claim. But maybe I'm looking at wrong numbers or misinterpreting them, so I wouldn't mind looking at your own sources if you have them. EURO 6d standards for diesel passenger cars [1]: - CO: 0.5 g/km - NOx: 0.080 g/km - PM: 0.0045 g/km California LEV standards for passenger cars <50K miles/5 years [2]. (Not the same as EPA, but I assume California is more strict): - CO: 3.4 g/mi = 2.1 g/km - NOx: 0.2 g/mi = 0.12 g/km - PM: 0.08 g/mi = 0.05 g/km [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_emission_standards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_emission_standards [2] https://www.dieselnet.com/standards/us/ld_ca.php https://www.dieselnet.com/standards/us/ld_ca.php
- phkahler 7y agoFor improved lung health I recommend daily magnesium (200mg+) and iodine (1mg+). Cured my asthma. No more inhalers!
- SketchySeaBeast 7y agoAre you not worried about hypothydroism from the iodine?
- jtuente 7y agohttp://www.thyroid.org/iodine-deficiency/ http://www.thyroid.org/iodine-deficiency/ This page indicates hypothyroidism is a result of iodine deficiency, rather than excess. Hyperthyroidism may be caused by excess iodine.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y agohttps://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/08/iodine-is-important-but-new-study-shows-too-much-causes-problems.aspx https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/... It can be both. Also, too much iodine can cause thyroid inflammation and cancer. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iodine-Consumer/ https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iodine-Consumer/
- asdff 7y agoDo you not eat salt?
- SketchySeaBeast 7y agoThere are 45 μg / gram of salt. That means if you consume the recommended amount (1.5-2.3 grams a day) you're getting 1/10 of the supplement dose indicated above. Even a famously salty big mac would get you 100 μg of iodine.
- LifeLiverTransp 7y agoI recommend opiates- regularly opiate application cures hunger, pain and any other aspirations including respiration.