3 ms·

This would only be relevant when the fuel leaks, right? During normal combustion the hydrogen is never exposed to the open atmosphere, it is burned back into H

This would only be relevant when the fuel leaks, right? During normal combustion the hydrogen is never exposed to the open atmosphere, it is burned back into H2O and released in that form.

nine_k 5y ago
Yes. But one should be aware that leaking some hydrogen is leaking it to the outer space, for good. This realization does not stop us from using much more rare helium in party balloons, though.
- XorNot 5y ago
  The sheer amount of hydrogen you would have to put into the atmosphere for this to become a problem is enormous. This is a problem in the same sense that the sun going red giant is a problem.
  - JumpCrisscross 5y ago
    > This is a problem in the same sense that the sun going red giant is a problem To be fair to OP, at the point we're concerned about Exxon Valdez circa 2400 dumping an atmosphere of hydrogen into space and the Sun's expansion, we could solve one problem with the other and bring the Sun's mass over.
    - rbanffy 5y ago
      If we learn how to remove mass from the Sun at a large scanner, we can extend its useful life and fuse the hydrogen into more useful materials. We can prevent it from going red giant in the first place.
- Robotbeat 5y ago
  That's not really true. Hydrogen oxidizes in the atmosphere, whereas helium does not. Also, helium is continually produced via nuclear decay in the Earth, and it seeps up through the crust. So it's rare and it leaks into space with or without humans.
GravitasFailure 5y ago
Losing Earth's hydrogen to space would require a stupendously long wait. Maybe freeing all of it at once would help speed the process asking, but the first lightning strike, volcanic eruption, or meteor would just ignite it all back to water. I'd be far more worried about getting struck by lighting, a volcanic eruption or a meteor, than losing our hydrogen to space.
- SlowRobotAhead 5y ago
  I think scale is a really hard thing for us, but yes, being concerned about this is quite silly.

This would only be relevant when the fuel leaks, right? During normal combustion the hydrogen is never exposed to the open atmosphere, it is burned back into H2O and released in that form.

nine_k 5y ago

Yes. But one should be aware that leaking some hydrogen is leaking it to the outer space, for good. This realization does not stop us from using much more rare helium in party balloons, though.

XorNot 5y ago
The sheer amount of hydrogen you would have to put into the atmosphere for this to become a problem is enormous. This is a problem in the same sense that the sun going red giant is a problem.
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago
  > This is a problem in the same sense that the sun going red giant is a problem To be fair to OP, at the point we're concerned about Exxon Valdez circa 2400 dumping an atmosphere of hydrogen into space and the Sun's expansion, we could solve one problem with the other and bring the Sun's mass over.
  - rbanffy 5y ago
    If we learn how to remove mass from the Sun at a large scanner, we can extend its useful life and fuse the hydrogen into more useful materials. We can prevent it from going red giant in the first place.
Robotbeat 5y ago
That's not really true. Hydrogen oxidizes in the atmosphere, whereas helium does not. Also, helium is continually produced via nuclear decay in the Earth, and it seeps up through the crust. So it's rare and it leaks into space with or without humans.

GravitasFailure 5y ago

Losing Earth's hydrogen to space would require a stupendously long wait. Maybe freeing all of it at once would help speed the process asking, but the first lightning strike, volcanic eruption, or meteor would just ignite it all back to water. I'd be far more worried about getting struck by lighting, a volcanic eruption or a meteor, than losing our hydrogen to space.

SlowRobotAhead 5y ago
I think scale is a really hard thing for us, but yes, being concerned about this is quite silly.