4 ms·

Yeah, air pollution is a related but not identical issue to climate change. Emissions from ICE vehicles affect both air quality and atmospheric CO2. Particulate

Yeah, air pollution is a related but not identical issue to climate change. Emissions from ICE vehicles affect both air quality and atmospheric CO2. Particulates from tire wear (for example) affect primarily local air quality and not atmospheric CO2. And even setting aside climate change, we should also be worried about all the pollution we're breathing in. Lots of health issues there.

vondur 4y ago
Before all of the emissions regulations were imposed, I remember in the 80’s growing up in LA county, a “Smog Alert” could be issued for the day, warning us to limit exercise time outdoors.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Heh kids these days do NOT know how bad LA used to be. Pictures don't really do it justice, you had to be there. https://www.insider.com/vintage-photos-los-angeles-smog-pollution-epa-2020-1#in-1949-smoke-from-a-trash-dump-covered-the-city-later-fearing-the-effects-of-smog-on-the-citys-inhabitants-gov-goodwin-knight-restricted-the-open-burning-of-garbage-it-was-made-illegal-in-1958-7 https://www.insider.com/vintage-photos-los-angeles-smog-poll...
pirate787 4y ago
Of course, tire wear is greater on electric vehicles, owing to their greater mass. Cars in general are bad for air quality, EV are not really an improvement compared to mass transit.
- boringg 4y ago
  So higher tire wear, zero emissions in the city. EVs are a step change in air pollution in the city - I whole heartedly disagree. Looks like we need to work on better tire technology as well (they cause a lot of problems in the local runoff of water).
  - ryukafalz 4y ago
    > Looks like we need to work on better tire technology as well Yes, and also discourage private car use in general in the city in favor of less polluting alternatives. Cities are where mass transit and cycling are most viable as alternatives to driving and where the effects of air pollution from driving are most pronounced.
  - adsfoiu1 4y ago
    https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/12/03/tire-related-chemical-largely-responsible-for-adult-coho-salmon-deaths-in-urban-streams/ https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/12/03/tire-related-chem... very interesting read for people curious -- one way that tire wear pollution is causing problems
    - hammock 4y ago
      Fascinating. And good science. Thanks for sharing
roywiggins 4y ago
Particulate pollution can also cause cooling that masks the overall warming trend. https://e360.yale.edu/features/air-pollutions-upside-a-brake-on-global-warming https://e360.yale.edu/features/air-pollutions-upside-a-brake...
clairity 4y ago
it's important to differentiate though. climate change is largely mediopolitically-driven narrative playing into the aims of the fossil fuel industry to delay action (e.g., carbon pricing). pollution is a concrete, immediate issue that kills millions of people annually. we should be attacking pollution like a freight train, not CO₂, which is a gas that's essential to life on earth. that would mean getting rid of coal, oil and gas as a first, and biggest, and maybe even only, step. we could have already been solving this issue if we hadn't stopped allowing nuclear to be built in the 90's, as in, we could be completely coal free by now and on the road to eliminating gas in our electricity infrastructure. then as grid-scale storage is developed over the next few decades, we could move steadily over to solar and wind over the next century (for both electricity and transportation) as the nuclear plants go out of commission at the end of their 50-70 year lifecycle. the climate change narrative is amorphous and far in the future, so it's easy to deflect criticism and solutions. not so much with pollution, which has been a problem for over a century already. care deeply and fiercely about pollution, not CO₂.

vondur 4y ago

Before all of the emissions regulations were imposed, I remember in the 80’s growing up in LA county, a “Smog Alert” could be issued for the day, warning us to limit exercise time outdoors.

bombcar 4y ago
Heh kids these days do NOT know how bad LA used to be. Pictures don't really do it justice, you had to be there. https://www.insider.com/vintage-photos-los-angeles-smog-pollution-epa-2020-1#in-1949-smoke-from-a-trash-dump-covered-the-city-later-fearing-the-effects-of-smog-on-the-citys-inhabitants-gov-goodwin-knight-restricted-the-open-burning-of-garbage-it-was-made-illegal-in-1958-7 https://www.insider.com/vintage-photos-los-angeles-smog-poll...

pirate787 4y ago

Of course, tire wear is greater on electric vehicles, owing to their greater mass. Cars in general are bad for air quality, EV are not really an improvement compared to mass transit.

boringg 4y ago
So higher tire wear, zero emissions in the city. EVs are a step change in air pollution in the city - I whole heartedly disagree. Looks like we need to work on better tire technology as well (they cause a lot of problems in the local runoff of water).
- ryukafalz 4y ago
  > Looks like we need to work on better tire technology as well Yes, and also discourage private car use in general in the city in favor of less polluting alternatives. Cities are where mass transit and cycling are most viable as alternatives to driving and where the effects of air pollution from driving are most pronounced.
- adsfoiu1 4y ago
  https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/12/03/tire-related-chemical-largely-responsible-for-adult-coho-salmon-deaths-in-urban-streams/ https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/12/03/tire-related-chem... very interesting read for people curious -- one way that tire wear pollution is causing problems
  - hammock 4y ago
    Fascinating. And good science. Thanks for sharing

roywiggins 4y ago

Particulate pollution can also cause cooling that masks the overall warming trend. https://e360.yale.edu/features/air-pollutions-upside-a-brake-on-global-warming https://e360.yale.edu/features/air-pollutions-upside-a-brake...

clairity 4y ago

it's important to differentiate though. climate change is largely mediopolitically-driven narrative playing into the aims of the fossil fuel industry to delay action (e.g., carbon pricing). pollution is a concrete, immediate issue that kills millions of people annually. we should be attacking pollution like a freight train, not CO₂, which is a gas that's essential to life on earth. that would mean getting rid of coal, oil and gas as a first, and biggest, and maybe even only, step. we could have already been solving this issue if we hadn't stopped allowing nuclear to be built in the 90's, as in, we could be completely coal free by now and on the road to eliminating gas in our electricity infrastructure. then as grid-scale storage is developed over the next few decades, we could move steadily over to solar and wind over the next century (for both electricity and transportation) as the nuclear plants go out of commission at the end of their 50-70 year lifecycle. the climate change narrative is amorphous and far in the future, so it's easy to deflect criticism and solutions. not so much with pollution, which has been a problem for over a century already. care deeply and fiercely about pollution, not CO₂.