Rant
Is it just me, or did most of the world blandly accept the information that on some days it is hazardous to your health to go outside and breathe! I mean, I'm sure there are some environmental groups (and some transportation planners!) that are buisily trying to work on the problem, or at least on trying to keep the public informed, but it seems that your average Joe Citizen just swallowed the information like the medicine that it was and went on with life. AM I THE ONLY ONE FREAKED OUT BY THIS?? I mean, it feels like I am living in a sci-fi movie about the future.
Little Johnny: Mom, can I go out to play?Mother: No son, the air quality index today is code red. You could die if you breathe that air! Stay inside today and play your simulator. I'll whip you up some Bregit Lung in the replicator.
This didn't exist when we were little, right???
I just re-read Stephen King's "The Running Man" (you've probably seen the movie, but I bet you didn't know that it was directed by Dave Starsky from Starsky and Hutch! The book is a lot different, by the way) but anyway all of the poor people were getting lung cancer, like little kids and everything, because the air quality was so bad but the gov't was covering it up. After the index went over like, 300, they stopped releasing the data. And the rich people could afford filters to wear but poor people couldn't.This is actually what is happening, I mean we aren't to that point yet but how long until we are? Within our lifetime? Our kids' lifetime? its freaking creepy, why doesn't anyone else think its freaking creepy!
posted by Evil Genius @ 3:21 PM
15 comments
15 Comments:
I think this is just one of those things it's too difficult to comprehend. "Oh, all the air is becoming poison? How about them apples?" What are you going to say or do?
Of course, this problem is pretty well localized to densely populated urban areas. There are exceptions, though. For example, in the dead of winter in Fairbanks, Alaska (easy to think about, since I'm there right now) an "inversion layer" forms a couple hundred feet over the city where cold air is trapped in the valley beneath a layer of warmer air. You can even see that layer in places such as over chimneys where the smoke rises, then suddenly spreads out like a pancake against this upper layer. When this is happening, exhaust from cars gets trapped in the valley and since this generally happens when it's very, very cold, like below about 40 degrees below zero, the exhaust mixed with water in the air crystalizes and forms what we call "ice fog."
You basically don't want to breathe this stuff, so people are encouraged to avoid driving, avoid walking around outside (not hard to convince people of that at -50oF!) and the city buses don't collect any fares to encourage mass transit.
Then the inversion layer disperses and it all goes back to normal. Fresh, cool Alaskan air again.
Now you know more about the freezing air of Alaska than you ever would have imagined or cared to know!
Bregit Lung! Ack! Good! Crunch, crunch....
I am freaked out ! It the same problem with global warming and water pollution , everyone just shrugs it off and thinks oh well what can i do while ther pumping 80 fuckin dollars worth of petroleum into there 8 cylinder Tank sized suburban. I'm not sure why people don't get upset when they read about all the restirictions on eating fish, once a month for this fish , don't ever eat that fish. What the hell , we've finally dumped enough crap in the water that fish have become nothing more than toxic waste containers.
Spider Girl,
I think I ate Bregit Lung at that Ethiopian place last night. mmmmm
hahahaha so NOW youre finally figuring out wat it is that V and I do here? and more importantly... WHY!
yes, it is true that the poor are being fuked over every which way possible. whats written about in Running Man is indeed happening. Remember all those times i mentioned Environmental Justice and your eyes glazed over and all you heard was blah blah blah? hehe
so, more importantly than asking "why doesnt anyone freak out over this" ... the question is what are YOU going to do about it?
btw, this isn't just an urban problem. maryland for example does produce its own pollution, however, we get a significant amount of "transport" - air coming from other states, many of which are midwestern states who have things like coal factories, power plants, etc. all their air gets blown in here and is already sitting there, waiting to mix with our own pollution. and thats mostly just ozone! not even Particulate Matter. which is pretty scary stuff!
(can you tell i just went to a conference on Air Quality yesterday? LOL)
You think it's bad here! Go to other countries where code red days are *good* ones. I remember in Kaohsiung breathing was so gross that I couldn't stand it. But people live there.
So, buy environmentally-friendly cars (NOT THE Z4), reduce your energy use, and vote Democrat. This administration has the worst environment record of any in modern history, and are actively working to dismantle those protections that are already in place. They are, quite literally, the anti-environment party.
It may be a first, but all of a sudden, I agree with Scribby.
surival of the richest... the way god intended.
How about Homoscriber. Accent the second syllable, like "homogeny".
I wish I was back in the desert. Baltimore is one miserable place. I can't breath.
I'm out in San Diego right now at this GIS conference. NICE pollution-free air, nice temps, great food, great public transportation system, expensive as hell! Good thing the tab is picked up.
Fascinating conference too. This technology is an environmentalist's dream. GIS baby!
What is Bregit Lung?? Is that like hot pockets or something.
I just heard a new study. 1/3 of the Cheasapeake Bay can no longer sustain life of any kind, wildlife or vegetation.
To answer your question, yes it's always been hotter than hell in the summertime. However, the "heat advisories" are new.
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