Another cause of global warming is . . . wait for it . . . clean air!
GOODBYE air pollution and smoky chimneys, hello brighter days. That's been the trend in Europe for the past three decades - but unfortunately cleaning up the skies has allowed more of the sun's rays to pierce the atmosphere, contributing to at least half the warming that has occurred.
Quick, somebody get in touch with the Natural Resources Defense Council and tell them to drop their planet-threatening lawsuit against BP's planned refnery expansion in Whiting:
The group's lawsuit focuses primarily on three new flares -- the large torch structures used to relieve pressure in the refinery
Comments
Leo, I just KNEW that my carbon footprint wasn't BIG enough...
Time to BBQ a LOT more, and burn some leaves, too!
It does, however beg the question:
"Do arsonists actually HELP the environment as well?"
;)
B.G.
Ironic, but one doubts that random pollution will be deemed the preferred method to control the thermostat. Just when we let big oil dial down the temperature, Mount St. Helens might erupt again and we'd all be in the freezing dark or something.
This is the sort of simplification Hollywood loves to turn into sci-fi movie scripts -- CGI disaster for the first two acts of course, then at the climax the sweltering people of earth desperately fire up all their industry at once and belch a billion tons of waste into the ionosphere to save the planet in the last reel.
Hey, maybe we should just wait a year or two for the Chinese to reverse the problem and save the polar bears & penguins instead of hounding them about their massive industrial pollution?
Of course, humans have long held one sure ace-in-the-hole against global warming. Iran brings that dire antidote back to mind after a long hiatus. It's called nuclear winter. But I doubt it would save the polar bears, really.
But I doubt it would save the polar bears, really.
Save them from what? Their population levels are at record highs.
Instead of simply burning off the flares at Whiting, though, BP ought to be selling off that natural gas. Apparently, they haven't caught on to the fact that energy is highly valuable. (Although to be fair, when they designed that facility, energy was considerly less valuable.)