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| sci.geo.meteorology (Meteorology) (sci.geo.meteorology) For the discussion of meteorology and related topics. |
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#1
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On Jul 3, 3:20 pm, "z0n0b" wrote:
18 Apr 2009 The inevitable has happened. The Obama government has declared CO2-a nutrient required by plants to live, and a gas exhaled with your every breath-a pollutant. snip specious rant ||| Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms .Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light energy. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution |||| Note a couple of qualifications: "they can be "naturally occurring when they exceed natural levels". The current concentrations of CO2 are above "natural levels" so talking about humans exhaling and spotted owls is ignoratio elenchi -- a red herring. Merriam-Webster speaks of it being "especially man-made waste" pol·lu·tion Pronunciation: \pə-ˈlü-shən\ Function: noun Date: 14th century 1: the action of polluting especially by environmental contamination with man-made waste http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pollution So again, nothing to do with spotted owls. Now the EPA has for years regulated vehicle and industrial emissions, or tried to anyway. It sets a benchmark target that indicates the pollution that is permitted and distingguishes that from the pollution that is excessive. It works this out on the basis of what is unavoidable and what exceedds unacceptable levels of risk to humans. Thus, in the US, there are for example regulations on how much sulphur can be emitted from vehicle exhausts. CO2 is an interesting onebecause clearly, some of the CO2 emitted is simply cycled between the atmosphere and various carbon sinks -- the oceans, terrestrial and marine biota etc. Some is naturally occurring, and some is the result of disticntively human processes. Even the anthropogenic CO2 gets a partial pass though because it's accepted that the usages of modern life demand it, so the question is "how much is acceptable?" That's not a new question but a very old one at least in terms of pollutants. It is now being applied to CO2, not to reduce existing concentration, but to slow its *accumulation* in the atmosphere and eventually stabilise it some time in the future, hopefully at a level that is consistent with avoiding uncontrolled or excessively rapid climate change. Fran |
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#2
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On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:54:38 -0700 (PDT), Fran
wrote: On Jul 3, 3:20 pm, "z0n0b" wrote: 18 Apr 2009 The inevitable has happened. The Obama government has declared CO2-a nutrient required by plants to li= ve, and a gas exhaled with your every breath-a pollutant. snip specious rant ||| Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms .Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light energy. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution |||| Note a couple of qualifications: "they can be "naturally occurring when they exceed natural levels". The current concentrations of CO2 are above "natural levels" so talking about humans exhaling and spotted owls is ignoratio elenchi -- a red herring. Merriam-Webster speaks of it being "especially man-made waste" pol=C2=B7lu=C2=B7tion Pronunciation: \p=C9=99-=CB=88l=C3=BC-sh=C9=99n\ Function: noun Date: 14th century 1: the action of polluting especially by environmental contamination with man-made waste http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pollution So again, nothing to do with spotted owls. Now the EPA has for years regulated vehicle and industrial emissions, or tried to anyway. It sets a benchmark target that indicates the pollution that is permitted and distingguishes that from the pollution that is excessive. It works this out on the basis of what is unavoidable and what exceedds unacceptable levels of risk to humans. Thus, in the US, there are for example regulations on how much sulphur can be emitted from vehicle exhausts. CO2 is an interesting onebecause clearly, some of the CO2 emitted is simply cycled between the atmosphere and various carbon sinks -- the oceans, terrestrial and marine biota etc. Some is naturally occurring, and some is the result of disticntively human processes. Even the anthropogenic CO2 gets a partial pass though because it's accepted that the usages of modern life demand it, so the question is "how much is acceptable?" That's not a new question but a very old one at least in terms of pollutants. It is now being applied to CO2, not to reduce existing concentration, but to slow its *accumulation* in the atmosphere and eventually stabilise it some time in the future, hopefully at a level that is consistent with avoiding uncontrolled or excessively rapid climate change. Fran What do you do when it is Governments who are the polluters. For example, all the Coal fired power stations in NSW are owned and operated by the NSW Govt. What do you do about pollutants that originate in other countries. |
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#3
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On Jul 4, 1:34*pm, (Mauried) wrote:
On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:54:38 -0700 (PDT), Fran wrote: On Jul 3, 3:20 pm, "z0n0b" wrote: 18 Apr 2009 The inevitable has happened. The Obama government has declared CO2-a nutrient required by plants to li= ve, and a gas exhaled with your every breath-a pollutant. snip specious rant ||| Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms .Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light energy. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution |||| Note a couple of qualifications: "they can be "naturally occurring when they exceed natural levels". The current concentrations of CO2 are above "natural levels" so talking about humans exhaling and spotted owls is ignoratio elenchi -- a red herring. Merriam-Webster speaks of it being "especially man-made waste" pol=C2=B7lu=C2=B7tion Pronunciation: \p=C9=99-=CB=88l=C3=BC-sh=C9=99n\ Function: noun Date: 14th century 1: the action of polluting especially by environmental contamination with man-made waste http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pollution So again, nothing to do with spotted owls. Now the EPA has for years regulated vehicle and industrial emissions, or tried to anyway. It sets a benchmark target that indicates the pollution that is permitted and distingguishes that from the pollution that is excessive. It works this out on the basis of what is unavoidable and what exceedds unacceptable levels of risk to humans. Thus, in the US, there are for example regulations on how much sulphur can be emitted from vehicle exhausts. CO2 is an interesting onebecause clearly, some of the CO2 emitted is simply cycled between the atmosphere and various carbon sinks -- the oceans, terrestrial and marine biota etc. Some is naturally occurring, and some is the result of disticntively human processes. Even the anthropogenic CO2 gets a partial pass though because it's accepted that the usages of modern life demand it, so the question is "how much is acceptable?" That's not a new question but a very old one at least in terms of pollutants. It is now being applied to CO2, not to reduce existing concentration, but to slow its *accumulation* in the atmosphere and eventually stabilise it some time in the future, hopefully at a level that is consistent with avoiding uncontrolled or excessively rapid climate change. Fran What do you do when it is Governments who are the polluters. Sack those in charge? and replace them with people committed to best practice? For example, all the Coal fired power stations in NSW are owned and operated by the NSW Govt. Phase them out. Apply scrubbers in the interim. Do offsets. What do you do about pollutants that originate in other countries The same thing -- only the people over there do it, perhaps in some cases, with the support of an international agreement and some funds -- such as Gordon Brown was proposing Fran |
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#4
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On Jul 5, 2:22*am, Fran wrote:
On Jul 4, 1:34*pm, (Mauried) wrote: On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:54:38 -0700 (PDT), Fran wrote: On Jul 3, 3:20 pm, "z0n0b" wrote: 18 Apr 2009 The inevitable has happened. The Obama government has declared CO2-a nutrient required by plants to li= ve, and a gas exhaled with your every breath-a pollutant. snip specious rant ||| Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms .Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light energy. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution |||| Note a couple of qualifications: "they can be "naturally occurring when they exceed natural levels". The current concentrations of CO2 are above "natural levels" so talking about humans exhaling and spotted owls is ignoratio elenchi -- a red herring. Merriam-Webster speaks of it being "especially man-made waste" pol=C2=B7lu=C2=B7tion Pronunciation: \p=C9=99-=CB=88l=C3=BC-sh=C9=99n\ Function: noun Date: 14th century 1: the action of polluting especially by environmental contamination with man-made waste http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pollution So again, nothing to do with spotted owls. Now the EPA has for years regulated vehicle and industrial emissions, or tried to anyway. It sets a benchmark target that indicates the pollution that is permitted and distingguishes that from the pollution that is excessive. It works this out on the basis of what is unavoidable and what exceedds unacceptable levels of risk to humans. Thus, in the US, there are for example regulations on how much sulphur can be emitted from vehicle exhausts. CO2 is an interesting onebecause clearly, some of the CO2 emitted is simply cycled between the atmosphere and various carbon sinks -- the oceans, terrestrial and marine biota etc. Some is naturally occurring, and some is the result of disticntively human processes. Even the anthropogenic CO2 gets a partial pass though because it's accepted that the usages of modern life demand it, so the question is "how much is acceptable?" That's not a new question but a very old one at least in terms of pollutants. It is now being applied to CO2, not to reduce existing concentration, but to slow its *accumulation* in the atmosphere and eventually stabilise it some time in the future, hopefully at a level that is consistent with avoiding uncontrolled or excessively rapid climate change. Fran What do you do when it is Governments who are the polluters. Sack those in charge? and replace them with people committed to best practice? For example, all the Coal fired power stations in NSW are owned and operated by the NSW Govt. Phase them out. Apply scrubbers in the interim. Do offsets. What do you do about pollutants that originate in other countries The same thing -- only the people over there do it, perhaps in some cases, with the support of an international agreement and some funds -- such as Gordon Brown was proposing Fran If you are the Goreacle, rich now thanks to pushing the threat of global warming, you hop on a private jet and fly somewhere with a nice beach to breathe in some fresh air. While in flight, you can chortle over the suckers who bought worthless carbon credits and how the new "cap and trade" proposal will make you and other insiders a fortune, enabling you to unload more worthless carbon credits. Its a great life, blame industry for global warming, part of a cycle that has been going on for millions of years. But when it comes to reducing a real danger, smokestack emissions from coal fired power plants, let those plants with those high smokestacks get a paid pass from air quality regulations by buying carbon credits. And if you are Gore, return to you mansion that uses up 12X the power of am average sized house and say it is okay, you have carbons credits. Maybe he even printed up those credits himself in his mansion's basement, who is to know. Not the government, which couldn't even catch Madoff. |
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#5
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On Sat, 4 Jul 2009 23:22:41 -0700 (PDT), Fran
wrote: On Jul 4, 1:34=A0pm, (Mauried) wrote: On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:54:38 -0700 (PDT), Fran wrote: On Jul 3, 3:20 pm, "z0n0b" wrote: 18 Apr 2009 The inevitable has happened. The Obama government has declared CO2-a nutrient required by plants to= li=3D ve, and a gas exhaled with your every breath-a pollutant. snip specious rant ||| Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms .Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light energy. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution |||| Note a couple of qualifications: "they can be "naturally occurring when they exceed natural levels". The current concentrations of CO2 are above "natural levels" so talking about humans exhaling and spotted owls is ignoratio elenchi -- a red herring. Merriam-Webster speaks of it being "especially man-made waste" pol=3DC2=3DB7lu=3DC2=3DB7tion Pronunciation: \p=3DC9=3D99-=3DCB=3D88l=3DC3=3DBC-sh=3DC9=3D99n\ Function: noun Date: 14th century 1: the action of polluting especially by environmental contamination with man-made waste http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pollution So again, nothing to do with spotted owls. Now the EPA has for years regulated vehicle and industrial emissions, or tried to anyway. It sets a benchmark target that indicates the pollution that is permitted and distingguishes that from the pollution that is excessive. It works this out on the basis of what is unavoidable and what exceedds unacceptable levels of risk to humans. Thus, in the US, there are for example regulations on how much sulphur can be emitted from vehicle exhausts. CO2 is an interesting onebecause clearly, some of the CO2 emitted is simply cycled between the atmosphere and various carbon sinks -- the oceans, terrestrial and marine biota etc. Some is naturally occurring, and some is the result of disticntively human processes. Even the anthropogenic CO2 gets a partial pass though because it's accepted that the usages of modern life demand it, so the question is "how much is acceptable?" That's not a new question but a very old one at least in terms of pollutants. It is now being applied to CO2, not to reduce existing concentration, but to slow its *accumulation* in the atmosphere and eventually stabilise it some time in the future, hopefully at a level that is consistent with avoiding uncontrolled or excessively rapid climate change. Fran What do you do when it is Governments who are the polluters. Sack those in charge? and replace them with people committed to best practice? For example, all the Coal fired power stations in NSW are owned and operated by the NSW Govt. Phase them out. Apply scrubbers in the interim. Do offsets. What do you do about pollutants that originate in other countries The same thing -- only the people over there do it, perhaps in some cases, with the support of an international agreement and some funds -- such as Gordon Brown was proposing Fran Very good, how about explaining exactly in practical terms how you go about doing this. For example, how do you go about sacking Govts, or forcing Govts to install scrubbers on their power stations. Also explain how you go about forcing Govts in other countries to do the same. China for example, is a one party State. The people cant sack the Govt even if they wanted too. |
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#6
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On Jul 6, 10:03*am, (Mauried) wrote:
On Sat, 4 Jul 2009 23:22:41 -0700 (PDT), Fran wrote: On Jul 4, 1:34=A0pm, (Mauried) wrote: On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:54:38 -0700 (PDT), Fran wrote: On Jul 3, 3:20 pm, "z0n0b" wrote: 18 Apr 2009 The inevitable has happened. The Obama government has declared CO2-a nutrient required by plants to= li=3D ve, and a gas exhaled with your every breath-a pollutant. snip specious rant ||| Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e.. physical systems or living organisms .Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light energy. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution |||| Note a couple of qualifications: "they can be "naturally occurring when they exceed natural levels". The current concentrations of CO2 are above "natural levels" so talking about humans exhaling and spotted owls is ignoratio elenchi -- a red herring. Merriam-Webster speaks of it being "especially man-made waste" pol=3DC2=3DB7lu=3DC2=3DB7tion Pronunciation: \p=3DC9=3D99-=3DCB=3D88l=3DC3=3DBC-sh=3DC9=3D99n\ Function: noun Date: 14th century 1: the action of polluting especially by environmental contamination with man-made waste http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pollution So again, nothing to do with spotted owls. Now the EPA has for years regulated vehicle and industrial emissions, or tried to anyway. It sets a benchmark target that indicates the pollution that is permitted and distingguishes that from the pollution that is excessive. It works this out on the basis of what is unavoidable and what exceedds unacceptable levels of risk to humans. Thus, in the US, there are for example regulations on how much sulphur can be emitted from vehicle exhausts. CO2 is an interesting onebecause clearly, some of the CO2 emitted is simply cycled between the atmosphere and various carbon sinks -- the oceans, terrestrial and marine biota etc. Some is naturally occurring, and some is the result of disticntively human processes. Even the anthropogenic CO2 gets a partial pass though because it's accepted that the usages of modern life demand it, so the question is "how much is acceptable?" That's not a new question but a very old one at least in terms of pollutants. It is now being applied to CO2, not to reduce existing concentration, but to slow its *accumulation* in the atmosphere and eventually stabilise it some time in the future, hopefully at a level that is consistent with avoiding uncontrolled or excessively rapid climate change. Fran What do you do when it is Governments who are the polluters. Sack those in charge? and replace them with people committed to best practice? For example, all the Coal fired power stations in NSW are owned and operated by the NSW Govt. Phase them out. Apply scrubbers in the interim. Do offsets. What do you do about pollutants that originate in other countries The same thing -- only the people over there do it, perhaps in some cases, with the support of an international agreement and some funds -- such as Gordon Brown was proposing Fran Very good, how about explaining exactly in practical terms how you go about doing this. For example, how do you go about sacking Govts, or forcing Govts to install scrubbers on their power stations. There's this little thing called 'democracy', which applies to government but not to private corporations and businesses. You set performance parameters, get them independently monitored and results put on the public record. That's roughly what happens when I teach. Periodically we teachers are audited, and we have to show evidence that our teaching programs match the specifications of the syllabus, our units of work match our teaching programs, and that our units of work are manifest in the work produced by our students and that the output is of an adequate standard for the cohort. If we fail these standards we get put under direct supervision to get "support" and our supervisor is accountable for our performance as well as us. If the failure is a serious one we can get sacked. I see no reason why the bureacracy should be rtreated any differently. Also explain how you go about forcing Govts in other countries to do the same. People in those countries would do it in much the same way China for example, is a one party State. The people cant sack the Govt even if they wanted to. That is a problem but if China doesn't do the right thing one can always subject them to penalty tariffs to compensate for their backsliding -- providing everyone else is doing the right thing. I suspect if everyone else were doing the right thing they'd come to the party because they need western markets. You can always follow the idea of creating a substantial fund disbursed subject to strict accountability to encourage reluctant developing states to do the right thing. Fran |
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