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Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

cliffmass.blogspot.com

231–240 of 332 posts

Re: Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

#231
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm not looking forward to any smoke now my dad has COPD, IPF, is on oxygen, and he's elderly. If we get any amount of smoke here it will be the end of him. It's hard enough trying to keep him from contracting SARS-Cov-2 and developing covid-19 Seriously, get a HEPA rated air filter. Speaking as someone who has some serious lung issues, it's literally life changing/saving. Honeywell sells a number of models, cost is…

My 2c is that they will be popular the way hand sanitizer once was, I could see shortages so the earlier you get your order the better!

Your prediction is correct. Home Depot's shelves were picked bare at my Seattle store.

Re: Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

#232

Cliff Mass spoiled himself for me with this asinine blog post comparing Seattle BLM protesters to brownshirts in Nazi Germany [0]. It feels icky to get behind someone who will use his platform to sling ridiculous accusations and accept no criticism [1]. It's a shame - his weather reporting is uniquely good and fun to read. [0] https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2020/08/seattle-city-in-fear-... [1] https://cliffmass.blogs…

Cliff Mass is 100% right on comparing BLM protesters to brownshirts, and he was also specific in noting that he isn't describing all protesters. The relevant quote from his blog post is "Seattle's brownshirts have hidden within protest groups". Those who say this is an inappropriate comparison are gaslighting, as these criminals have a consistent track record of engaging in violence, intimidation, threats, and more.…

> Cliff Mass is 100% right on comparing BLM protesters to brownshirts...

Is he, though? Are those rioting actually comparable to brownshirts? Are they literally a paramilitary detachment of the government with a mandate to oppress certain classes of people? Or is this a case where Cliff immediately loses the debate under Godwin's law?

Could he have compared the rioters to activists in the Arab Spring? Or the French Revolution? Or the Black Panthers? They certainly fucked some shit up, didn't they? But no, he chose the Nazi party.

Re: Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if these incidences of harassment are evidence that BLM are "acting like brownshirts", prey tell to what should we compare the right wing groups that have spawned several fatal shooters?

That seems like whataboutism to me. What bearing does that have on the correctness of Cliff Mass's comparison of the subset of BLM protesters that engage in criminal activities and brownshirts?

It goes to show that Cliff Mass has completely lost his framework of reference in his comparison (and so have you).

As a German let me assure you that comparing riots among BLM protesters to the Kristallnacht is utterly unappropriate. Don't get me wrong - the rioters should be held accountable for their crimes.

You compare a local, loosely organised group of somewhat indiscriminate rioters to a nation-wide, highly hierarchical, para-military organisation that targets one specific ethnicity and went on to commit mass murder of said ethnicity on an unprecedented, industrial scale.

Re: Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not order a few HEPA filter air purifiers? I have 4 (5th is on its way). They work extremely well and if you pair them with a Temptop AQI sensor you can see how well in real time: https://www.temtopus.com/collections/temtopus-pm2-5-pm10-mon... Those temptop sensors are great. I've previously had awair, foobot, and purple sensors which all sucked in different ways. Really long thread about this here: https://www.r…

wow, the temtop website sent my laptop fans spinning with all the crap it tries to load, and that my content blockers went into overdrive blocking (especially, and inexplicably, from reviewsimportify.com). still, i'm interested in getting a good pm2.5 monitor to pair with my air purifier, as air pollution is a much bigger issue than covid (air pollution certainly affects vast swaths of people across the world, persis…

Now just put your laptop inside of a HEPA vacuum bag. Problem solved.

Re: Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the PNW doesn't have air conditioning as standard in most of the apartments That's because it wasn't necessary until the last 10 years or so. 90 degree days were uncommon and night temps would dip low enough to cool most places in the evening through the next morning.

It's still not really. We had 2 days over 90 in seattle, one in the smoke. And a few days at 88-89, in total I had 4 days where I turned on the window unit in my home office. If I wasnt on a deep coding problem I'd be out in the yard. 4 days a year isn't really justification for aircon

If you live by a busy/noisy street as many apartments are, it's necessary. I grew up in the PNW in the suburbs and living more in the city in apartments the need for AC is much more real.

Re: Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

#236

I wonder how much of an effect this will have on crop yields and crop quality? I expect we'll see lower yields and less carbohydrate content. Also, what is the composition of the particles emitted by the fires? Is it mostly carbon or is there some potassium hydroxide? Is that fertilizing to any degree?

Diffuse light has a tendency to increase yield by decreasing the shading effect on lower leaves, so it largely cancels out. It is also fairly easily to saturate photosites in full sun. Heat/water are more limiting in these contexts.

It's really not an issue.

Re: Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

#237
post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a perfect illustration of how news and social media propagate false news while technically still being correct. The gender reveal party contributed to 8,600 acres on fire. However, >1 million acres were started by lightning[0], but get a lot less coverage unless you're in the affected areas. But the party gets more attention, because it's more interesting/easier to be outraged over that. 0: https://en.wikiped…

I'd be interested to see an analysis trying to track down the exact lightning bolt that started a fire. 100% of lightning bolts are now mapped by various open source websites to a precision of hundreds of yards. That, combined with lucky satellite shots a few hours afterwards should be enough to confirm the fire started in the same place as the lightning bolt. Using that, it should be possible to identify what percen…

It's not hard to figure out that lightning is the the root cause for these fires. Lighting storms occurred only once this summer in California, and fires were noticed immediately the day after.

Unless there were a committed group of arsonists that wanted to use the lightning storm as a cover and worked to set fires on the same day that has a similar signature to lightning.

Re: Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

#238
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no good timing for these fires but now just seems really bad. Can't socialize inside because of Covid, can't socialize outdoors because of smoke. Tough time to be in the West Coast.

(Please don't take this as making light of the situation in the PNW. I realize it's awful and don't wish it on anyone.) I can think of one, small silver lining to these fires: I recently read that Asian giant hornets had recently been found in the PNW, and if they weren't wiped out in a few years they'd become permanently entrenched. I find that prospect absolutely terrifying, so perhaps we'll get lucky and these fir…

Highly unlikely. Afaik there haven't been fires where the hornets have been. Plus, these things came across the damn ocean somehow. They are more than capable of flying away to escape a fire.

Re: Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

#239
Yup. It's been a fun weekend. Everyone in the family is feeling the cabin fever, but outside (Bellevue, WA) smells like inside of a fireplace. We put a few boxed fans with HEPA filters around the house and they are now black. In hindsight, should've bought more filters, but all the stores and Amazon are sold out for the near future.

Speaking about the future, this puts planning in perspective. With the climate changing, remote work, covid and all, the way we live in the next 20 years might look somewhat different than past 50. The new "American Dream" might be a tiny condo with great AC, minimal footprint, solar energy and rain water storage...etc.

It's a good time to ponder what the real estate and living of the future could look like!

Re: Smoke has caused temperature forecasts to go crazy

#240
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The University of Michigan made an instructional video showing how you can easily make an air purifier out of a box fan and a HEPA-rated furnace filter for $25: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH5APw_SLUU It won't be as good as a purpose-built machine, but it will be far better than nothing at all. TheWirecutter found it reduced particulate matter in a room by 87%, if you do it right. They also make clear important c…

I have two of these running right now. According to my air quality meter, PM 2.5 has fallen from about ~250 indoors to ~40. (My meter shows ~600 outside, which is about 3x what the government website shows for my area)

Government website most likely using an algorithm that pools data and takes into consideration multiple readings, sometimes lagging by a few hours. Your sensor gives the instant value in your immediate environment (assuming it is well-calibrated and installed outside of local influences such as kitchen fans, dryer lint etc etc)
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