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Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

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Re: Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

#251

Post by eesmith »

whatshisface wrote: post #246
eesmith wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you point to the studies which suggest that the ability to write is a strongly selected genetic ability? Because that doesn't seem right to me. It's only been a few generations since we've had mass literacy. Genghis Khan and Francisco Pizarro are the few two very famous people I could think of who were illiterate a few hundred years ago. Even 100 years ago, I've read about successful businessmen who couldn't read…

> Can you point to the studies which suggest that the ability to write is a strongly selected genetic ability? You're confusing phenotype and genotype. The genes for the ability to write include the ones for the citric acid cycle, which I think we can all agree is selected for. Nobody knows what mutations would be necessary to stop antinatalism from catching on, but natural selection will probably be able to find the…

You wrote "strongly selected for as the ability to write".

I don't think there was any strong selection for the ability to write.

How do you know it wasn't a spandrel?

Re: Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

#252

Post by Naracion »

checker659 wrote: post #247
pmorici wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you, but pollution could have come from burning wood or coal for heating and cooking it isn’t all from industry.

> burning wood or coal Brick kilns, yes. Heating and cooking, not really. People either use LPG stoves or induction cookers.

We're talking about 1920 though :)

Re: Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

#253

Post by rndgermandude »

jsjohnst wrote: post #210
rndgermandude wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vitamin-D deficiency may cause severe covid-19, or severe covid-19 may cause vitamin-D deficiency (covid-19 affects the kidneys second worst after lungs it seems, and you need kidneys for vitamin-D processing), or a little bit of both. Which one it is, is not yet known.

As someone who is severely Vitamin D deficient (I take 50,000IU a week via prescription and still have very low blood test results), both my GI doctor and PCP have indicated it as a risk factor if I was to get infected.

That seems very right. It doesn't matter if covid-19 causes/worsens deficiency or deficiency causes severe covid-19, or both. If you're already deficient the outcome will be that it gets even worse for a deficient person.

I was more making my initial comment thinking in the opposite direction: that people who are not deficient shouldn't feel overly secure (and take more risks) just because there is a correlation - with unclear causation.

Re: Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

#254

Post by xeromal »

dragosmocrii wrote: post #22
mmaunder wrote: post #9

This is why we need less humans on this planet. No one says that, because having as many kids as you like seems to be considered a basic human right. But imagine Earth with a stable 10% of our current population. Clean, abundant, and without the catastrophic extinction event already underway.

Having 2 children to replace the parents is already enough to drive population down longterm (because statistically, there could be a lot of reasons that those kids might not reach a time to have their own offsprings).

Yeah, equilibrium is 2.4 kids right?

Re: Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

#255

Post by gumby »

remus wrote: post #110
elcapitan wrote: post #93

Hm, is this actually true? According to this travel site, it was already possible before Corona? https://www.nestadventure.com/blog/mount-everest-from-kathma... "Contrary to everyone’s belief, Mount Everest can actually be seen from Kathmandu. The Chandragiri hills in Kathmandu offer a panoramic view of the Himalayan ranges and Mount Everest on a clear day. There are also viewpoints and hill stations just outside Kat…

The 'living memory' claim seems a bit far fetched, too. Let's pretend living memory means the last 100 years, that'd mean air pollution levels in 1920 wee so poor you couldn't see Everest from Kathmandu. I'm no expert, but I don't think Nepal and the surrounding area of China were industrialised at that time, and there definitely weren't many vehicles on the road at the time, so where would the air pollution have com…

Answering only your final question: the smoke of burning wood and coal for heat. Coal fire was the cause of the infamous London “pea souper” fogs, for instance. It’s hard to remember now but burning gasoline and natural gas were significant improvements in the levels of pollution (and other hygiene factors) in cities during the 20th century. Of course at that time the only air pollution people were thinking of was particulates.

Also it looks like Kathmandu is in a valley which can concentrate the issue so a smaller absolute amount of particulate pollution can have more impact than the same activity on a plain.

I also question the “living memory” assertion.

Re: Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

#256

Post by hasanalikhattak »

elcapitan wrote: post #93

Hm, is this actually true? According to this travel site, it was already possible before Corona? https://www.nestadventure.com/blog/mount-everest-from-kathma... "Contrary to everyone’s belief, Mount Everest can actually be seen from Kathmandu. The Chandragiri hills in Kathmandu offer a panoramic view of the Himalayan ranges and Mount Everest on a clear day. There are also viewpoints and hill stations just outside Kat…

Well whether or not true is another discussion. Important is , there definitely is a pattern in air quality increase in many places, and what seems to be contributing factor is the minimized human moment. I hope we find a sustainable solution to improve the air we breathe.

Re: Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

#257

Post by ohyeshedid »

kenneth wrote: post #221
ohyeshedid wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Laws don't prevent crime. So, then, are you advocating for forced abortions or forced birth control? What would the penalties be for reproducing without approval?

That's a solved problem. It worked in China without forced sterilizations. Just like how we have laws against theft… doesn't mean theft won't exist, but the law and appropriate punishment does reduce it to manageable levels.

That's what they did.[1]

Also, you didn't answer my question about punishment.

[1] https://nypost.com/2016/01/03/how-chinas-pregnancy-police-br...

Re: Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

#258

Post by mixmastamyk »

idiocratic wrote: post #128
remus wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 'living memory' claim seems a bit far fetched, too. Let's pretend living memory means the last 100 years, that'd mean air pollution levels in 1920 wee so poor you couldn't see Everest from Kathmandu. I'm no expert, but I don't think Nepal and the surrounding area of China were industrialised at that time, and there definitely weren't many vehicles on the road at the time, so where would the air pollution have com…

Been to Kathmandu several times and I wouldn't say Nepal is industrialised in general, but not even remotely at the level of China. What makes the air really bad in Kathmandu is the amount of old trucks and buses on the very dusty streets of the city. It's a different kind of air pollution to what you might experience in an industrialised nation. When I'm there I always wear a mask, otherwise a cough will develop alm…

There's a few places in my travels where I've picked black boogers... big cities in Nepal, India, and Venezuela.

Re: Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

#259

Post by cco »

ohyeshedid wrote: post #150
cco wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty bad faith. It is very unlikely that you're responding to Hitler, of course no one is suggesting we murder 90% of the world's population, that is unspeakably evil. But, with magic, imagine we had every technology we have now but with only 10% of the world's population. It _would_ be incredible, you could fly all over the world to your heart's content, your neighbor could buy a big diesel truck, and your…

>Increasing quality of life, access to healthcare, and a strong social safety net... I would wager that would increase the amount of people having children.

It actually trends down, likely because children have historically been used as a retirement plan of sorts, and of course you'd never be sure how many of your ten made it to adulthood.

Financially comfortable and well educated families tend to have less children, this is a pattern that has been repeated many times across country and cultural borders.

Re: Mount Everest is visible from Kathmandu for first time in living memory

#260

Post by ncmncm »

I wonder whether the reduction in air pollution will save more lives than the virus itself costs.

The answer will never be known, of course, both because the time horizon of pollution-related death is so different from that of the virus, and because the at-risk populations overlap so substantially. People with pollution-damaged lungs are much more likely to die from the virus, if they catch it.

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