Live data from Hacker News

Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

unenvironment.org

31–40 of 188 posts

Re: Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

#31
post #15

I think it is misleading to display a picture of chimneys of nuclear power plants, when the only thing they release is clean water droplets: no SO2, NO2 or PM10. edit: Actually, not 100% sure it's a nuclear power plant. Thanks for your comments

Do you know for sure that it's a nuclear plant in the picture? I'm asking because those iconic cooling towers are also used for coal plants. > The hyperboloid cooling towers are often associated with nuclear power plants,[1] although they are also used in some coal-fired plants and to some extent in some large chemical and other industrial plants. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower Direct link to the pictu…

And just to show what a nuclear plant can look like, [0] is a few miles away from me, and looks like [1]

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torness_Nuclear_Power_Station

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torness_Nuclear_Power_Station#...

Re: Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

#32
post #15

I think it is misleading to display a picture of chimneys of nuclear power plants, when the only thing they release is clean water droplets: no SO2, NO2 or PM10. edit: Actually, not 100% sure it's a nuclear power plant. Thanks for your comments

Yeah there are a ton of pictures of Natural gas and Coal power plants. Either one of them could have been used in the picture.

Re: Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

#33
post #28

With China and India leading the race in terms of producing intelligent people (in terms of quantity), it is rather hard to believe. Nonetheless, air pollution is a serious topic and needs to be dealt with ASAP.

What? Are you talking about percentages?

Re: Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

#34

Electrification of surface transport is the most obvious way to improve air quality in dense cities. This needs to be a priority.

If by "electrification" you mean "switch to public transportation," I agree with you. If by electrification you mean "burn dinosaurs four miles away," then I don't agree with you.

Re: Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

#35
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know for sure that it's a nuclear plant in the picture? I'm asking because those iconic cooling towers are also used for coal plants. > The hyperboloid cooling towers are often associated with nuclear power plants,[1] although they are also used in some coal-fired plants and to some extent in some large chemical and other industrial plants. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower Direct link to the pictu…

And just to show what a nuclear plant can look like, [0] is a few miles away from me, and looks like [1] [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torness_Nuclear_Power_Station [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torness_Nuclear_Power_Station#...

It also looks like https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Torness_Nuclear_Powe... :)

Re: Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

#36
post #15

I think it is misleading to display a picture of chimneys of nuclear power plants, when the only thing they release is clean water droplets: no SO2, NO2 or PM10. edit: Actually, not 100% sure it's a nuclear power plant. Thanks for your comments

Do you know for sure that it's a nuclear plant in the picture? I'm asking because those iconic cooling towers are also used for coal plants. > The hyperboloid cooling towers are often associated with nuclear power plants,[1] although they are also used in some coal-fired plants and to some extent in some large chemical and other industrial plants. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower Direct link to the pictu…

Even if it's not a nuclear power plant it's still a cooling tower releasing only water vapor.

Re: Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

#37

What's with the use of the word "linked"? Is thay synonymous with "correlated"? I feel like it's just another way to suggest causation without knowing that it is causation.

It's more of a weasel word than correlated is, even. It suggests that there's a meaningful connection but it could just be coincidence, even moreso than correlation.

Re: Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

#38

Electrification of surface transport is the most obvious way to improve air quality in dense cities. This needs to be a priority.

If by "electrification" you mean "switch to public transportation," I agree with you. If by electrification you mean "burn dinosaurs four miles away," then I don't agree with you.

Burning dinosaurs 40 miles away will improve air quality in cities, even if it's the same amount of pollution, the bulk is away from dense population

Re: Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

#39

Electrification of surface transport is the most obvious way to improve air quality in dense cities. This needs to be a priority.

China is putting ~10k electric buses a month on the road: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/china-is-adding-a-lon...

And they are still using coal to produce electricity.

Re: Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence

#40
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How so? A car's ICE is much less efficient than a power plant.

Depends on the pollutants you're looking at. From a CO2/efficiency standpoint, you're correct. A modern EV powered purely by coal power plants puts out less CO2 than a gasoline car, largely because of the efficiency difference between large power plants and ICE. From a SO2/NO2 standpoint, EVs powered by coal would be far far worse, assuming gasoline. Gas/Diesel these days is ultra low sulfur, which reduces SO2 signif…

IMO hybrid is the way to go for transport. I live in an earthquake prone area where a power cut would equal limited range one way or no transport when I most needed it if I only had an EV.

Modern ICE are amazingly sophisticated, EV in comparison have limited range, potential polluting issues, battery creation rare earth component scarcity issues and a massive dead battery disposal problem. We'll get there with a grid and more practical EV's but we're not there yet

Post reply on HN