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Quotes I Liked

From a new Harvard study showing that the Eastern US was cooler than otherwise over much of the 20th century due to the particulate pollution in the air (now mostly cleaned up):

No one is suggesting that we should stop improving air quality, but it’s important to understand the consequences. Clearing the air could lead to regional warming,” Mickley says.

Tradeoffs everywhere. It’s sort of tyrannical isn’t it?

4 Responses to “Quotes I Liked”

  1. Speedmaster says:

    Wait, what?! You mean sound economic reasoning involved understanding trade-offs, and the humility to realize that we might not even appreciate many of the ones in play?!

    Sadly, this IS news to many people, including many in academia.

  2. Brent says:

    …damn those unintended consequences- damn them… By the way, “Playing God In Yellowstone” is on order- and next in line. Thanks for the recommendation.

  3. Harry says:

    Hmm…Let’s assume there is enough data and enough precision to determine that northern Arkansas and western Tennesee were 0.75 degrees cooler from 1930 to the present (did Li’l Abner or Daisy Mae collect the data?) where did all those clouds filled with SO2 come from — the Four Corners? I assume they took note that wind blows west to east generally. What the chart shows is that it is easy to get a PhD in atmospheric science, if you play your cards right. Nobody on the committee asks about the rotation of the Earth, or, as the cosmic thinkers say, the planet.

  4. Harry says:

    By the way, despite the fallacy of concluding that temperature deviated from the model, the maps are dishonest, looking like USA Today’s weather prediction, showing that it is going to be hot in Arizona, in the high ’90’s, and cooler in the Ozarks by fifty degrees, or in this case the Ozarks would have varied from their stupid predictions by fifty degrees. Celsius or Faherenheit makes no difference. They must think we are all stupid to buy this BS, or maybe they think their friends are stupid. I know they are not idiots, because they took tests to get into Harvard, but they reach stupid conclusions.

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