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falonor

Earth Hour 2008 - Show You Care

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Its been a few years, but I remember reading in some science course...

the hole in the ozone layer is a natural phenomena, which happens regularly when winds push certain particles up into the ozone layer. Later in the year, the hole fills up.

 

I'll do my homework, but I remember that a chemical used in things like firefighting and refrigerators was banned because it kept being blown up by this phenomena and made the hole a little bigger. Although... the firefighting and refrigerators will be less efficient, and this will probably cause more deaths than a hole in the ozone layer over miles and miles of ice.

 

As far as turning the lights off, I do that all the time just to keep the electric bill down a little. Will it save the world? Of course not!

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Yes...indeed,the Ozone layer is affected by certain chemicals,refrigerators and sprays had a part in that. But not only.

I'd look more into it myself and also wait for your up-date Dunian.

 

+ I personally am not one of those people to say that turning the lights of will save the Earth , but it sure will be a powerful signal

and a peaceful way to manifest and protest against abusive consumption of energy,for alternative energy sources .

This can be done only when people stand together - and it has been seen since history starting with the early rebellions,revolutions

and now-a-days with peaceful meetings organized with the purpose to be a Signal of Alarm

- this is what I consider this action to be and this is what it meant to me,people I've spoken and found this great in one word -

 

of course it has some pompous campaign to it,but you can't have it otherwise...or can you ?

and if you need examples of manifestations that changed the world we live in - some of contemporaneity to us-I'd sure be glad to document this more .

 

 

EIDT : should have posted it in off topic in the first place - do hope to get more visitors even now ;) like the discussions that have started here.

also what they promise as enquire , research , information , small pleasant debates .

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A gesture like this is nothing more than a gesture - as pointed out previously, the generators are still running no matter if everyone turns off their lighting at one time.

 

The best thing for us to do, for this type of thing, if/when worried about global warming is to ensure we switch to lower energy appliances in our homes and workplaces (if we have the influence there of course) This has the benefit of reducing our energy bills as-well as reducing our impact overall.

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indeed,the Ozon layer is affected by certain chemicals,refrigerators and sprays had a part in that. But not only.

I'd look more into it myself and also wait for your up-date Dunian.

It's actually affected most by free radicals and reactive substances (NO, CL, Br, and other halogens), of which CO2 is definitely not one. In fact, CFCs have been regulated since the Vienna convention of 1985, and data since 1995 seems to be showing a general upward trend in the amount of atmospheric ozone . According to most current extrapolations, it should return to normal by the end of the century.

Edited by crusadingknight

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A gesture like this is nothing more than a gesture - as pointed out previously, the generators are still running no matter if everyone turns off their lighting at one time.

 

The best thing for us to do, for this type of thing, if/when worried about global warming is to ensure we switch to lower energy appliances in our homes and workplaces (if we have the influence there of course) This has the benefit of reducing our energy bills as-well as reducing our impact overall.

 

This is indeed a solution and a part of the change - as cleaner sources of energy is a desirable thing too .

All your comments are great , does not even compare to what you see on net,and for example on youtube .

 

EDIT : next year this event can grow and more people that care and would think of how to turn a symbolic gesture into action would join in !

Edited by falonor

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In my opinion, it does not matter whether global warming is man-made or not. That should not be the main motive for reducing energy usage and pollution levels. Much better, more immediate reasons include:

 

-- Reducing energy usage/consumption will lower utility bills, which will lower overall costs of living and doing business. Reducing energy/fuel consumption by buying energy efficient appliances, properly insulating buildings, carpooling or using public transit where available, switching to "off-grid" appliances where available (like solar water heaters, available since the 1910s and now mandatory on all private dwellings in Israel, btw) -- all such measures have an immediate and noticeable effect on monthly bills, increasing disposable income to people and lowering overhead costs to businesses.

 

-- Reducing pollution reduces toxins in the environment and thus improves public health, which reduces health care costs and improves worker productivity. Obviously, power plants and cars are just two sources of pollution. Industrial pollution is an equal or greater problem. However, EPA reports on pollution and public health numbers in the US since the 1970s -- reflecting the creation of EPA pollution regulations, rollbacks against such regulations, and several decades of increasing car usage in the US -- show clearly that pollution harms public health and that reducing fuel consumption does have a measurable effect in reducing pollution that improves public health.

 

-- I support all efforts to develop clean, renewable energy sources. But until we get them, I think we should do our best to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels -- especially oil -- because of the current international politics of oil. Dependence on oil is one reason why the US decided to fuck things up in the Middle East -- and fucked itself up in the process. These policies are so two centuries ago. This is the 21st century. Time to stop screwing around with this oil crap. Reducing the demand for oil will make it easier to switch to other energy sources when they become available.

 

So, with personal benefits, business benefits, health benefits, and political policy benefits, I think there are plenty of good reasons to reduce energy/fuel usage that have nothing to do with global warming. If it turns out that it also slows down the climate warming rate, well, hey, that's gravy.

 

If gestures like Earth Hour raise people's awareness of their own energy usage habits, then it's well and good. But no one should kid themselves that switching off the lights for an hour makes a real difference to the planet or their lives. It has to be a commitment to make energy-efficient choices in your lifestyle and the things you buy every day.

Edited by peino

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BTW, this whole "omfg, teh evil fossil fuel is going to kill us beause of CO2 emissions!111oneeleven" is bullshit.

Assuming we believe in the evolution (I don't, but that's another story), then the life started on a barren planet. All the CO2 in the fossil fuel (all the coal, oil and gas underground) was floating in the air, as CO2.

Then the plants and algae started consuming it for their growth, and then the dinosaurus and animals ate the plants, so the CO2 became living matter. Then some of this living matter somehow got underground and the trees became coal, and the animals became oil.

 

So even if we burn ALL the fossil fuel, we are still going to have less CO2 in the air than it originally was when the life started (because part of it right now is in the existing vegetation and animals).

 

So if the life was possible back then, it should be possible in the future as well.

 

but we dont need to just 'live' we need to eat and that is the problem with the climate of 4 billion years ago very little will grow except algae, which is neither tasty nor nutritous.

 

i would be interested to hear an alternative to evolution aswell

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