Wednesday, May 07, 2008

The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes once more!

Cleaner air to worsen droughts in Amazon: study

Curbing a notorious form of industrial pollution may ironically harm Amazonia, one of the world's natural treasures and a key buffer against global warming, a study released Wednesday has found.

Its authors see a strong link between a decrease in sulphur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and a rise in sea temperature in the northern Atlantic that was blamed for wreaking a devastating drought in western Amazonia in 2005.


Quick everbody! Forget ethanol, wind power or nuclear plants. Go out and build coal fired power plants to save the Amazon!

And no scrubbers on the stacks, ya hear! We need to get those sulphur dioxide molecules up there and the aerosols too.

We really need to try--at least try--to think these things through before we make emotional rather than scientific decisions. This world is a complex place and no one knows the effects of the winds caused by the flapping of one butterfly's wings. And anyone who trys to tell you that they do, is a frelkin' liar.

1 comment:

Rev. Paul said...

Well said! I used to think that logical arguments, eloquently expressed, would be fool-proof.

Alas, I've learned never to underestimate the power of a determined fool.