Look at this picture, and tell me humanity is NOT in trouble

[mudesi]

On the left, Beijing after 2 days of rain.

On the right, Beijing on a clear, sunny day.

[Ilsa]

1. Holy crap. The athletes should be praying for a light monsoon. nt

[dysfunctional press]

2. humanity is not in trouble...now what?

was mary worth supposed to appear on my monitor or something...?

btw- i wonder how that pic would look in my grandma's stereo-opticon-

[isentropic]

4. Er, wouldn't Mary Worth be like about 125 now?

:-)

[dysfunctional press]

9. i believe...

nt

[devilgrrl]

3. Los Angeles couldn't touch that if it tried.

:puke:

[kestrel91316]

17. I hear it came close back in the 50s before air quality management existed.

[Cleita]

39. It did.

I remember standing on a corner waiting for a red light to change to green back then and I realized I could barely see the light across the road and it wasn't fog. I started becoming really aware of air quality from that day on. There was another day when I was in my second story class in college that I used to gaze out of when I was bored. One day after it rained and the wind was blowing I saw the mountain range behind my burg there that I never knew up until that time was visible and in lovely color.

[gateley]

5. It's not just humanity that's in trouble. All life on the planet, maybe. nt

[defendandprotect]

6. And, yet, the games must go on --- !!!

Nothing else going on in the world except sports --- ?

Hey -- football's back ---

That's where manhood is, evidently . . . ???

[vixengrl]

7. It's over-industrialization and greed

and a bunch of mouths to feed, but the current need
is currency, and it isn't hard to see,
even in a fog-drenched sky,
the reason why, the military cracks down
on journalists who talk down,
about the only world they know,
is because they pretend it is so
because if forces beyond their control, and the role
of the press should be to trumpet success--
I guess, but you don't have to be Elliot Ness
to call a mess a mess and declare it untouchable,
unloveable, unmanageable, and unbelieveable,
that on a good day people wear masks to breathe,
I can't conceive of a more basic right for which to fight
but to continue breathing, but seeing is believing,
and the plastic crap they make in their industry,
we are paying for with the plastic crap in our wallets,
and if we want to change it all now--
here's how--we quit it, forget it, lower our credit limit,
don't waste it, taste it--celebrate the pre-Mao culture, and respect the
people who built that wall, and and the people who
did right in Sichuan province, like we didn't,
not in the lower ninth district, and honor they have culture,
stretching back millennia, but I'm telling you,
they are as damaged as us if they broke their sky--
It makes you want to cry.


(When in doubt, I freestyle.)

[bertman]

19. Well put, vixengirl.

[UpInArms]

30. beautifully said

and I love your freestyle!

:yourock:

[riverdeep]

8. That's nothing compared to the future.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

10. Which is nothing compared to the future to follow that:

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/dwarfs.html

[progressoid]

12. Yeah but the presidential motorcades in the future will kick ass!

[riverdeep]

16. And so will the money.

[LibraLiz1973]

14. ROFLMAO

Ouch my balls!

[jayfish]

15. As Long As There's Plenty Of Brawndo...

Jay

[upi402]

21. Holy crap

There's lots of scrap just LAYIN" there!

[Gregorian]

11. Los Angeles was far worse than that in 1965.

I was there.

Mexico city was at least that bad in 1974. I was there. I looked directly at the sun at noon. But that was before catalytic converters. And efficient combustion. But the numbers are higher now. More fuel is being burned, despite how efficient it may be. Which is actually very poor efficiency compared to other things.

And yes, we're in trouble. Because we've engineered things so that we can go far beyond what nature intended. We're no longer hunter gatherers. We're brilliant. It's utterly fantastic what we've done. And yet, pathetic. So very short sighted. As an engineer, I have been baffled by how short sighted most engineers are. Focus on what is directly at hand, and yet completely miss the big picture. What about 1000 year feasibility?

Numbers, consuming petroleum. Add one and one. The result is a dead planet.

Petroleum is a supremely valuable tool. Not just a means by which we can achieve frivolous comfort and ease. When do we start acting with responsibility? When to we admit and acknowledge limits?

[bertman]

22. Does a lion think about what's gonna happen ten years from now if it kills that baby gazelle?

Does a shark consider the long-term consequences of it devouring a sea lion?

Does a baboon ponder the international implications of it bashing in the head of its rival's baby?



ANSWER: Nah.



We're just like them. Animals. Just better with the tools and possessed of larger personal cranial computers.


Makes me wonder if the other big-brained, long-lived mammals like whales see beyond their immediate needs.



But, you're right Gregorian. We do make some incredible STUFF, don't we?

[Gregorian]

24. That's a really interesting way of looking at it.

I honestly never saw that facet. But I do think of native Americans. And I do think we're separate from animals. What I mean by that is that we know what "special" is. Native Americans knew "special". It's that "special" that we're ignoring and killing.

But yes, I have to think about what you said for a while. Animals ruthlessly go about their lives just living. Eating, killing, reproducing. Hell, ducks are even malignant rapists. I've seen it with my own eyes. Haha. But again, I think we created our separateness from the animal kingdom. We have no predators any more. Not big ones. Maybe viruses. Maybe phenomenon like starvation and planet climate change. But tigers and bears are a thing of the past. We invented the spear, the gun. And the rest is history.

It's as though now we have replaced our burden with another. We've gone from survival to responsibility. Which is also survival, but on a longer time span.

You should see my new espresso machine. Man. What engineering. What a dilemma. I'm scratching my head thinking about this. While typing on a laptop with a wireless modem. Where are we going? Down the drain? Back to the jungle?

[Whisp]

38. sharks eat one at time.

not gluttonish like what a nuclear bomb does.

[Daemonaquila]

35. Bravo, in a nutshell.

For all our brilliance, we're a species in permanent denial. We have so much amazing technology and techniques that could wean us off expensive, polluting, older tech, but we won't conserve and we won't transition. The corporations are only interested in keeping wealthy by selling buggy whips, and the rest of us can't stand the idea of spending a bit more to do it right.

My husband, I, and our friends have just started down the road of finding reasonably priced solar tech, high-milage electric cars, etc. It's a challenge. It's a good thing that we're science and engineering types, or we'd be in a mess trying to figure out the way to make it all work. We're past the home-brew stage on these technologies, but compared to conventional technologies with their marketing might, it's damned hard to find good info and sources, and we know it's going to have to be all DYI.

[Gregorian]

36. Best of luck with your endeavors.

I've been so busy running from the slurbs and developments and concrete and cars and hoards that it has taken me many years to finally land in a spot I can tolerate. At any rate (and I hate the way this sounds) I'm breaking ground on a shop building. I don't know what I'll be doing. But maybe I can contribute in a way that makes the world a better place. I'm in a community where there is a lot of bright thinking. A guy down the street has a rather sophisticated electric tractor. It actually has wheel motors versus a drive train and central motor.

Argh. I'm beat, and not making sense. I just wanted to reply because I get a kick out of hearing stories like yours. It's almost frustrating in a way. The electric car is so exciting (as far as CARS go), and yet it's slow going due to the complex nature. Hopefully once we get to a point where motors and controllers are oriented more toward the automotive application, we will be able to really start taking advantage of what can be. Sadly, the weak link is the battery. It's hard to watch the potential of electric cars, and not be doing something about it.

I spoke with one of the DU members over the phone a few weeks ago. He test drove a Tesla. Words kind of don't do it justice, it sounds like. Deadly quick might suffice. So as far as high performance, it's still something we can have. I don't know. My love of the automobile is over. I'm more into bicycles now. In fact I hate cars. But it's only the number of them. Population is my main frustration. I'm finding it difficult to start a business since all it would do is contribute to global warming. Ok, I've had it. 20 miles on a bike and I'm dead. I just hope your electric car dream comes true.

[bertman]

42. Daemonaquila, while I applaud your efforts to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, I

keep thinking that this is one problem we cannot ENGINEER OR MANUFACTURE our way out of. Really it's engineering and manufacturing that are the problems, along with too many human beans--again more results of engineering and manufacturing.

I'm a general contractor who is doing everything possible to learn about green building, recycling building materials, saving energy, saving water, etc. etc. But there's an inherent contradiction to the idea that we can build a better, greener mousetrap and save ourselves.

What we need is fewer and simpler and less-polluting mousetraps. What we really really need is for our leaders to help us figure out a way to live well with less and then lead us that way. Period.

I'm seeing GREEN homes going up everywhere that are 5000 square feet. What the fuck could possibly be green about a 5000 square foot home--except maybe the algae in the pool.

Gregorian, your bicycle is a step in the right direction, for sure. But how can we transition to a bicycle, pedestrian and mass transit economy without a cripplingly long lead time and major blows to our economic structure?

I don't know the answers, but I'd love to get on board if someone does.

[jayfish]

13. How About This?

Jay

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

33. Or this:

Or this:

[DuckBurp]

18. Don't drink the rain water!

[dems_rightnow]

31. No shit!

Gruesome photos.

[Truth4Justice]

20. I wonder if they put lead in the gasoline? We know they put in toys.

[JCMach1]

23. We have the same problem in the UAE now. It used to be that

I could always see downtown Dubai from my location about 15km away. Over the last 12-24 months pollution and amount of cars have reached critical mass. Now, I can only see the tallest building in the world on clear winter days.

Haze, fog/smog, and dust obscure it most of the time.

[Angleae]

25. What a difference a day makes.

Pictures taken 24 hours apart.

[autorank]

26. k*r Worth a 1000 words

We're doomed.

[GeorgeGist]

27. Did you miss the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics?

According to all reports it was an absolutely dazzling tribute to humanity.

[geiger]

28. I understand. But, can you provide some attribution for these pixs. Thanks.

[cobalt1999]

29. It's a fast slide to egological collapse.

We are taking this planet down quickly. The plane will continue on, it's been through worse than us. We however, will be either extinct or living in greatly reduced numbers.

It's Easter Island on a global scale.

[eshfemme]

32. This is why the athletes are just gonna get screwed over.

Because the very air will be poisonous. Has anyone heard of the cyclists who had to publicly apologize for using the gas masks that the IOC officially gave out to the athletes? Just because it gave the impression that the pollution was so high that it adversely affects breathing, which is TRUE.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

34. Humanity Will Be Fine.

Sleep easy now, lyny skyny.

[mudesi]

37. Do you antagonize for the fun of it?

Smog is good.

[deaniac21]

40. I beleive the defination of bright clear and sunny is not what

the picture is. Please learn the English language.

[bushmeister0]

41. "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter!"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2277298/President-George-Bush-'Goodbye-from-the-world's-biggest-polluter'.html

A little W. humor for the end of humanity.

Worried? He's not worried about anything. He doesn't care about the future:

The Daily Telegraph:

"Bush says that he isn’t concerned about the judgment of history. He reportedly told Bob Woodward that he didn’t care how history judged his decision to go to war with Iraq since “we’ll all be dead.'"

http://hnn.us/articles/34134.html