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Massive Billboard Counts Carbon Emissions in Real Time

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.357
06/20/09

In reply to Massive Billboard Counts Carbon Emissions in Real Time
I don't care about Global Warming. If it happens, it happens. Driving a Prius isn't going to help at all.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

In reply to Massive Billboard Counts Carbon Emissions in Real Time
Well, in order to help the environment, and perhaps slow down the sign, I have gotten 250,000 carbon offsets in mine and Gizmodo's name:

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Nick
06/20/09

@TheStateOnDVD!_GitEmSteveDave: did you buy those in preperation for the gawker chilli cook-off?
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@Nick: Great. Now I'm hungry for chili.

@Do not taunt Happy Fun King Psyz: I also got 500,000 for io9 a few months ago, but the economy has made me tighten my belt:

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Nick
06/20/09

In reply to Massive Billboard Counts Carbon Emissions in Real Time
i don't get it. if there is a hole in the ozone layer why isn't all this carbon stuff just leaking out into space. i mean, i would assume it's like farting in the car and cracking the window. c'mon amirite
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mikeness
06/20/09

@Nick: Haha, nice touch with the amirite.
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Nick
06/20/09

@mikeness: thank you. one must be careful you don't use it too liberally. it's something that takes years to master the application. amirite?
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Unspellable
06/20/09

In reply to Massive Billboard Counts Carbon Emissions in Real Time
Are volcanos included in that output? They are, after all, the greatest producers of carbon emissions on Earth.
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ArtisticThought
06/20/09

@Unspellable: Volcanic eruptions can enhance global warming by adding CO2 to the atmosphere. However, a far greater amount of CO2 is contributed to the atmosphere by human activities each year than by volcanic eruptions. T.M.Gerlach (1991, American Geophysical Union) notes that human-made CO2 are dwarfed the estamated global release of CO2 from volcanoes by at least 150 times. The small amount of global warming caused by eruption-generated greenhouse gases is offset by the far greater amount of global cooling caused by eruption-generated particles in the stratosphere (the haze effect). Greenhouse warming of the earth has been particularly evident since 1980. Without the cooling influence of such eruptions as El Chichon (1982) and Mt. Pinatubo (1991), described below, greenhouse warming would have been more pronounced.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought: Ahhh, someone else who fell for the propaganda. The "cooling" effect of "eruption-generated particles" is mis-information put forth buy the NWO to make you accept chemtrails.
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ArtisticThought
06/20/09

@TheStateOnDVD!_GitEmSteveDave: I can't really comment on your premise because I'm not very familiar with the New World Order conspiracy theory, but my sources come from the San Diego State University Department of Geological Sciences and various textbooks such as Cunningham's Principles of Environmental Science, which I highly recommend as an easy introduction to the field.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought: Sounds like someone has been drinking his fluoride, getting his mercury shots, accepting his chip, and buying the Buildabear groups lies hook, LIEne, and sinker.
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ArtisticThought
06/20/09

@TheStateOnDVD!_GitEmSteveDave: I LOVE BUILDABEAR! YEEEEEEE!!!! Haha, kidding but nice one though. If by flouride you mean a college science education, then uh, sure.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought: So you admit you received your marching orders from a government run re-education center!! The same people who are teaching our kids to write dossiers on their parents and to hunt down veterans and people with Ron Paul bumper stickers. Next you tell us you were at Bohemian Grove by accident, while walking through the woods looking for "samples".
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ArtisticThought
06/20/09

@TheStateOnDVD!_GitEmSteveDave: lol, yeah I think the majority opinion of most scientists is more reliable than what fringe groups say, so in a really skewed sense I suppose you're right - except that the scientific community is international and not a single government entity. Actually, scientific views often come into conflict with the United States government, particularly regarding environmental legislation, due to lobbyists - they aren't all in it together like a big conspiracy theory.
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Nick
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought: I think the majority opinion of most scientists is more reliable

that is a dangerous statement when you live on a flat earth that is the center of the universe. careful now.
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ArtisticThought
06/20/09

@Nick: That's a frequently used argument you just stated against following what the majority opinion of scientists say in general. You could argue for geocentrism or flat earth with a statement like that. Your reasoning is flawed because the majority opinion of most scientists is very much the most accurate opinion based on the provided evidence. Flat earth and other such theories you refer to were also from antiquities and not post-enlightenment, employing the scientific method, so there's one difference. For example, if you went back to the year 200 AD and started talking about DNA and bacteria people would think you're crazy - and rightly so because you wouldn't be able to prove anything you were saying. Science simply hadn't caught up to the level we are at yet. Also, I only follow the expert opinion if it is in a majority case. It would be crazy to live your life in constant doubt of the majority expert opinion: you would live in constant fear and distrust all technology and established facts in general. I think it's more dangerous to pick and choose what you want to believe regardless of the evidence or only taking into account the evidence you have personally come across and not what a majority people who have studied the field for years have to say about it. I could say a lot about this - it's just more logical to not be certain that something isn't true if the majority opinion of experts agrees it is true, and if the majority of experts are undecided to withhold judgment.
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Nick
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought: you cannot discount the argument simply because of the period it pertains to. it will always hold true. the simple fact is the majority is not always right. until you can successfully apply the scientific method to your global warming theory (which you cannot) then you cannot prove that global warming is accelerated in a "significant" way by man kind.
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ArtisticThought
06/20/09

@Nick: I'm not sure you understand what I wrote - maybe I didn't explain it simply enough? The majority expert opinion is more reliable than fringe groups in general if indeed it is the majority opinion. So it is more logical to side with, or at least not refute absolutely, the majority opinion of experts since it is definitely a more reliable source of information. Experts in a field are by default consistently more reliable, although yes there are exceptions from time to time. Whether or not an exception has occurred is hardly the responsibility of a non-expert to determine. You use this logic every single day. You will consistently get more reliable information from a physician than an average person in terms of knowledge regarding their field. If you have a problem with your transmission and you are not a mechanic it is probably best to go see one and have them work on the problem. But oh well, I'm one of those "brainwashed" people who give a lot of consideration to what those evil scientists and people who are reputable experts in things I'm not say! What if I had cancer and totally refused to believe anything the majority scientific opinion said about it and only allowed myself to be treated with homeopathy? Just ignore all the scientific advancements. Baloney!

In terms of global warming the scientific consensus is well over 90% that it is caused by human activity. This is a higher consensus than agreement about the effects of many drugs and technologies out on the market.
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deciBels
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought: Ok, lets take a scientific (or rather mathematical approach to this). Differential equations and their implications were realized when a scientist wanted to figure out how to accurately predict the weather. He started out with a small clear box with air in it, a heating element on the bottom and a cooling element on the top (in order to replicate the hot ground and cool sky). The air moved in a circular pattern in this small container and he was able to mathematically represent the air current. He then doubled the box size and repeated the experiment. Now the air currents showed a more complex set of circular air movements. He again mathematically modeled the currents. The equations were no significantly more complex. These equations were differential equations. He kept this process up until finally the equations became so impossibly complex that he simply couldnt mathematically approximate the air currents. This dilemma occurred early on with a very small clear box. What this scientist had accidentally discovered was chaotic differential equations and the start of chaos theory.

I will always scoff and hold a gargantuan amount of doubt for those scientist who believe that they can possibly understand and predict the weather on an Earth scale. Now the chaotic factors are so vast as to include stellar factors outside the earth and butterfly wings. Yes, supercomputers can crunch differential equations amazingly well, but the end result will always involve such amazing amounts of fudging that even in that arena its impossible. That fudging factor is oftentimes accounted for by the programmer and always involves their biases toward maintaining their funding which means instilling fear that the world will end if they arent funded for more research. Sensationalism doesnt only have a home in politics...
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Nick
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought: 37% of all statistics are made up on the spot. 87% of folks who read this will believe it. if there are three doors and you have to choose which one has a prize behind it -- change your first guess if one of those doors you do not choose is opened and reveals nothing. the rain in spain stays mainly in the plain. cows will not walk down stairs.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@deciBels: I always ask people who parade out temperature charts, "How long ago would you say we had accurate thermometers? I mean thermometers that were very precise and could count the ".03" degree or so difference people talk about?"
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cpthook
06/20/09

@TheStateOnDVD!_GitEmSteveDave: But, but, we have ice cores that accurately record the temperature from 1000 years ago!
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@cpthook: Ahhh. So the ice cores trap the temperature and it doesn't ever change?

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kitsuneconundrum
06/20/09

In reply to Massive Billboard Counts Carbon Emissions in Real Time
The first few posts are pretty disturbing to me.
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ArtisticThought
06/20/09

@kitsuneconundrum: Seriously! I'm always amazed at people's ignorance regarding the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. This is exactly why we need to promote awareness, such as this billboard is doing, and help give the public more highly educated, scientific views.
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KingPsyz here for HappyFunKingPsyz©
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought:
Please enlighten me since I am so ignorant and you've been researching greenhouse gas emissions?

What are the effects?
What does this sign do to educate the public on a scientific level the effects and solutions to green house gasses and global warming?

Go back to starbucks...

This planet has gotten hot and cold thousands of times before we were saber toothed tiger food. this isn't about saving Mother Earth, this is about making things comfortable for US, #1, Human.

And again, this sign provides nothing but fuel for your smugness. It provides zero scientific education to the public on what they could do to reduce carbon emissions, it's just a number, doubly so a number most can't comprehend. More so since THEY'RE LIKELY OUTSIDE WALKING WHEN THEY SEE IT! Should they be walking in soy shoes and hemp clothing?
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ArtisticThought
06/20/09

@Do not taunt Happy Fun King Psyz: Actually, I was an environmental science major in college. Global Warming is taught in many science classes and even at high school level. Carbon dioxide is by far the most important cause of climate change, with human activities releasing more than 33 billion tons of CO2 every year, on average, containing some 9 billion tons of carbon. About 3 billion tons of this excess carbon is taken up by terrestrial ecosystems, and around 2 billion tons absorbed by the oceans, leaving an annual atmospheric increase of 4 billion tons per year. If current trends continue, CO2 concentrations could reach about 500 ppm (approaching twice the preindustrial level of 280 ppm) by the end of the twenty-first century. This is important because of the increased greenhouse effect which it results in. The atmosphere, comparable to the glass of a greenhouse, traps heat inside. This is a natural process but too much greenhouse effect can cause harmful environmental change, including devastating consequences to human life.
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KingPsyz here for HappyFunKingPsyz©
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought:
Great, you've reposted the same wikipedia quote twice and totally avoided answering my questions.

HIGH FIVE!
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ArtisticThought
06/20/09

@Do not taunt Happy Fun King Psyz: I answered your first two question - which I usually wouldn't just because it's kind of silly to argue online. As far as I know your only other question was "What does this sign do to educate the public on a scientific level the effects and solutions to green house gasses and global warming?" I would say the sign promotes awareness, like a reminder, and not basic high school education, lol.
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KingPsyz here for HappyFunKingPsyz©
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought:
OK, now I am just getting agitated. You said the following:

"Seriously! I'm always amazed at people's ignorance regarding the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. This is exactly why we need to promote awareness, such as this billboard is doing, and help give the public more highly educated, scientific views. "

Where does this sign "help give the public more highly educated, scientific views"?

And you have yet to state the actual EFFECTS of increased carbon emissions. You just copy/pasted that it was there. You can't because there's no data yet, there's so little we know about this planet. We don't even understand what our oceans contain yet and you think we understand the effects of increased carbon in the atmosphere on any kind of real hard level?

Not that it matters anyway since there's mounting evidence the polar shift will be coming soon and likely wipe out a large portion of life in it's wake which the earth will bounce back from like it always has.
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snubz
06/20/09

@Do not taunt Happy Fun King Psyz: I've always wondered about people like you: is it just easier to be angry and ignorant?
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Nick
06/20/09

@snubz: try it. it really is. especially in traffic while smoggin' it up.
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rudyfrederic
06/20/09

In reply to Massive Billboard Counts Carbon Emissions in Real Time
well isnt that ironic...
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@rudyfrederic: dontcha think? It's like rain.
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mikeness
06/20/09

@TheStateOnDVD!_GitEmSteveDave: I believe the quote is "It's like ray-eee-ain"
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@mikeness: On my wedding day?
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Nick
06/20/09

@TheStateOnDVD!_GitEmSteveDave: it's freeee ride, when you all red ee paid.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@Nick: It's some good advice.
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mikeness
06/20/09

@TheStateOnDVD!_GitEmSteveDave: thatchoo jus didn't take
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null0byte
06/21/09

@mikeness:

And who woulda thought, it figures....
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/21/09

@null0byte: Well life has a funny way, of sneaking up on you-ooooh
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mikeness
06/20/09

In reply to Massive Billboard Counts Carbon Emissions in Real Time
What do carbon emissions have to do with climate change anyway?
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ArtisticThought
06/20/09

@mikeness: Carbon dioxide is by far the most important cause of climate change, with human activities releasing more than 33 billion tons of CO2 every year, on average, containing some 9 billion tons of carbon. About 3 billion tons of this excess carbon is taken up by terrestrial ecosystems, and around 2 billion tons absorbed by the oceans, leaving an annual atmospheric increase of 4 billion tons per year. If current trends continue, CO2 concentrations could reach about 500 ppm (approaching twice the preindustrial level of 280 ppm) by the end of the twenty-first century. This is important because of the increased greenhouse effect which it results in. The atmosphere, comparable to the glass of a greenhouse, traps heat inside. This is a natural process but too much greenhouse effect can cause harmful environmental change.
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KingPsyz here for HappyFunKingPsyz©
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought:
Harmful to who?

You know what else causes Carbon emmisions?

BREATHING

You know what plantlife needs to live?

CARBON
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@ArtisticThought: Wouldn't there be 11 billion tons as CO2 is three atoms? So in reality, we are producing 22 billion tons of oxygen?
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@Do not taunt Happy Fun King Psyz: Don't worry. They are working on that breathing problem. Ted Turner and the Buildabear group have plans to kill 95% of us to save the earth for themselves.
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thePrototype
06/20/09

In reply to Massive Billboard Counts Carbon Emissions in Real Time
What I want to know is how much electricity it takes to run that, plus what kind of materials were used to make that sign.
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Someone horked my name at engadget
06/20/09

@thePrototype: It runs off of solar power and is made entirely of recycled soda bottles.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/20/09

@Americun MORAN©: And how is this power stored? hopefully not with dangerous chemical batteries...
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