bookmark_borderClimate Change: Insurance Risk

The 9th National Risk Assessment for Homeowners Insurance found climate risks place 39 million U.S. homes at risk of losing their insurance. “Sound pricing is going to make it unaffordable to live in certain places as climate impacts emerge.”

“There’s this climate insurance bubble out there,” said Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications at First Street and a contributor to the report. “And you can quantify it.”

“There’s no education to the public of what’s going on and where the risk is,” said Porter, explaining that most insurance models are proprietary. Even the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) doesn’t make flood insurance pricing available to the public. Homeowners must obtain coverage through a private insurance broker for a quote.

Wildfires are the fastest growing natural disaster risk. According to the report, “It’s not just wildfires – pressure on flood and wind insurance is increasing, too.”

Porter went on to say, “You don’t want someone to live in a place that always burns. They don”t belong there. We’re subsidizing people to live in harm’s way. Large numbers of people will need to be relocated away from areas that will be uninsurable. There is a reckoning on the horizon and it’s not pretty.”

Flow Speeds

The burning of fossil fuels and other human released emissions have impacted momentum’s impact. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. Warmer air allows for the creation of more massive raindrops. Warmer ocean temperatures create stronger hurricanes. Hail and tornadoes form in strong thunderstorm clouds with intense updrafts, high liquid-water content, and large water droplets.

Sidd added: It’s worse than that. Wind and water flow forces scale as the square of velocity, so as flow speeds increase (say due to more intense heating or heavier rain) the damage scales as the square of the velocity.

So a twenty mile an hour wind exerts four times as much force as a ten mile an hour wind. And a forty mile an hour wind exerts sixteen times as much force as a ten mile an hour wind. A wind of fifty miles an hour exerts twenty five times and a wind of sixty miles an hour exerts thirty six times as much force as one of ten miles an hour. Then you have the density term. Water is about eight hundred times denser than air, So the force exerted by a ten mile an hour flow of water is eight hundred times that of a ten mile an hour wind. So as flow velocities go up due to climate change, force and damage scale as square of the velocities. What is not clear is how much these velocities increase with climate change. But in a sense we are seeing this already as, for example, flood and sewage systems succumb and hillsides fall down, and so on.

Climate change’s influence on wind and water flow forces caused more severe damage and deaths. The Maui wildfire of August 2023 is an example. What would have been a fairly routine wildfire was fanned out-of-control by hurricane force winds. One headline read, “Maui fires: Hawaii blazes fanned by Hurricane Dora”. Another headline read, “Hawaii wildfires kill as ‘apocalypse’ hits Maui island”. The New York Times reported, “Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii said on Thursday that the devastating wildfires that swept through western Maui and killed at least 55 people, and possibly many more, were ‘likely the largest natural disaster in Hawaii state history.'”

Both wind and water flow forces contributed to the devastation. Hurricane Dora was at least 500 miles from Hawaii yet the wind forces impacted the fire in Maui. The winds were so strong that before the fire reached Lahaina extremely hot air blew over the town. The streets were so hot they burnt people’s feet trying to flee. The surface of everything became hot. Even after people jumped into the ocean, they said the debris in the water was too hot to float on. Almost all the boats in the harbor burned.

The blast of hot air over Lahaina created the conditions for a flashpoint. A flashpoint is the temperature at which a particular organic compound gives off sufficient vapor to ignite in air. The entire town ignited so quickly that warning sirens could not be activated and people did not have time to escape.

In an unexpected twist, water flow forces also contributed to the chaos. How could water flow add to the fire emergency conditions? When people fled the heat and fire, they jumped into the sea. ABC news reported: Shawn Dougherty, of Lahaina, was among the hundreds of residents forced to flee the resort city when the wildfire began engulfing their homes.

Like others, Dougherty said his only means of survival was to jump into the ocean with his girlfriend, but while some found safety in nearby jetties, the rocks and coral tore up Dougherty’s body.

“At one point, it seemed like I might drown,” he told ABC News. “{I’m a good swimmer, but the water was just really rough because of the wind and the turbulence.”

Norway Floods 2023

Also in August of 2023, climate change’s influence on water flow forces caused more severe damage and deaths. AccuWeather reported, “Dam bursts open as deadly flooding washes away homes in Norway. Torrents of water gushed through multiple towns across Norway and landslides cascaded down mountainsides after a deluge drenched Norway.”

Summary

By increasing the energy in the system, humans have increased flow volumes, masses and velocities leading to increased damage (and deaths.)

Newton’s second law: F = m * a
F = force
m = mass of an object
a = acceleration

Acceleration Formula

ALSO SEE
Climate Change: Rate of Acceleration
By 2020, there was enough data to see the “doubling period” of some anthropogenic climate affects had gone from 100 years to 10 years. For instance the rate of sea level rise has gone from about 1.5 millimeters per year to over 3 millimeters. We expect to see the doubling period to continue to shrink raising the possibility of sea levels rising a foot/year by 2050.

Tipping points and feedback loops are parts of an equation that determine the rate of acceleration in climate change.

Climate Change: The End of Times

More articles on Flood Insurance, Rising Sea Levels and Global Warming.

bookmark_borderClimate Denial Part III: The Climate Denier Syndrome

by Daniel Brouse
Climate Scientist

In Part I, A Climate Denier Making a “False Narrative” Political Stand, Darren Wolfe made a host of false and misleading statements about climate change.

In Part II, Freedom of Speech, we explained how making false climate claims is equivalent to telling people to ignore the fire alarm in a crowded theater during a fire.

In Part III, Ken Kaplan explains The Climate Denier Syndrome.

“A survey of 468 international climate scientists published by campaign group Global Witness found that prominent scientists were the most likely to face abuse, with half of those who had published at least 10 papers reporting they had suffered online harassment as a result of their climate work.”

Darren Wolfe had made multiple harassing posts on my page. In addition, Darren had posted a call for others to harass me on his page:

Darren Wolfe encouraging harassment
Darren Wolfe encouraging harassment

Sidd said:
Mostly I just shut up… if the weather outside their windows don’t convince them, I got no time for this.

Darren Wolfe said:
Ja wohl Herr Gestapoman! You really need a shrink. I’m merely trying to have a discussion with you. Are you really so weak and insecure that you can’t handle respectful disagreement? I will cease and desist because I’m tired of your dogma. You win and freedom of speech loses. I hope you’re happy now.

Ken V Kaplan:
Darren Wolfe, you are a poster boy for this quote. No amount of reason or evidence means anything to you. None of the periods you spoke of were Global and none registered the hottest month basically since Homo Sapians has been on the planet. If you think this is just a “natural cycle” that won’t intensify, you’re nuts.

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov

Fortunately dangerous fools like you will not be driving policy or the discussions on this.

Opinions don’t change people, events do. Climate Change is bringing everyone to their needs, even deep deniers like him. I saw this coming, as many did, years ago. Now we are in it. It will get worse before it gets better.

Sidd said:
Mostly I just shut up… if the weather outside their windows don’t convince them, I got no time for this.

Ken V Kaplan responded:
Daniel Brouse, the problem is they do not respond to facts or evidence. It’s both an emotional and identity issue with them, similar to a religion. This why he gave you a bogus study (1600 scientists sre against CC) when the actual data breakdown says it is not true. This is similar to arguments I had with mask, virus and vaccine deniers who refused to accept the science or empirical evidence of massk-vaccine efficacy, and pushed psuedo research and outright lies.

There have been extensive studies to show that many or most of these people process through the amygdala (emotional center) rather than the frontal cortex (seat of rational thought). This is why culture wars for conservatives have been so successful.

This is like trying to convince a Creationist in Evolutionary theory. Fortunately, (or unfortunately) the ongoing and intensifying climate crisis is waking up the majority of people, especially young people. I believe (belated) action will occur but barring an engineering miracle, we are in for much rougher times.

I do think that in a formal and somewhat legal sense, preparing this material is important because there will be venues more significant than social media and those like these two are “poster boys” for denialism that is significant to highlight. They represent and express attitudes, misrepresentation and deflection of higher ups in the food chain, including GOP Presidential candidates.

I responded:
Ken, true, but so sad. You are correct on “This is why culture wars for conservatives have been so successful.” That is why I am making him the poster child on our next paper:
Climate Denial Part I: A Climate Denier Making a “False Narrative” Political Stand

People often ask why I am so tolerant of climate deniers… why don’t I just delete or block them?
1) I always hold out hope that education will help the ignorant.
2) We are followed by about 300,000,000 climate scientists and warriors. They use our case studies in their own day-to-day combat with climate denying idiots.

What you can do today. How to save the planet.

The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

bookmark_borderClimate Denial Part II: Freedom of Speech

by Daniel Brouse
Climate Scientist

Climate Denial Part I: A Climate Denier Making a “False Narrative” Political Stand

Climate Denial Part II: Freedom of Speech, Authority, and Regulation

According to an analysis from the Center for American Progress, there are still 139 Republicans in the 117th Congress, including 109 representatives and 30 senators, who refuse to acknowledge the scientific evidence of human-caused climate change. All 139 of these climate-denying Republicans have made recent statements casting doubt on the clear, established scientific consensus that the world is warming—and that human activity is to blame. These same 139 climate-denying Republicans have received more than $61 million in lifetime contributions from the coal, oil, and gas industries.

Michael Bierly asked:
which is worse — the gop denying it or the dems accepting it verbally yet doing nothing about it?

I responded:
Both are equally responsible for this part: “In the spring of 2023, the USA suspended their national debt ceiling. Included in the debt ceiling suspension is a provision for unlimited emergency federal spending. The result is the government can continue to ignore the causes of climate change and instead give trillion-dollar subsidies to the fossil fuel industry through emergency disaster relief. Yes, another vicious circle — more fossil fuels subsidies result in more climate catastrophes resulting in more fossil fuel subsidies, etc. The end result will be additional trillions in government borrowing while the standard of living declines.” — Daniel Brouse

After I asked Darren Wolfe to stop posting climate denial lies on my page, Darren replied:
I guess I’m the world’s first authoritarian libertarian. Anyway, I’m not the one threatening legal action to silence a different POV. Who is the authoritarian now?

Let me repackage what I’ve already posted. Do agree that the Earth goes through natural warming and cooling cycles that have nothing to do with CO2 emissions?

I replied:
No. Not during the existence of humans has the Earth warmed to the levels of July 2023. That’s why I asked you to read my peer reviewed research. You also need to learn the difference between your opinion/point of view and facts. I’m not trying to silence your point of view. I’m trying to silence your dangerous and inaccurate information. What you are doing is equivalent to telling people to ignore the fire alarm in a crowded theater during a fire. So, back to your good question. No. The Earth has never been through a warming cycle like the one caused by burning fossil fuels.

Darren Wolfe:
Ja wohl Herr Gestapoman! You really need a shrink. I’m merely trying to have a discussion with you. Are you really so weak and insecure that you can’t handle respectful disagreement? I will cease and desist because I’m tired of your dogma. You win and freedom of speech loses. I hope you’re happy now.

Daniel Brouse:
No. Freedom of speech wins! Liars lose. This is not a respectful disagreement… this has been an ignoramus making a “false narrative” political stand on a climate scientist’s page.

Oliver Kocher said:
I find there certainly isn’t scientific consensus about catastrophic, human caused climate change, it’s just that those who don’t agree with the agenda are minimized and have their voices silenced. And besides, the idea of “consensus” being the right thing to go by is sketchy at best. Remember when the Copernican theory of the solar system was “consensus” and people were jailed or worse for disagreeing? Or as a more recent example, COVID 19. Consensus certainly wasn’t a sure thing on that, but those who disagreed were threatened, cancelled, and silenced, just to find out a year later that many of them were right, and their very valid concerns were often at least partially correct. So, your claim of consensus is a logical fallacy of “appeal to authority.”

I replied:
Sorry to say, but you are wrong. When you disagree with facts you are not exercising freedom of speech. You are committing fraud or libel. Science has nothing to do with consensus. 1 = 1. Nevertheless, there is also consensus: “A 2021 report by Cornell University found that 99.9% of more than 88,000 climate change studies agree that humans have accelerated the phenomenon, largely due to carbon emissions.” It’s when you use fraudulent consensus like Darren did (in Part I) that you get yourself into legal trouble.

Ken V Kaplan added:
Oliver Kocher, it’s people like you who put people like them in Congress. To compare Copernican theory with CC denial is preposterous. The empirical evidence is incontrovertible that over 90% of Covid deaths once vaccines were introduced (hundreds of thousands) were among the unvaccinated.
Look the frack around and wake up. You live in a developed country that relies on air conditioning. Others aren’t so lucky. People got third degree burns in AZ from the pavement. The new normal is once in a 100 year disasters are now common. And it will get worse.

Oliver Kocher:
So consensus that agrees with you is right, but consensus that disagrees with you is “fraudulent.” Got it. That’s awfully convenient.

Ken V Kaplan:
Oliver Kocher, there is no actual consensus against CC except for deep deniers about man made CC. Your stement is an example of “false equivalence.” Daniel is an expert in this field. What are your credentials?
BTW, look around. What the hell do you think is happening? 100-500 year occurances are now yearly, on every front, hurricanes, fires, droughts, floods, you name it.
People in AZ got frigging third degree burns from the pavement. Without AC the state would be uninhabitable. You can’t get insurance in Fla.
This is just the beginning.

Daniel Brouse:
Oliver Kocher, no. That’s not what I said. I said my research is not based on consensus… our team are the originators of the hypothesis. Since that time we have gone on to prove our hypothesis, as well as, get 80,000 studies to confirm our results. Now our hypothesis has become theory. That means it is fact. It has nothing to do with consensus. Another fact is people need education about politics, economics, and science. Normally this problem would be only of concern to the individual; however, when people spread dangerous, deadly misinformation, it becomes my concern.

Oliver Kocher:
Daniel Brouse, ok. How am I an authoritarian libertarian? That doesn’t even make sense.
In addition, I do not deny that the climate is changing. I question whether that change is caused by human activity, and more specifically, if it is, whether the impact of the US is sufficient to change the course of said climate change. It is part of the nature of climate to change, so no, I’m not a climate change denier, I’m just skeptical of the alleged cause and theorized effects of it.

Daniel Brouse:
An authoritarian libertarian means you insist on your opinion of “freedom of speech”. You are not free to make false scientific claims. I’m not saying you have, but Darren has. You are allowed to say that you are skeptical of whatever you believe. However, if your opinion is wrong about a fact… expressing that opinion makes you a liar, at best.

“Our team are the originators of the hypothesis. Since that time we have gone on to prove our hypothesis, as well as, get 80,000 studies to confirm our results. Now our hypothesis has become theory. That means it is fact.” If you are skeptical of the facts I have presented (and are supported by over 80,000 independent studies), then prove me wrong with your own scientific study. Otherwise, you should learn these new facts… new to you.

FACT: Human induced climate change is an exponential component of an unordered system (chaos theory). That means global warming is accelerating at a rapid rate in a complex way.

What you can do today. How to save the planet.

The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

bookmark_borderHawaii Wildfires Increased Flow Volumes, Damage, and Deaths

By Daniel Brouse
August 13, 2023

Physicist Sidd Mukherjee said, “Wind and water flow forces scale as the square of velocity, so as flow speeds increase (say due to more intense heating or heavier rain) the damage scales as the square of the velocity. That force is proportional to density times square of velocity (v^2).”

The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)

In the Hawaii wildfires of August 2023, both wind and water flow forces contributed to the devastation. Hurricane Dora was at least 500 miles from Hawaii yet the wind forces impacted the fire in Maui. The winds were so strong that before the fire reached Lahaina extremely hot air blew over the town. The streets were so hot they burnt people’s feet trying to flee. The surface of everything became hot. Even after people jumped into the ocean, they said the debris in the water was too hot to float on.

The blast of hot air over Lahaina created the conditions for a flashpoint. A flashpoint is the temperature at which a particular organic compound gives off sufficient vapor to ignite in air. The entire town ignited so quickly that warning sirens could not be activated and people did not have time to escape.

In an unexpected twist, water flow forces also contributed to the chaos. How could water flow add to the fire emergency conditions? When people fled the heat and fire, they jumped into the sea. ABC news reported: Shawn Dougherty, of Lahaina, was among the hundreds of residents forced to flee the resort city when the wildfire began engulfing their homes.

Like others, Dougherty said his only means of survival was to jump into the ocean with his girlfriend, but while some found safety in nearby jetties, the rocks and coral tore up Dougherty’s body.

“At one point, it seemed like I might drown,” he told ABC News. “I’m a good swimmer, but the water was just really rough because of the wind and the turbulence.”

“By increasing the energy in the system, humans have increased flow volumes, masses and velocities leading to increased damage (and deaths.)” — Brouse and Mukherjee

From: Climate Change: The Equation / Brouse and Mukherjee (2023)

What you can do today. How to save the planet.

Climate Change: The End of Times

The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

bookmark_borderClimate Change: the Equation

By Daniel Brouse
August 5, 2023

I’ve been thinking about the giant global warming formula that has been formulating in my head for the last few decades.

Human induced climate change is an exponential component of an unordered system (chaos theory).

Though the equation is complex… too complicated to write down…

I’ve lately begun considering trying to write down a small part of it:
Tipping points and feedback loops are parts of an equation that determine the rate of acceleration in climate change.

What do you think about this?

(t ² * f ²) nth
or
the domino effect * the snowball effect:
(h cos α−(s+d)sin θi+1) * a(1 + r) x

Acceleration, tipping points etc. I know that no simple formula exists for any of these. The reason you can’t write a formula is because they are chaotic systems. Chaos theory is the study of unordered systems; however, trying to write it down helps me quantify what I see in my mind’s eye.

These formulas are similar to what we imagined in 1995:

Abstract
Earth is in a space-time continuum similar to the vortex of a flushing toilet.

if acceleration = velocity/time
and v = speed of light = 2.9979*10^8 m/s
and for the sake of argument we are accelerating at pi (rounded to 15 decimal places) m/s^2
then time = 95426120.77903860 seconds (rounded to 16 significant digits)
= 1104.468990498130 days
= 3.025942439720910 years = roughly 3 years + 9.5 days as relative to the rotation and revolution of the planet earth.

Important note: this is motion at constant speed in a circle. So the speed of light isn’t changing but the direction of motion is, so there is acceleration (= change in velocity, not speed is the acceleration. Velocity has a direction as well as a magnitude, it is a vector, not a scalar like speed.)

a couple other fundamental physical constants to contemplate:
permitivity of free space = 8.854*10^(-12) C^2/(N*m)
permeability of free space = 4(pi)*10^(-7) Wb/(A*m)

SIDD: the tricky part is .. u cannot maintain a constant acceleration like pi m/s^2 on a massive body

In 2023 Sidd added:
On another note, regarding the permeability mu and permittivity epsilon
… those are deeply related to the speed of light thru maxwell’s equations
c=1/sqrt(mu*epsilon)

As for deep contemplation, let me see, in terms of formal schooling
I deeply contemplated those for two years in undergraduate
and about a year and a half in grad school … made my head very pointy.

What you can do today. How to save the planet.

A song about The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

bookmark_borderClimate Change: The End of Times

by Daniel Brouse
July 21, 2023

What will the “End of Times” look like?

In the 1990’s, we wrote a paper on the worst-case scenario entitled, “The Impact of Governance & Globalization on Forecasting (The Tunnel Under Thesis).” The theory predicted that forecasting would become increasing difficult. “The result — a figurative, as well as, literal tunneling underground.”

Since that time, forecasting has become increasing more difficult. “In general, as energy is added to a system, the fluctuations in the system increase. So, we expect more storms, more droughts, more wildfires, more floods, more fluctuations of all kinds. What we are saying is that weather conditions will become more volatile due to the impact of humans,” said Mukherjee and Brouse. (2004)

In a report published in Nature entitled Over half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by climate change, data analyst and associate professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Hawaii Manoa, Camilo Mora, said climate hazards aggravated 58% of all known human pathogens. That is over half of infectious diseases discovered since the end of the Roman Empire. 58% of an authoritative list of infectious diseases documented to have impacted humanity have already been shown to be aggravated by climatic hazards — a finding the researchers found “shocking,” Mora said.

Movement of people and animals caused by climate is one factor. Warming at higher latitudes allowed vectors and pathogens to survive winter is another factor. The report goes on to say, “The human pathogenic diseases and transmission pathways aggravated by climatic hazards are too numerous for comprehensive societal adaptations, highlighting the urgent need to work at the source of the problem: reducing GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions.”

This research reveals more evidence that humans will have difficulty adapting to climate change, especially those in developing countries, Mora said. “The magnitude of the vulnerability when you think about one or two diseases — okay, sure, we can deal with that,” he said. “But when you’re talking about 58% of the diseases, and 58% of those diseases can be affected or triggered in 1,000 different ways. So that, to me, was also revealing of the fact that we’re not going to be able to adapt to climate change.”

In 2023, I wrote the paper, “Climate Change: How Long Is ‘Ever’?“. When we wrote the Tunnel Under Thesis, we forecast these events would not happen for centuries. We underestimated Man’s ignorance and arrogance. Fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have continued to set record highs. Humans have caused chain-reactions resulting in domino-effects, snowball effects, and feedback loops.

Events we thought would not happen in our lifetimes are happening now. My last resort emergency plan was to escape to Canada. (I am a dual citizen.) This summer that plan literally went up in smoke. “Beginning in March 2023, and with increased intensity starting in June, Canada has been affected by an ongoing, record-setting series of wildfires.” — Wikipedia

All of my life I have located my office and bedrooms in the uppermost southern exposure (preferably in the tree canopy.) I love sunlight, elevation, trees, fresh air, and wildlife. It is becoming ever more obvious my dreamlife is coming to an end, and I will be forced to tunnel under. For those forward thinkers, think about your poop. Pumping sewage above ground level will be a major problem at all times. In addition, the inability to pump flood water will become deadly during extreme weather events. In July of 2020 NPR reported, “The remnants of Hurricane Ida dropped unprecedented rainfall on several eastern states, killing dozens of people. Eleven of them were Queens residents who died when their basement apartments flooded.” In August of 2022 CNN reported, “Seoul has vowed to move some of the city’s poorest families out of underground and semi-subterranean homes after 13 people were killed in flooding caused by record rainfall this week, sparking public horror and calls for government accountability.” Drowning in your own poop may result for those unprepared.

Fresh air, water, food, and light will also be problematic; however, your most severe concern will likely be security. Those with supplies will be at high risk of being raped and looted. Good luck!

More From the Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

bookmark_borderClimate Change: How Long Is “Ever”?

By Daniel Brouse
July 8, 2023

How long is “ever”… as in “the hottest it’s ever been in recorded history”?

During the first week of July 2023, the Earth had the hottest days ever.

Humans are about 200,000 years old with our closest variety being dated to about 140,000 years ago. The earliest “recording of history” is approximately 100,000 years old. It is the story of The Seven Sisters of The Pleiades. The Seven Sister are a cluster of stars in the Taurus constellation. There are six stars visible to the naked eye. The story is about seven stars. The seventh star has not been visible to the naked eye for over 100,000 years.

The 20th-century surface temperature average for Earth was 13.9 °C.
In July of 2023 we are seeing average temperatures of 17°C.

Q: Is it possible for humans to push the temperature 3 °C above pre-industrial levels?
A: Yes. Humans have pushed global temperatures up more than 3 °C.

Q: Is it possible for humans to survive at temperatures greater than 3 °C?
A: Probably not long. Humans have never done it before.

Extreme weather will become more frequent and intense. Sea levels will rapidly rise as the coasts disappear. However, the most concerning development will be feedback loops. Plants will become extinct and many carbon sinks will vanish. The Earth’s temperature will continue to accelerate at an exponential rate no matter what humans do. Food, fresh water, and breathable air will cease to exist. Humans will likely follow in short order.

“The increasing heating of our planet caused by fossil fuel use is not unexpected, it was predicted already in the 19th century after all,” said climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research in Germany. “But it is dangerous for us humans and for the ecosystems we depend on. We need to stop it fast.”

This is our current situation. Not “years away”. Not tomorrow. Today.

Stop burning fossil fuels today, stop exploiting hydrocarbons today, or else….

You replied, “I don’t see anything I can do…!”

I responded, “Here’s what I have done. (Not only have I saved many thousands of dollars, I am also carbon negative.)” — How to go net zero now. Free and easy. Save the planet.

The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

bookmark_borderHealth Impacts of Air Pollution

By Daniel Brouse
June 30, 2023

The health impacts of air pollution are both cumulative and irreversible. The more polluted the air, the more severe the effects. The more polluted air you breathe over time, the more severe the effects. That is to say breathing “Moderate” quality air for 3 days might be similar to breathing “Unhealthy for Sensitive Group” quality air for 1 day. In both cases, your respiratory, circulatory, neurological, and immune systems have been damaged. A partial list of ailments include:
Alzheimer’s Disease, asthma, bronchitis, cancer, cataracts, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), dementia, developmental damage, emphysema, gastrointestinal disorders, heart ailments, heart attacks, immune system dysfunction (including susceptibility to infections), ischaemic heart disease, impaired brain development in children, kidney disease, liver disease, lung disease, premature death, pneumonia, nasal and upper respiratory tract health problems, neurological disorders, respiratory system failure, skin diseases, strokes

You can (and should) check your local air quality several times a day at AirNow.gov. The air quality index (AQI) goes from 0 to 500. An AQI value of 50 or below represents good air quality, while an AQI value over 300 represents hazardous air quality.

EPA establishes an AQI for five major air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act. Each of these pollutants has a national air quality standard set by EPA to protect public health:

  • ground-level ozone
  • particle pollution (also known as particulate matter, including PM2.5 and PM10)
  • carbon monoxide
  • sulfur dioxide
  • nitrogen dioxide

Following is an explanation of two of these pollutants — particle pollution and ground-level ozone.

Particulate Matter (PM)

The EPA defines particulate matter (also called particle pollution): the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye. Others are so small they can only be detected using an electron microscope.

Particle pollution is similar to smoking cigarettes. The more you inhale, the worse it is for you. Also, the more particles in the air you breath, the worse it is for you. Breathing air on a day with an AQI that is unhealthy is similar to smoking a half-pack of cigarettes. If you go running instead of walking, it might be equivalent to smoking 2 packs of cigarettes.

The more particulate matter you breathe in over time, the greater the cumulative effect. The impact on your health will depend on your predisposition. In all cases your risk increases for nasal and upper respiratory tract health problems, heart attacks, strokes, asthma, and bronchitis, as well as premature death from heart ailments, lung disease, and cancer. Studies show that exposure can impair brain development in children and are significantly associated with the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Some of the impacts of particle pollution may be reversed overtime if further exposure to particle pollution is eliminated. After five years of quitting smoking, the risk of developing complications decreases by up to 50%.

The best lifestyle is to avoid particulate matter. Exercise outside only on days with a “Good” AQI under 50. If you must go out on days with an AQI over 50, wear an N95 mask. Indoors build and run a Corsi-Rosenthal Box filter.

Ground-level Ozone

Tropospheric ozone is low level ozone caused by humans. Tropospheric ozone is “bad ozone” that causes health problems in humans, plants to die and other destructive results. (Stratospheric ozone, the good ozone, is the ozone layer in the stratosphere that keeps 95-99% of the suns ultraviolet radiation from striking the earth.)

“Tropospheric ozone is formed by the interaction of sunlight, particularly ultraviolet light, with hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, which are emitted by automobiles, gasoline vapors, fossil fuel power plants, refineries, and certain other industries.” — National Center for Atmospheric Research

Ozone primarily affects the respiratory and immune systems. The damage is permanent, untreatable and often results in death. The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District reports, “Roughly one out of three people in the U.S. is at risk of experiencing ozone-related health effects.”

The best lifestyle is to avoid ozone exposure. Since heat and ultraviolet light are needed to create ozone, staying indoors offers the best protection. Neither masks nor air purifiers protect from ozone exposure. (Ozone is O3 and almost the same size as Oxygen O2)

REFERENCES
Death by Ozone
COVID-19 and Air Pollution
Ozone Know Zone
Air Pollution Kills
Indoor Air Pollution: How to Purify the Air, Aromatic Plants, and Phytoncides
Corsi-Rosenthal Box filter
The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

bookmark_borderCorsi-Rosenthal Box: The Best Air Purifier

What is a Corsi-Rosenthal Box and how do you build one? The Corsi-Rosenthal Box is a simple DIY air filter and purifier that outperforms and can be more effective than expensive HEPA purifiers.

Corsi-Rosenthal Boxes are made from cardboard, tape, furnace air filters, and a box fan.

Corsi-Rosenthal Box
Corsi-Rosenthal Box

The Corsi-Rosenthal Box was invented by Richard Corsi, PhD, of the University of California-Davis and Jim Rosenthal, CEO of Tex-Air Filters.

“One night, I just scribbled out this idea on a piece of paper,” said Corsi. “It wasn’t an original idea – people had put a single filter on a box fan before. But not with MERV 13 filters.” (MERV — minimum efficiency reporting values — is the measure of how well a filter captures particles. The higher the MERV, the more effective the filter.)

“The Corsi-Rosenthal box outperformed the HEPA filter on every sized particle,” Rosenthal said. “You have such high flow from these fans, way more flow than you get out of a commercial HEPA filter. The air goes through the filter more than once in the same period of time. It may only get 50% of the particles at first. But the second time through, it’s getting much more.”

Corsi-Rosenthal Box Test

Smoke from wildfires in Canada brought record-breaking air pollution to the United States this spring, creating dangerous air quality from Bismarck, N.D., to Denver and Detroit to New York City and Washington. According to a Washington Post analysis of smoke data through June 7 (2023) from Stanford University, 197 air quality monitoring stations have reported all-time high pollution from wildfires.

During the Air Quality Crisis of 2023 the plant-based long-term breathing experiment failed the test. After 4 days in a row of Unhealthy (151 to 200 AQI) to Hazardous (301 and higher AQI) outdoor air quality, the the plant-filtered indoor air quality was unhealthy.

Even with spider plant filled windows and dozens of other plants, humans still suffered from itchy eyes, scratchy throats, and headaches.

Christopher suggested, “You should look into Corsi-Rosenthal… they consistently outperform high-end air filtration systems and it’s a simple DIY project.”

Sidd independently advised, “We are way beyond that (plant filtration). Put in something about Corsi-Rosenthal filters and CO2 monitors to judge ventilation.

Sooo… luckily I had a couple furnace filters, a box fan, and a case of beer. After constructing a crude Corsi-Rosenthal Box, the entire first floor was cleared of noticeable pollutants within 15 minutes. The itchy eyes, scratchy throat, and headache dissipated.

Makeshift / Emergency Corsi-Rosenthal Box
Makeshift / Emergency Corsi-Rosenthal Box

To confirm our results, we brought in the hound dog. Dogs are even more sensitive to air quality. After days of suffering in unhealthy air quality, the hound immediately laid down with his nose in the flow of the circulating Corsi-Rosenthal filtered air.

Conclusion
Air quality is already considered the number one contributing factor to death worldwide. Climate change is making poor air quality even more extreme. A combination of plant and Corsi-Rosenthal filtered air is recommended on a daily basis.

Our experiment was conducted in Southeastern Pennsylvania during an extreme air quality event; however, to our east is Philadelphia. The immediate Philadelphia area rarely has a day of Good air quality. Most summer days are Moderate to Very Unhealthy. To our west is Morgantown and Lancaster County. Even though Lancaster is a much more rural area, it continuously has some of the worst air quality in the world. So it doesn’t really matter where you live, implementing plant and Corsi-Rosenthal filtered air to the daily routine will likely improve your quality and quantity of life.

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bookmark_borderCOVID: Insulin Reduction, Diabetes, High Cholesterol, Heart Disease and Stroke

by Daniel Brouse
March 11, 2023

COVID=19

Post-COVID patients are at an increased risk of developing or exacerbating diabetes.

In addition, the American Heart Association (AHA) states that diabetes often lowers HDL (good) cholesterol levels and raises triglycerides and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.

Both blood sugar and cholesterol increase the risk for heart disease and stroke.

Coronavirus Transforms Pancreas Cell Function
When COVID infects cells, it impairs cell activity and can also change their function. When insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas become infected with the virus, they produce much less insulin than usual, and also start to produce glucose and digestive enzymes. “We call this a change of cell fate,” said study leader Dr. Shuibing Chen, who described the work in a presentation at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

It is not clear whether the changes are long-lasting, or if they might be reversible (though individuals have been impacted more than 3-years after infection), the researchers reported in Cell Metabolism in August 2021, SARS-CoV-2 infection induces beta cell transdifferentiation. “Single-cell RNA sequencing and immunostaining from ex vivo infections confirmed that multiple types of pancreatic islet cells were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, eliciting a cellular stress response and the induction of chemokines. Upon SARS-CoV-2 infection, beta cells showed a lower expression of insulin and a higher expression of alpha and acinar cell markers, including glucagon and trypsin1, respectively, suggesting cellular transdifferentiation. Trajectory analysis indicated that SARS-CoV-2 induced eIF2-pathway-mediated beta cell transdifferentiation, a phenotype that could be reversed with trans-integrated stress response inhibitor (trans-ISRIB). Altogether, this study demonstrates an example of SARS-CoV-2 infection causing cell fate change, which provides further insight into the pathomechanisms of COVID-19.”

Diabetes Risk Rises After COVID
A March 2022 study published in the Journal Nature found, “Even mild SARS-CoV-2 infections can amplify a person’s chance of developing diabetes, especially for those already susceptible to the disease. People who get COVID-19 have a greater risk of developing diabetes up to a year later, even after a mild SARS-CoV-2 infection, compared with those who never had the disease.”

A study published in February of 2022 in JAMA, Diabetes After COVID-19 Infection, found COVID-19 Omicron infection is linked to new-onset diabetes. COVID-19 Omicron survivors may be at a greater than 60% risk of new-onset type 1 or 2 diabetes (a potential precursor of heart attack and stroke.)

A Cedars-Sinai news release said that data trends and patterns suggest that COVID-19 may act as a disease accelerator, amplifying the risk of an illness that may have come later in life. “So, it could be that instead of being diagnosed with diabetes by age 65, a person with preexisting risk for diabetes might—after a COVID-19 infection—be more likely to develop diabetes by age 45 or 55.”

The Pennsylvania State University meta-analysis Association of COVID‑19 with Diabetes included eight studies on new-onset type 1 or 2 diabetes in COVID-19 survivors published from December 2019 to October 2022. COVID-19 was tied to a 66% higher risk of new-onset diabetes regardless of age or sex. “Given the extraordinary number of COVID-19 survivors globally, the modest increase in diabetes risk could correspond to a drastic rise in the number of people diagnosed with the disease worldwide,” the authors wrote.

Cholesterol Levels
The study Risks and burdens of incident dyslipidaemia in long COVID found people with a prior COVID infection had a 24% increased risk for high cholesterol levels.

“These are people who never had cholesterol problems before,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, an author of the study and a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis. “Now, all of a sudden, they started having problems weeks and months after Covid-19.”

In June of 2023, the study Incidence of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic was published in the Journal Nature and found COVID is linked to surge in child and teen diabetes.

Increased Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke
The Centers for Disease Control says, “High blood cholesterol is a major modifiable risk factor for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. A 10% decrease in total blood cholesterol levels can reduce the incidence of heart disease by as much as 30%,” and “Over time, high blood sugar can damage blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart. People with diabetes are also more likely to have other conditions that raise the risk for heart disease.”

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