Saturday, December 7, 2013

Fracking for Health

A deadly pollution known as PM2.5 is currently killing over three million people each year, primarily in the developing world, demonstrates Richard Muller (Professor of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley since 1980) in Why Every Serious Environmentalist should favour Fracking. His co-author, Elizabeth Muller, is his daughter and co-founder (with him) of Berkeley Earth, a non-profit working on environmental issues.
if he's a professor at Berkeley in the United States, at least he could adopt the American spelling of "favor." A pet peeve ever since a British journal once made me spell harbor "harbour."



Personally, I strongly suspected that the deadliness of PM 2.5 (extrapolation to zero issues) is exaggerated, but I think the message over all is exactly correct.  Fracking to produce natural gas is by far superior to burning coal for a large number of reasons, including particulate pollution.

It doesn't hurt to point out the the Chinese city of Shanghai is currently suffering from a severe air pollution health crisis as a result coal burning:
On Friday afternoon, the Shanghai government issued its severest health warning as the city's pollution index ranged between 23 times and 31 times the levels recommended by international health officials.

In the first such advice since a new health warning system was launched in April, authorities urged residents to stay indoors and asked factories to either cut or halt production.

"I don't think it's fit for people to live in this kind of environment," said Shanghai resident Fan Jianjun, 34, who wore a face mask as he walked through the opaque air in the Lujiazui financial district. 

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