You can add another thing to the growing list of causes of global warming: television sets.
I kid you not.
Frankly, I think the climate alarmists are going too far with this one, for a nation hooked on TV doesn't seem likely to change its viewing habits to save the planet.
Of course, I could be wrong about how folks will respond to what the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported Thursday (emphasis added):
The gas, widely used in the manufacture of flat screen TVs, is estimated to be 17,000 times as powerful as carbon dioxide.
Ironically, NF3 is not covered by the Kyoto protocol as it was only produced in tiny amounts when the treaty was signed in 1997.
Levels of this gas in the atmosphere have not been measured, but scientists say it is a concern and are calling for it to be included in any future emissions cutting agreement.
Turn off the TV, the party's over!
*****Update: My colleague Jeff Poor has found the actual study cited in this report. Also, he accurately points out that one of the study's authors is a proud member of the UN's infamous IPCC.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Well,
July 3, 2008 - 09:35 ET by BlondeNow I have the perfect reason to buy a second plasma tv, so thanks, NS.
What will be the next "culprit" that's responsible for increasing global warming? I think we need to start a pool.
My entry: Dry cleaning. Commercial Laundry.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
My nomination is whatever
July 3, 2008 - 09:45 ET by motherbeltMy nomination is whatever the gas is that they're using in air conditioners instead of freon.
Shoot 'em all; let God sort 'em out! - Marge Simpson
Good one, mb
July 3, 2008 - 09:54 ET by BlondeMy point was that anything that makes the "ordinary American's" life easier or better, in the most marginal way, is baaaaaad. It's fine for Vinny Barbarino and Babs Streisand (200 bath sheet sized towels freshly laundered backstage...sheesh!), but for thee & me, NO!
Idiots.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
My guess....Oxygen causes global warming
July 3, 2008 - 10:07 ET by c5thenIt's obvious... Mars has almost no oxygen and is much much colder than earth. Must be the oxygen.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
The next thing to cause global warming will be
July 3, 2008 - 10:58 ET by jefflebowskibreathing by humans. If we could reduce the number of humans by abortion or euthanasia, the Earth would be much better off.
Remember what Gordon Gecco said in Wall Street? "They love animals, they hate people." Truer words, my friends.
Happy 4th to all from your friend
Jeff Lebowski
www.angrywhitedude.c...
Breathing humans, eh?
July 3, 2008 - 20:38 ET by needleIMHO the biggest culprit is living breathing Al Gore.
Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.
Oxygen on Mars, Warming on Jupiter
July 3, 2008 - 11:48 ET by Dr_LibertyUnfortunately, Mars too is warming and the only vehicles up there tend to get most of their power via solar energy!
And Jupiter is seeing equatorial warming, which is causing an outbreak of more "red spot" storms! Albeit it was argued back in 2004 that Jupiter's warming would decrease the number of spotted storms. So much for consensus!
<insert witty signature here>
The lazy, beer-guzzling,
July 4, 2008 - 01:23 ET by Prez RudyThe lazy, beer-guzzling, good for nothing couch-potatoes who lay there and watch their plazma tvs everywhere will become the next culprit..it's only a matter of time..
"...white man's greed runs a world in need." Barack Obama
Typical pseudo-science and fear mongering
July 3, 2008 - 09:41 ET by c5thenThey do not know what this gas does (if anyhing) but are "fearful" about it in the atmosphere. This guy has no idea how much is even released into the atmosphere, but the reporter says "A gas used in the making of flat screen televisions, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), is being blamed for damaging the atmosphere and accelerating global warming."
All with no data. Hmmmmm?
I bet that NF3 isn't even stable in the atmosphere for very long.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
There is not a lot of data
July 3, 2008 - 10:06 ET by NL207There is not a lot of data on this substance. This paper is about the best I could find. It contains no estimate of the functional greenhouse effect of this gas upon the atmosphere. The 17,000 number is very misleading. NF3 will not produce 17,000 times as much warming as CO2. It will only block whichever wavelengths it absorbs at a rate per unit concentration about 17,000 times that of CO2. If these wavelengths happen to overlap with CO2 or H2O, there will be NO net effect. The total maximum effect it can have is to block its absorptive wavelengths 100%. This might only increase the greenhouse effect by 1 degree K. There simply is not enough data in the paper above for me to guess what this might actually be. Notice the researchers didn't try to quantify the potential effect in the abstract either.
To give you an idea about what Liberal tripe the Wikipedia really is, look at its page about NF3. Look in the references. You do not see the above linked paper there, but you do see leftist news articles such as the UK Guardian linked.
isn't even stable in the atmosphere for very long
July 3, 2008 - 11:54 ET by wizardjrneither are the nut jobs that publish this crud
The tipoff is the word "estimated". Every time you see it you know they pulled it out of a methane orifice - strictly fiction, and it stinks.
This is just another fund raiser.
Global Warming
July 3, 2008 - 13:03 ET by merlin61The environmentalists want us all to go back to
the cave man days, so they can take over the
earth and live their luxurious lifestyles. What
a joke! Also, air conditioning should be banned
according to one columnist yesterday. Sure,
the folks in Florida and Texas will appreciate
that.
Liberalism causes Global
July 3, 2008 - 09:45 ET by mattmLiberalism causes Global Stupidity.
http://www.globalclimatescam.com/?p=167
This is scientific. The
July 3, 2008 - 10:08 ET by danboThis is scientific. The word "causes" should be replaced with an equal sign.
"There is a clear attempt to establish truth not by scientific methods but by perpetual repetition."
- Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology, MIT
TV
July 3, 2008 - 09:54 ET by GothampcThey can have my tv, there's nothing worth watching anyway.
I was watching Hannity & Colmes last night. (Michael Steele was covering for Sean). They had on Michael Dukakis. Everytime Steele said something about red state / blue state, Dukakis would whine "We've got to stop labeling everything.". I noticed Dukakis had no problem using the term "Republican smear machine".
I don't want "change" ... I want my money's worth!
July 3, 2008 - 14:12 ET by CrashThat's because the left are the ones doing all the smearing. Deep down a lot of Dems don't want an Africkin-American president, or a tax increase.
The gas used to manufacture Bullsh*t causes stupidity.
July 3, 2008 - 10:07 ET by CrashFluorescent television is they way to go! Lets face it any human activity is bad for the planet and we should stop reproducing ... but, we must not lose a single soldier; Sayeth the lib.
Brain Farts
July 3, 2008 - 10:26 ET by kilrodLiberals suffer from acute flatulance of the brain which causes brain farts as they are speaking, which results in a foul vapor around they're countenance, this vapor is released into the atmosphere which in turn causes global warming and it also chaps my a--.
(GRINS) kilrod
Remember, only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American Soldier
Energy sucking manbearpig
July 3, 2008 - 10:14 ET by dboTV's cause global warming. I wonder what the over/under is on the number of TV's Al Gore owns?
Dang! Where's AlGore when you need him?
July 3, 2008 - 10:17 ET by goldenthroatAnd the temperatures in Charlotte, North Carolina hit record LOWS overnight!
http://www.charlotte.com/news/story/695929.html
Dang! Where's AlGore when you need him?
"Everything you know is wrong!" - Firesign Theatre (and liberals)
No worries
July 3, 2008 - 10:32 ET by Hero SquadNo worries; I'll just crank the A/C whenever I turn the TV on.
Problem solved.
*****
"People only insist that a debate stop when they are afraid of what might be learned if it continues." - George Will
Watch it, Hero!
July 3, 2008 - 10:45 ET by BlondeThe Obamamessiah says we can't just drive our SUV's and turn our thermostats down to 72 degrees just because we feel like it.
What's the matter with you, you bitter or something, or didn't you get the O'Memo?
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
I'm bitter cold... and I'm
July 3, 2008 - 11:22 ET by Hero SquadI'm bitter cold... and I'm loving every minute of it!
I have to turn the thermostat "up" to 72 degrees.
I think my O'Memo is in a landfill somewhere.
Steven Wright once said he likes to put a humidifier and dehumidifier in the same room and let them fight it out. I wonder if that joke is now considered ecologically insensitive.
*****
"People only insist that a debate stop when they are afraid of what might be learned if it continues." - George Will
Get Ready for More!
July 3, 2008 - 10:34 ET by MeanderingI bet that microwave ovens, stoves, ovens, washing machines, dish washers, DVD/CD players, refrigerators or anything that Americans use on a daily basis will cause global warming at some point. I say if they are such a problem then liberals can stop using them. I won't, but they can.
Well, the good news is;
July 3, 2008 - 11:00 ET by ConservativeRexWell, the good news is; cows, and certain people I know, are off the hook.
darn it!
July 3, 2008 - 15:01 ET by wizardjrJust when I was about to have a breakthrough in my invention of the bovine catalytic converter. Bummer.
Had Direct tv cancelled
July 3, 2008 - 11:17 ET by cocodrieHad Direct tv cancelled yesterday because my checkbook was overheated. Guess I'll have to buy an antenna so that I won't be considered an environmental nut.
I'll help by turning off
July 3, 2008 - 11:33 ET by lostoneI'll help by turning off the news...wait, I already do that.
-- Lostone
Newsprint and global warming
July 3, 2008 - 11:58 ET by Dr_LibertyIf we could only get a story out about how newsprint causes global warming, we could finally kill off the NYT, LAT and WaPo!
Promoting such a story shouldn't be that difficult.
And wouldn't it be great if hemp caused global warming! A report like that would almost immediately put a halt to any more stories on climate change.
<insert witty signature here>
We Gave Them Enough Rope
July 3, 2008 - 12:23 ET by rammingspeedAnd they're hanging themselves. The Democratic party is tied to and heavily financed by the loons pushing this garbage, and they will be forced to defend it. Let's just see what happens when they do.
Television sets and GW
July 3, 2008 - 13:03 ET by Cool ArrowWhen I'm watching TV, I'm generally not driving my auto.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE
of course TV causes GW
July 3, 2008 - 13:09 ET by SouthJersey1953Not the gas in the TV but the garbage the MSM has on it. With them constantly spewing the AGW fear trash, the idiots of the world are buying the whole stupid theory......
→ Eureka Jersey
July 3, 2008 - 13:13 ET by Cool ArrowThey created the myth.
They fabricated the visual proof.
They cherrypiked the "experts"
They decide the benchmarks.
They decide what is reported
I'm thinking this game may be rigged.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE
I dare say any one
July 3, 2008 - 17:00 ET by lnthompI dare say any one television broadcast station has a larger "carbon footprint" than the production of many televisions receiving their signal.
Lee T.
"Democrats, there is one reason Obama is your party's nominee, and it's not because he's black -- it's because he's not Hillary Clinton." -- Rush Limbaugh, 6/2/08
THIS IS FUNNY...
July 3, 2008 - 23:26 ET by danybhoyThis story makes me feel much better about paying off my 40" Samsung flatscreen, I wish I could add 4 or 5 more to do my fair share for "global warming".
This story reminds me of moronic stunt that NBC pulled during it's Sunday Night Football studio show when they dimmed cut most of the lights in the studio, but has a giant flatscreen behind them flashing images. I was laughing at them, yelling at my TV, "...what's the effing point??!!". I still laugh at that.
Here is all you need to know... "Global Warming Alarmist = Anti-American Marxist.
"...it's still We The People, Right?" Megadeth
danybhoy...
July 3, 2008 - 23:36 ET by Clear thinker"Global Warming Alarmist = Anti-American Marxist."
Exactly. You have obviously been paying attention.
45 Communist Goals for America http://www.nationmakers.com/com_goals.htm
Wow, this is great news, as I almost never watch the idiot box.
July 3, 2008 - 23:41 ET by R D HelmAnd I now drive a car that gets over 35mpg on the highways.
They can't blame AGW on me! :-)
The truth is insensitive. - Neal Boortz
RD... Wanna bet? You
July 3, 2008 - 23:41 ET by Clear thinkerRD...
Wanna bet? You don't fit there mold so nothing you do will please them. Unless you go around praising Al Gore.
45 Communist Goals for America http://www.nationmakers.com/com_goals.htm
Noel, LOL-didja hafta show a pic of Vick?
July 3, 2008 - 23:40 ET by R D HelmCruel, that is. :-)
The truth is insensitive. - Neal Boortz
The Planet can HANDLE it...MSM cannot
July 3, 2008 - 23:47 ET by JayTeeBring on the Flat Screen revolution......my Workploace is FULL of them...
The Republican Revolution will not be Televised