Could be china's coal, or Japans nuke plant, or we could just stay right here at home and look at our leading industry TOURISM. Face it folks Hawaii has become a destination for the world to see and feel at least once in their lifetime.
Wonder how many flights(planes and helicopters) go over our islands today on a daily basis now compared to 30 years ago? How much fuel or oil does Hawaii bring in or use now for residents compared to our visitors? How much more electric do we need to keep the lights on for our tourists? Burning fuel and oil in our atmosphere, or dumping it into our ocean waters by the cruise ship could have impacts we don't see right away. Maybe Hawaii had environmental issues during its last large industry too, sugar cane?.
Without the tourism industry I doubt we would need to poke and prod into this active volcano for extra geothermal steam resources today. Many of us here are working jobs today one way or another linked to our leading industry tourism. Yet tourism has made most of our prices on everything go up dramatically over the years like gas, food, rooms, tax, ect. Hawaii for its size is probably one of the biggest consuming and polluting land masses in the entire pacific or world for that matter, jmo though.
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Wow.
Look, most mercury in the atmosphere comes from man-made activities such as coal and oil-fired plants. In recent years the atmosphere above Mauna Loa has been monitored. What we at the observatories used to call Gobi Desert Dust turns out to be pollution from China, a country basically undergoing an industrial revolution.
That mercury falls into the Pacific Ocean where the tuna and other fish feed. The mercury builds up in the fish and is the main source of mercury found in humans, who eat the fish.
Nothing to do with cruise ships, nothing to do with aircraft and nothing to do with PGV. There is some contribution from volcanoes in the Pacific region but that is a steady effect. What has increased is dirty power production in China and Asia which corresponds to the increased mercury levels being reported in fish.
Talk to politicians in that region if you want to reduce mercury levels.
Tomk, good evening. You are probably correct for I find myself wrong most of the time. I always thought most of our tradewinds or storms came from our east like mexico or Brazil. I also thought we get the ocean currents in and around Hawaii like its in the middle of a toilet bowl. I heard of Alaska getting chinas bad air or ocean pollution I just did not know Hawaii was as effected by china as you say.
Tom, you are blessed to work on top of such a mountain as Mauna Kea. Must be very exhilarating and rewarding to have such amazing views of some of lifes wonders and or creations. Thanks tom for your opinions to most topics on this forum, I enjoy and respect most of your posts even though half are to correct me.
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"[...]I enjoy and respect most of your posts even though half are to correct me."
I guess that's a compliment, although not sure half the stuff I post is untrue.
As to the winds and ocean currents, the low-level winds we experience do indeed come from the east. However, they aren't the winds that bring the pollution from Asia. Those are high-level winds which include the jet stream and flow west-to-east, i.e., the complete opposite direction of the trades. Whatever crap in SE Asia that gets into the upper-level atmosphere comes our way and on its trip here deposits itself in the ocean.
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"Half are to correct me."
Tom, Gypsy is not implying that half the stuff you post is untrue. He's saying half of the stuff you post is to correct his mistakes. Sounds like both a compliment and self-deprecating remark.
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
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The study is noting a long span where there was very little increase in mercury levels and how the levels have increased recently.
China is burning huge amounts of coal for most of their industry, including solar panels. The manufacture of solar panels consumes huge amounts of electricity. This view that sunshine is free in Hawaii, so the solar panels being imported in must all be free and sunny, is an extremely infantile and ignorant view of what is required to manufacture a solar panel. That isn't adding all the tanker fuel that is burned hauling these panels from China to Hawaii. Soon, even the environmentalists will start putting together carbon footprint cost of each energy source type and solar panels are going to be very high in carbon footprint cost.
Mercury poisoning has been accounted as a possible cause of autism, as well as many other diseases, yet never enters the conversation about health threats. The mercury is there in natural form in oil and coal, then vaporizes and goes into the atmosphere when it is =>incinerated<=. So, with oil burning electric plants, somehow the EPA fining Hawaiian Electric every year for far exceeding pollutant requirements doesn't even enter the Punatic radar. This when they claim they are dying from a little rotten egg odor.
When the subject of energy comes up, all the clucking is "cheap, cheap, cheap". The only energy source, at least around here, that has a totally out of scale health threat associated with it, is geothermal energy. The ability of these anti-geothermal conspirators to make mountains out of mole hills is reprehensible.
"Mahalo nui Pele, 'ae noho ia moku 'aina" - kakahiaka oli
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*
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I saw that report on the news last night just after eating a big slab of tuna.
Then again, they said that the average Hawaiian household consumes 24lb of ahi poke a year. That's a lot!
Even though the amount of mercury is rising, it doesn't mean it has reached dangerous levels.
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quote:
Originally posted by pahoated
The study is noting a long span where there was very little increase in mercury levels and how the levels have increased recently.
China is burning huge amounts of coal for most of their industry, including solar panels. The manufacture of solar panels consumes huge amounts of electricity. This view that sunshine is free in Hawaii, so the solar panels being imported in must all be free and sunny, is an extremely infantile and ignorant view of what is required to manufacture a solar panel. That isn't adding all the tanker fuel that is burned hauling these panels from China to Hawaii. Soon, even the environmentalists will start putting together carbon footprint cost of each energy source type and solar panels are going to be very high in carbon footprint cost.
Mercury poisoning has been accounted as a possible cause of autism, as well as many other diseases, yet never enters the conversation about health threats. The mercury is there in natural form in oil and coal, then vaporizes and goes into the atmosphere when it is =>incinerated<=. So, with oil burning electric plants, somehow the EPA fining Hawaiian Electric every year for far exceeding pollutant requirements doesn't even enter the Punatic radar. This when they claim they are dying from a little rotten egg odor.
When the subject of energy comes up, all the clucking is "cheap, cheap, cheap". The only energy source, at least around here, that has a totally out of scale health threat associated with it, is geothermal energy. The ability of these anti-geothermal conspirators to make mountains out of mole hills is reprehensible.
"Mahalo nui Pele, 'ae noho ia moku 'aina" - kakahiaka oli
And you Ted have an agenda to flood these forums with your propaganda due to receiving a paycheck from geothermal drilling here. Perhaps in admitting your bias you would come across as more credible. Many of us have lived here a long time and have witnessed the ill health affects of geothermal including the previous head of civil defense and numerous doctors. Shame on you.
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PUH-LEEZ.
So long as humans burn things to produce energy, "bias" as to which things are burned, and where, is basically irrelevant.
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quote:
Originally posted by kalakoa
PUH-LEEZ.
So long as humans burn things to produce energy, "bias" as to which things are burned, and where, is basically irrelevant.
Kalakoa, please to you too. Your post is also propaganda and quite transparent. Most of us out here are not stupid and aware of what bias means and how it can be used for personal benefit in a manipulative manner vs. the good of the community or one doing the best they can.
It's a no-brainer, loud vibrating geothermal drilling 24/7 butting up to homes is extremely cruel. The gases that were released during the hurricane accident were reported to have made several people ill. AND with the downed trees they were unable to drive away from the poisonous gases.
I wasn't even here for that, I don't live in the range but I am compassionate and have been here most of my life and have seen and heard from the authorities repeatedly for decades. When the head of Civil Defense says it's dangerous, you guys look like fools saying how fvking healthy it is to have geothermal heavy industry in the middle of Puna where 10,000 people live given it has "accidents" where people can't breathe the air. Geez.
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