[pp.int.general] Big Brother in NL?

[Andrew Norton]

Particulates is a good poitn. I've had a mostly blocked nose for
almost 7 years, ever since I moved to Ga. It's very dirty air.

I even have to clean out my PCs every 6 months, and I have an
airfilter running 24/7 in this room. That's mostly not vehicles
though, but the roads, and certainly my road. I just took some pics
http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d32/ktetch/ppus/?action=view&current=FILE0159.jpg
http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d32/ktetch/ppus/?action=view&current=FILE0160.jpg

On the second, you can see the start of the actual paved area, leading
into the complex. 159 is the way all heavy vehicles (the trash truck,
the shcool bus etc) has to come, because the other way has a humped
railway crossing (risk of grounding). We've had a lot of rain the past
week (about 10cm) so it's not kicking up dust now, and the county put
a roller down it about 2 months ago, but imagine summer. No rain for 3
months. This is just clay, with some stones. huge clouds of dust
behind. If you've ever watched CannonBall Run 2, at the start when the
Diablo is going from white to red, thats what it's like.

Particulates are a big problem here. As for flooding, We were almost
flooded last week, we're 588ft above sea level. Atlanta flooded back
in September (http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/cnishared/tools/shared/mediahub/09/17/28/slideshow_1281796_b23.jpg),
and it's 1000ft above sea level. We've had longer droughts, followed
by heavier rains, causing flash-floods. These are more deadly than
rising sea levels, which are, at least, mostly predictable.



On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 2:54 PM, Reinier Bakels <r.bakels at planet.nl> wrote:
>> the sea breaking through the dikes.
>>
>> Perhaps Reinier can answer this question: How much of the Netherlands
>> would be flooded today if there were no dikes?
>
> Oops, I was imprecise. And, in addition to dikes, we have dunes. But the
> perception of "Amerfoort on sea" is so common that I immediately though of
> that.
>
> Perhaps a prozaic observation I heard the otehr day is that the actual
> survival probabilty depends on the economic interests per km of coastline.
> NL is densely popolated and there is a lot of industrial activity behind a
> coastline less than 200 km. So we can justify very expensive coastal works.
> I don't know about other low coast areas in Europe, but they are probably
> worse off (Jutland? France? Eastern Germany?). Especiall river delta area's
> are at risk (NL basically is one big river delta). Rhone, Danube, Nile.
>
> Incidentally, someone commented that the CO2 damage is much worse than the
> road tear. I think these are unequal factors. CO2 is a "negative
> externality": the cost is not (naturally) borne by drivers. Road tear
> requires direct investment in maintenance and repair.
>
> Don't forget the problem of particulate
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulate). I live (at the 8th floor) less
> than a kilometer from a very busy highway (A12, for insiders). I don't care
> about CO2, I produce it myself if a breath. The particulate dust seems to be
> a much bigger health hazard. If I clean my windows, it is really black (but
> I rarely clear my windows because I am typing these messages all day).
>
> reinier
>
>
> ____________________________________________________
> Pirate Parties International - General Talk
> pp.international.general at lists.pirateweb.net
> http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general
>