1 September 2012 - photosynthesis 4

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How We’ve Always Treated Future Generations

One further note on photosynthesis: Who needs it? It is because Earth’s air is transparent that we have hurricanes and droughts and all the other damaging weather. With the proper pollution, the air becomes opaque and the sun heats only the top of the atmosphere, forming a simple and stable set of air layers. Of course the plants will all die, but there’ll be enough for this generation, the only one that matters.

clue:

Weather exists in large part because the sun heats the ground, which heats the lower atmosphere, which is then unstable because warmer air rises. Compare Venus, where almost all weather happens at altitude and the surface sees only light breezes.

take oh take this clue away

the Daily Whale || copyright 2012, 2024 Jay J.P. Scott <jay@satirist.org>