It didn’t. Air quality is substantially better world wide, there are better, real indicators of how bad the state of the world is the artist could have used. But also far more metrics about how better the world is, which no one ever likes to talk about. Way less extreme poverty, way less starvation, way less war, way more access to clean water, way more vaccinations, etc. The problem is the ultra rich are making life worse for the majority of privileged people, and we are really feeling it. But worldwide, humanity is objectively leaps and bounds better than it was 100 years ago
But its also air pollutants like smoke particles and car fumes. I’m genuinely thinking of taking the bus today instead of biking because I don’t want to kill my lungs.
Update:
In case anyone reads this. The Canadian wildfire smoke moved into my city and completely blocks sight within a mile, I couldn’t see the two biggest buildings (not to mention the huge but smaller towers) in downtown from a bridge I bike across everyday. When I tried breathing through my mouth all I could taste was smoke, so I solely breathed through my nose.
Yes but those were worse in the 80s too. Cars used leaded fuel and diesel cars didn’t have mandatory soot filters. I drove behind a Mercedes with a broken (or removed) soot filter the other day and half of the backside of that car was just covered in soot. Like it had shit itself.
You’re probably still better off riding a bicycle due to the simple fact that you’re getting exercise, unless you’re in, say, New Delhi or you ride along a literal highway filled with diesel trucks.
Well, but still during the eighties most of the houses in my area burned brown coal in crude ovens to heat their homes, the cars spit out blue, only half-burned lead-enriched and carbohydrate-tasting exhaust in huge amounts, while the surrounding forests were dying because of all the unfiltered sulphuric acid the power plants emitted.
During winter, we often had dense smog in the valley, heavily tasting like a mixture of wood smoke and burnt rubber and triggering frequent coughing.
And just staying in the inside also wasn’t that great of an option, as constant cigarette smoke was a given everywhere.
If I had to name one thing that definitely has gotten better by an insane amount, it would the air quality.
It didn’t. Air quality is substantially better world wide, there are better, real indicators of how bad the state of the world is the artist could have used. But also far more metrics about how better the world is, which no one ever likes to talk about. Way less extreme poverty, way less starvation, way less war, way more access to clean water, way more vaccinations, etc. The problem is the ultra rich are making life worse for the majority of privileged people, and we are really feeling it. But worldwide, humanity is objectively leaps and bounds better than it was 100 years ago
But its also air pollutants like smoke particles and car fumes. I’m genuinely thinking of taking the bus today instead of biking because I don’t want to kill my lungs.
Update: In case anyone reads this. The Canadian wildfire smoke moved into my city and completely blocks sight within a mile, I couldn’t see the two biggest buildings (not to mention the huge but smaller towers) in downtown from a bridge I bike across everyday. When I tried breathing through my mouth all I could taste was smoke, so I solely breathed through my nose.
Yes but those were worse in the 80s too. Cars used leaded fuel and diesel cars didn’t have mandatory soot filters. I drove behind a Mercedes with a broken (or removed) soot filter the other day and half of the backside of that car was just covered in soot. Like it had shit itself.
You’re probably still better off riding a bicycle due to the simple fact that you’re getting exercise, unless you’re in, say, New Delhi or you ride along a literal highway filled with diesel trucks.
Well, but still during the eighties most of the houses in my area burned brown coal in crude ovens to heat their homes, the cars spit out blue, only half-burned lead-enriched and carbohydrate-tasting exhaust in huge amounts, while the surrounding forests were dying because of all the unfiltered sulphuric acid the power plants emitted.
During winter, we often had dense smog in the valley, heavily tasting like a mixture of wood smoke and burnt rubber and triggering frequent coughing.
And just staying in the inside also wasn’t that great of an option, as constant cigarette smoke was a given everywhere.
If I had to name one thing that definitely has gotten better by an insane amount, it would the air quality.
Right, it’s like - is it worse now than being, say, a middle ages European serf? Or anyone at almost any point in 99% of human history?