https://www.scientificamerican.com/artic...l-warming/

Interesting article. I'm one of those who believes that man can affect climate thru the emission of greenhouse gasses. I've also speculated on the possible effects of pollution can have in cooling the planet as well. I recall seeing that the Pittsburgh area used to have pretty brutal winters from the 1940s into the late 70s. I remember watching winters where I grew up (east of Pittsburgh) become more mild from the early 80s through the 90s. Pittsburgh also had a pretty strong industrial base centered on steel production. Air pollution was a chronic issue in Pittsburgh from the time the steel industry was kicked off in the early 20th century through the early 80s as the mills closed down.

It will be interesting to see how climate change continues over the next couple of decades. Despite all of the cheap oil we have available today, I think we'll continue to progress with renewables and that much of our transportation industry will move to the electric motor. IMHO, I see no long term future for the gasoline engine. It doesn't mean that they all cease to exist in 10 years; however, I think technology is progressing to the point that the motors will become mainstreamed. It will probably start with public transportation in the big cities and will move fan out from there. While plenty of electric cars are out there now, they won't become widespread until the tweaks to the batteries allow for longer charge storage and improved efficiency between the batteries and the motors.

(01-22-2018 04:33 PM)miko33 Wrote:  https://www.scientificamerican.com/artic...l-warming/

Interesting article. I'm one of those who believes that man can affect climate thru the emission of greenhouse gasses. I've also speculated on the possible effects of pollution can have in cooling the planet as well. I recall seeing that the Pittsburgh area used to have pretty brutal winters from the 1940s into the late 70s. I remember watching winters where I grew up (east of Pittsburgh) become more mild from the early 80s through the 90s. Pittsburgh also had a pretty strong industrial base centered on steel production. Air pollution was a chronic issue in Pittsburgh from the time the steel industry was kicked off in the early 20th century through the early 80s as the mills closed down.

It will be interesting to see how climate change continues over the next couple of decades. Despite all of the cheap oil we have available today, I think we'll continue to progress with renewables and that much of our transportation industry will move to the electric motor. IMHO, I see no long term future for the gasoline engine. It doesn't mean that they all cease to exist in 10 years; however, I think technology is progressing to the point that the motors will become mainstreamed. It will probably start with public transportation in the big cities and will move fan out from there. While plenty of electric cars are out there now, they won't become widespread until the tweaks to the batteries allow for longer charge storage and improved efficiency between the batteries and the motors.

I've read similar from a guy on Quora.

Some things he's said that have stuck with me. Thinks most vehicles in urban and suburban areas will be electric in 20-40 years.

More fascinating to me is thinks commercial office space is a long-term losing bet because office space has a greater impact on energy usage. People are still heating and cooling their home while at the office and with more 24 hour business operations homes staying occupied 20+ hours a day is becoming common again. Offices = commutes. Shifting office work to telework frees up capital tied to real estate, utilities and furniture.

Believes we start seeing more vacant office space and as a result many office buildings converted to residential or mixed use.