mr_scruff Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I saw a terrifying program on tv last night about Global Dimming.... apparently the true damage we have done to the atmosphere has been partly masked by the amount of smoke particles in the air. Now that we have filters on cars and power stations the air is getting less 'smokey' but temperatures are soaring. The proof was in the studies conducted just after september 11th when there was no air traffic obver the US. And no, continuing to burn fossil fuels isn't the solution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_dimming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megamanXplosion Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 But, I dunno if anyone else has had this, but dimmer controls don't seem to work with energy saving bulbs. They sorta flash! There are CFLs that work with dimmers. Visit the EnergyStar's CFL search engine (here), put a checkmark on the "Dimmable CFL" checkbox, and then click the "Find CFLs" button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted February 1, 2007 Veteran Share Posted February 1, 2007 It's a good idea if it ends up happening. Time to take out all the dimmers in your house I guess? What about dimmer switches and lamps? :unsure: I have both types of lights in my house.. and the fluorescent ones are plain crap. But, I dunno if anyone else has had this, but dimmer controls don't seem to work with energy saving bulbs. They sorta flash! You can get CFL's that work with dimmers (and megamanXplosion beat me too it :angry: ) :laugh: I love CFL's, bright light, last for ages (we had one go not to long ago, but it was the circut that went, it now rattles) and uses barely any power. Of course, LED lights would beat CFL's, just not yet anyway. Oh yeah, and with the global warming bit, junkscience.com is not a site you want to rely on information from (as the guy is paid by the oil industry), Michael Crichton is the same (he's also very petty) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurmoth Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Oh yeah, and with the global warming bit, junkscience.com is not a site you want to rely on information from (as the guy is paid by the oil industry), Michael Crichton is the same (he's also very petty) Everybody is paid by somebody. ;) Just bought 100 CFLs for my house for $306 (includes shipping). We'll see if they make a difference in my energy bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Anyone seen that fibre-optic lighting? You have no "lights" but exposed fibre optics, that all get their light source from one "bulb". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 While I don't believe in global warming, I do believe in conserving energy and in protecting the environment. Spot on ! I have a few of these bulbs left, once they blow, then i'll replace them with energy saving ones ! I think it's a good idea - The UK should adopt it too ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kombolcha Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Sounds smart, but California is crazy with how many laws they make each year. They probably have a class in school called "laws" where they teach all of the students about the new laws being passed. "OK Children, the new law of the day is..." California is a cool state, but they just have way to many rules. we do... maybe not in schools, but they have them in city halls. if you don't feel like going there to know about our weird laws, just ask any smug prius driver. those bastards need to be banned from the car pool lane. awesome.we should be doing what ever we can to protect our environment regardless of whether or not people believe in global warming. (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well... Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 It's a good idea if it ends up happening. Time to take out all the dimmers in your house I guess? Yeah thats the only reason i dont have one of these new fungled 'efficient bulbs' (but i do in my desk lamp) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megamanXplosion Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Science (ISSN 0036-8075), vol. 246, Dec. 22, 1989, p. 1589-1591.Maybe that info was correct...19 years ago when global warming wasn't being talked of. I noticed this 19-year figure earlier but I didn't think much about it, but it just hit me, upon reading it a second time, that it is off by quite a bit. Dec 22, 1989 Jan 22, 1990 (1 month passed) Jan 22, 2007 (17 years passed) Feb 01, 2007 (~10 days passed) -------------------------------------- 17 years, 1 month, ~10 days I think you may have accidentally included 2007 as an extra year away from the publication date when, in actuality, only a month of 2007 counts in the calculation (added 11 months you weren't supposed to.) I think you may have also counted the 11 months before Dec. 1989 in your figure when you shouldn't have. Thus, you have counted 22 months too many, which is roughly two years. I usually make the same sort of mistake when dealing with dates. Dates can be tricky like that ;) I essentially agree, however, on your general comment. An observation from seventeen years ago doesn't really apply to what is happening today. One must figure that, for the 17 years since the publication, there has been an increase in the amount of electronics equipment in each home, electronics could consume more energy today than they used to, the amount of cars on the road has increased, gas mileage in some cars is abominable compared to twenty years ago such as the H2 Hummer's mileage, the population has increased dramatically which means more homes for electronics to be in, more energy consumed to build those homes, and so on. Not only that but trees are carbon sinks and deforestation could have reduced the amount of carbon that is absorbed by the trees throughout the world. All of these things would lead to a dramatic increase in carbon dioxide being kept in the atmosphere, compared to that of 17 years ago, which traps more heat from the sun on our planet. (Does search on Google...) Just as I suspected, the Greenland ice sheet is melting (study done less than 6 months ago.) This study indicates that the Greenland ice sheet is melting and it is doing so 3x faster than it was in August 2001. This doesn't account for the 6 months of increased carbon dioxide levels since the study was done, so it could be melting more than 3x faster today than it was in August 2001. Davemania gave a link to another article about the Greenland ice sheet melting, slightly older but that's not much of a problem, which is also interesting. I would encourage people to check them both out. NASA is not a source you want to go with...especially when NASA has been pressuring scientists to alter their findings.NASA is fairly reliable when it comes to the hard numbers. The problem with NASA, however, is that they have economic incentives as well as humanitarian ones, so they do apply a bit of a spin in the explanation for those hard numbers. They don't want to worry people, from an economic perspective. If you remove the slight spin, they can still be a fairly good source of information. (In short, I agree with Davemania about using NASA as a source of information.)You can get CFL's that work with dimmers (and megamanXplosion beat me too it :angry: ) Mwahahaha :devil: Anyone seen that fibre-optic lighting? You have no "lights" but exposed fibre optics, that all get their light source from one "bulb".I haven't seen that system of lighting with my own eyes, but I have heard of it. If I recall correctly, it is much more efficient than many separate CFL bulbs (especially more efficient than separate incandescents) but it won't be practical for quite a while.Yeah thats the only reason i dont have one of these new fungled 'efficient bulbs' (but i do in my desk lamp) There are CFLs that work with dimmers. Visit the EnergyStar's CFL search engine (here), put a checkmark on the "Dimmable CFL" checkbox, and then click the "Find CFLs" button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Allen Veteran Posted February 1, 2007 Veteran Share Posted February 1, 2007 My energy saving lights are awesome. I think this is a step in the right direction :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megamanXplosion Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 My energy saving lights are awesome.I think this is a step in the right direction :) +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echilon Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 This is a great idea. It'd be easy to do elsewhere aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strekship Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 Energy saveing lights are ok, but I find that at times they can be rather harsh on the eyes. I also don't want to have to order out of state to get little bulbs for my small night lamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiagosilva29 Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 I'm quite okay with these lights, but they tend to take a lot of time to reach its full glow, and in some rooms we have regulators, which don't work with energy saving lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revvo Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 :rolleyes: Writing a fictional book doesn't make him a good source for climate science. No, but it might make him a good source for starting a new religion *COUGH SsCIENTOlogy *Cough*! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted February 5, 2007 Veteran Share Posted February 5, 2007 I'm quite okay with these lights, but they tend to take a lot of time to reach its full glow, and in some rooms we have regulators, which don't work with energy saving lights. The old variations take some time to warm up, though modern small fluorescent bulbs turn on immediately. Dimmers may be an issue, though. I'm not sure they work with the bulbs yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted February 5, 2007 Author Share Posted February 5, 2007 :laugh: Now what if we all switch to energy saving lighting, global warming lessens, and we need to spend more on cold weather heating -- what happens to that energy money savings ... :shifty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurë Veteran Posted February 5, 2007 Veteran Share Posted February 5, 2007 I hope Britain will follow suit with this law. Me and the bf have tried to convert parents et al to using these bulbs but they can't see past the initial extra cost and the aesthetics! I also wish there was more for recycling. Our local council haven't really put much effort into it. Our government/other parties claim to aim for "green" but in reality they are lazy b**tards who will say anything for votes. I am not yet terrified of global warming, I've said before that the Earth gets warmer and cooler regardless of what we do. But obviously we can make it a hell of a lot worse. We have two of these bulbs and they get up to full brightness very quickly when we turn them on. We'd have one in the bathroom but we couldn't reach the 10ft high light fitting :s If we can ever get some to fit, I will put some into my "coccoon" standing lamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spIdeZ Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 But scientists are the professionals and the ones that know about what is going on and they are saying global warming is occurring and to a much further extent than they thought. Oh, and for those that say many scientists are saying there isn't such a thing, maybe this will explain why that is. Lets face it people, the earth goes through cold and warm trends but we are way above the "average" warmth that the earth has experienced in the past 600,000 years and its not because the earth feels like it. The reason why California is a heavy environmentalist state is because the winds from the Pacific Ocean blow into California and all the CO2 that is dispersed into the air is pushed into the state, especially LA which is in a valley, causing heavy smog and it keeps the pollution in the state which is why if you ever fly over LA, you will notice a thin layer of greenish/yellowish clouds, aka smog. Smog isn't caused by CO2....can't believe no one else pointed that out :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacOSXMan Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 (edited) I'm all for this (Y) But state governments need to learn to ban the right things without making this a communist/dictatorship/orweillian country like banning trans fat which is bad for your health(yeah, yeah who cares let the person decide,it's a rediculous law), but still allow cigarettes to be sold, and marijuana is illegal haha... Then we got the no spank bill and getting fines if you operate an iPod on the street while crossing lol the government picks unusual things to ban and sometimes they don't. Sometimes I wonder if they get bored and just pass stuff no matter if it's rediculous or not. :wacko: We should guide the government, instead of them guiding us! Edited February 8, 2007 by WinMacsta06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spIdeZ Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 I'm all for this (Y) But state governments need to learn to ban the right things without making this a communist/dictatorship/orweillian country like banning trans fat which is bad for your health(yeah, yeah who cares let the person decide,it's a rediculous law), but still allow cigarettes to be sold, and marijuana is illegal haha... Then we got the no spank bill and getting fines if you operate an iPod on the street while crossing lol the government picks unusual things to ban and sometimes they don't. Sometimes I wonder if they get bored and just pass stuff no matter if it's rediculous or not. :wacko: We should guide the government, instead of them guiding us! ...says the person that thinks 9/11 was an inside job :pinch: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacOSXMan Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Well yeah sure because I said so! :pinch: ...says the person that thinks 9/11 was an inside job :pinch: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Floyd Veteran Posted February 8, 2007 Veteran Share Posted February 8, 2007 this isnt going to happen everywhere but it should imo :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiagosilva29 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 The old variations take some time to warm up, though modern small fluorescent bulbs turn on immediately. Dimmers may be an issue, though. I'm not sure they work with the bulbs yet. That's great, though I've never seen one yet. And they don't work with dimmers, which sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L3thal Veteran Posted February 9, 2007 Veteran Share Posted February 9, 2007 Smog isn't caused by CO2....can't believe no one else pointed that out :unsure: I meant to say sulpher dioxide (SO2) which is caused mostly by coal burning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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