I think I am glad I missed out on this one except to say that the govt. here considered banning Scientology as a Sect. I dont think that, I just think they are mentally defectives.
Two things :
A warning has just been issued about compact fluorescents - if you break one, dont sweep up or vacuum because the tubes contain mercury.
Second thing : UK and probably you are covered in fields of Oil Seed Rape which is used to make bio-ethanol and all such good things. The EU has just announced that Oil Seed Rape is damaging to the environment.
Lastly, Global warning - the most natural thing in the universe is cycles - heat cycles, co2 cycles, etc. The last Ice Age was about 25k years ago and we are just entering another phase of a cycle. Global warming has been repeated over and over again in the planet's life time. That's not to say that man can or should survive it. As long as the Earth as a living organisation [Gaia] does, thats good enough for me.

 

Roger that! So if you drop a CFL, leave it there and open the windows until the wind cleans it up ...... uh, I think you have to sweep it up ..... or use a vacuum. hmmmm, everyone using CFL's should go buy a HEPA filtered vacuum in case you break one!!!!

Sorry academic, I couldn't not comment on that.

 

Sorry about this to all people with religeous convictions. In the last national census in UK one question asked people to indicate their religion. Sufficient answered "Jedi" that it is now an official religion in UK.

 

That's awesome!!!! How does one convert to Jedi-ism??? Who do they report to? I can imagine a bunch of Star Wars freaks in coustumes sitting in a church or temple setting with Yoda giving a sermon.

 

Do they have real light sabers? If so....sign me up

 

Another cousin:

 

I'd like to see humanity survive at least until my grandchildren die.

I think there's some value in pointing out something that deserves a lot moreattention than it gets in the press - human population. Please note the historic humanpopulation of the world - particularly prior to 1800.

From here:
http://www.eoearth.org/image/Figure_...ion_growth.JPG


And farther back from here:
http://www.worldhistorysite.com/population.html

And here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population_estimates


What impact does the increase in human population have on the biosphere of the Earth?
Here's some history of coal use:
http://www.bydesign.com/fossilfuels/...l_history.html
and
http://books.google.com/books?id=217...KlDw6pW1_J4FO8

Some history of oil consumption:
http://www.bydesign.com/fossilfuels/...l_history.html
and from here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum#History


Finally, here are some historic fossil fuel carbon contributions to the atmosphere:


In closing, the notion that human activityhas not had, and will not have,any effect on what would have otherwise been a"natural" cool/warm/CO2 cycle (that is, the naturalcycle on anEarththat neverhad a human population) is notcredible.

If one believes that theburning all of that fossil fuel, and the cutting down of much of the world's forests, has had no effect on the world's atmosphere, truly, one is living in a dream world of delusion.

 

Easy. Just live in the Geordie Republic.

 

As a laboratory technician working in power plants, I cleaned up mercury spills.

Mercury is a very dangerous substance. For example, the vapor from any drop of mercury on the floor of a house will almost immediately fill that room and all the other rooms of a "tight" house. The concentration will be very low, but measurable. If the drop should happen to be heated - say on a warm floor, or in a hot-air register- the vapor pressure will rise and the concentration of vapor in the home'satmosphere will rise. Not a good thing.

Ifa vacuum cleaner is used to pick up liquid mercury, the vapor will be spread much more rapidly, unless a so-called central-vacuum system is used - one that discharges outdoors. Best to immediatelypick up and/or soak up any spilled mercury. Once the big drops are picked up, a piece of natural chamois or rough leathercan be used to soak up any remainingresidue.Dispose of the cleanup materials at a proper recyling facility.

About power plants. I thinkmany people don't know thatmercury emissions from power plantsare vaporous. Yes, mercury boils, just like water, and it has a vapor pressure just like water - even at room temperature. Somewhere downwind from that coal-fired plant, as the flue gas cools, mercury will condense and fall to the ground as a finely-dispersed liquid. From a big plant,many poundsper year.

Many years ago I worked near a power plant that orignallyhad amercury boiler instead of a water boiler.Hot, high pressure mercury vapor coming out of the boilerwould turn the specially-designedturbine and be condensed back to liquid in a water-cooled condenser. Fortunately, the plant was converted back to water after only a short time in "mercury mode".

 

So if you drop a CFL, you evacuate the house? I wouldn't expect the amount of mercury vapor from a bulb to be enough to cause any problems. That's insane about the mercury boiler .... don't they know that there's no such thing as a perfectly sealed system?

I guess we should add 5 layers of activated carbon to that HEPA vac.