This is almost too stupid to comment on, but I’ll do my best. First the headline and story excerpt:
GLOBAL WARMING Warming of the Earth’s climate system and related increasing concentrations of greenhouse gasses are causing some eye disorders, writes Maria Anguita.
Two years ago, retired teacher Vera started experiencing eye discomfort, irritation and crusting of the eyelids. She was prescribed a short course of antibiotics for what her doctor suspected was a simple eye infection, but several months later she was still having problems.
“My eyes felt constantly gritty and dry, and my lids were red and flaky. I was treated for a range of eye conditions, but nothing seemed to make a difference,” says Vera.
Many trips to eye specialists later, she was diagnosed with chronic blepharitis, an inflammation of the eyelid, of unknown cause. And, after trial and error with different treatments, she now has a routine that keeps her discomfort and pain in check. However, some days her eyes flare up for no apparent reason: “I just wish I knew why I keep getting this,” she says.
It may be difficult to pin Vera’s symptoms to global warming, but scientists all over the world agree that increased levels of ultraviolet radiation reaching the surface of the Earth, resulting from ozone depletion at high altitude, and a toxic mix of air pollutants are responsible for serious eye disorders.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), of the 18 million people worldwide who have cataract-related diseases, 5% are directly attributable to UV radiation. UVA light, a component of UV radiation, stimulates the over-production of damaging oxygen-free radicals responsible for the clouding of the lens, typical of cataracts.
Last year researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, started gathering data for what is to date the largest study into the link between global warming and eye health.
Full story here
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Yegads. The stupid here, it burns like magnesium.
It’s funny really, the claim on the face is that 0.7C of warming over a century is causing a deterioration of eye health. We have humans in every climate zone of the planet, living with temperatures ranging from sub-zero in Antarctica to 120F+ in the deserts of Iraq.
Hell, the temperature changes 0.7C just walking from room to room in my house!
They are trying to blame the warming as a trigger for a whole host of secondary pollution issues, and those make itchy watery eyes. Never mind the big advances in air pollution control in the last 30 years…unless you live in China.
h/t to Tom Nelson
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Mike says:
May 9, 2012 at 9:04 am
“A bizarre article indeed. Although you found it in the Huff Post (UK) they picked it up from Murdock’s The Times. Huff Post should really be more careful in adopting stories from conservative sources.”
Yeah, and stick to hardnosed liberal investigative journalism:
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/the-stool-pigeon-in-the-ice-box/
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jason-mraz/jason-mraz-antarctica_b_1459588.html?ref=science
Sometimes I honestly wonder if the strategy isn’t to make our heads explode. How deep can you dive into the B.S., how good is your pressure suit?
I’m going to go try to vomit now, maybe it’ll help.
Wow, I just cannot imagine being so ignorant that this would even begin to make sense. Blepharitis must be a huge problem in cities like Hong Kong and Mexico City. They probably have braille street signs everywhere.
Only 5%!!! That seems too low to me.
Bob is correct. Blepharitis is caused by a bacterial infection. It is fairly easily controlled without a return to pre-industrial conditions.
I can relate to that. In my case it came from overindulgence in Korean Plum Wine while stationed in SK. 😉
IIRC UV increases with altitude, such that at about a mile high, eg. Denver, it is 40% stronger than at sea level. Thus, any UV correlation should also correlate with altitude.
Based on my read of posts at pro-AGW sites, global warming is clearly the cause of multiple physical and mental symptoms, including venting spleens, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, knee-jerk reactions, tongue wagging, oral flatulism, verbal diarrhea, increased salivating and frothing spittle, indigestion, uncontrollable outbursts, paranoia, depression, hysteria, panic attacks, dramatic over-reactions, and inability to perceive fact from fiction.
This article is delivered with a straight face?
It’s nothing but a joke.
All things unexplainable are caused by, or if it’s a good thing, lessened by, CAGW
Is there even a chance that the sun ramping up for the top of the current solar cycle could be responsible for the increase in UV reaching the ground?
Chronic blepheritis of this nature is most commomly caused by mybomian gland disfunction, not global warming, one of the most common causes of mybomian gland disfunction in women, ( and some men I guess), is poor lid hygene when removing make-up. Hard to see the link between mascara and AGW but I’m sure with the right amount of grant monies, alink could be proven 🙂
Apologies to Bob, (in advance) I’m sure you don’t wear mascara
“scientists all over the world agree that …” should be instantly recognized as media NewSpeak for ‘this is what we want you to believe, and we don’t want you to question it or us.’
I wonder if she has participated lately in any unethical EPA human experimentation ‘studies’ using PM2.5 particulate pollution.
Global warming causes psychosomatic disorders?
The Cure is 2 large fresh dollops of Elephant shit left in the eyelids for 24 hours – I’m also told that Great white shark turds are equally effective. Only people Like the King of Spain or Al Gore could afford these exotic treatments, so I going the try some Bull shit instead!
/Sarc off
Mike says:
May 9, 2012 at 9:04 am
“Huff Post should really be more careful in adopting stories from conservative sources.”
Mike, the problem is the “warming causes everything bad” neurosis and the de facto business model which is also possibly behind the India “study”, not the news source or blog reporting on it.
@ur momisugly Nerd says:
May 9, 2012 at 8:43 am
Alvin says:
May 9, 2012 at 8:15 am
Did someone measure the number of hours she spent in front of a computer monitor? Also, if it is Vitamin D deficiency, she needs to get more sun.
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“She needs to get more sun.” – Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Dirty air pollution in large cities can block UVB needed to produce vitamin D in the skin. UVA is much more powerful and will get through with no problem and actually decrease vitamin D level. Beside, it’s not really a vitamin but a prehormone that get converted into powerful hormone that acts as genetic repair and maintenance hormone. It just simply makes sure your body function properly. A person with fair skin can get 10,000-20,000 IU from the sun after 15-30 minutes at midday (early morning and late afternoon do not give you much UVB) but everybody works inside. Compare that to only 600 IU recommended by gov’t. Leave it to gov’t to screw up everything for us as usual… They pretty much ignore vitamin D experts’ calling for higher minimum amount of 2,000 IU with 10,000 IU as maximum despite tons of research in it.
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Don’t mean to pick nits, but not ‘everybody’ works inside. Several billion people (world wide) actually spend a good deal of their time outside in all kinds of weather. City folks spend a lot of time indoors, true. That’s their problem.
Perhaps she should take in live performances of Pagliacci, I understand there is never a dry eye in the house.
Draw a circle on one side of a piece of paper. Call it Earth. Draw two smaller circles, one at the top, and one at the bottom, that will represent the “ozone holes”.
Now, I challenge anyone to draw a horizontal line representing in coming solar radiance that both crosses the ozone holes and also impacts the earth at any latitude where there is significant population density.
Jenn Oates says:
May 9, 2012 at 8:57 am
Too often they come with garbage like this and since it’s “science” and it’s on the internet, they think it’s true. Then I have to go over it and say why it’s probably not true, but who are they going to believe? Their science teacher or some expert in the internet?
Tape this to the blackboard — http://xkcd.com/386/
Garry Stotel says:
I blame Global Warming for the increased stupidity in the media.
No, the stupidity has been increasing while temperatures have remained stable. It might be CO2 – but it’s also possible that media stupidity is causing CO2 to increase instead.
I misread Anthony’s title as “Global warming is in the eye of the beholder” – which is actually very true. It seems one person can look at a graph and declare “We’re all going to drown (or fry)” while another (a skeptic) can look at the same thing and think “Yeah – climate’s always changed”.
@ur momisugly JPeden says:May 9, 2012 at 11:43 am
No, the it is the news source that is muddled in this case. The writer, a freelance journalist, never quotes anyone connecting global warming and eye health. The Indian scientists are looking at other issues like UV and soot. Their study has not been published or even completed. The writer mainly writes on health matters and most likely just got AGW and ozone depletion mixed up – although the two do interact to some degree.
http://theraconteur.co.uk/climate-change-is-harming-eye-health/
http://maria-anguita.com/index.html
Jenn Oates says:
May 9, 2012 at 8:57 am
…Too often they come with garbage like this and since it’s “science” and it’s on the internet, they think it’s true. Then I have to go over it and say why it’s probably not true, but who are they going to believe? Their science teacher or some expert in the internet?
____________________________
With luck by the end of the school year they will be able to apply reason to the things they read. BTW, thank you for taking the effort to actually teach them reason instead of regurgitation.
n Salem Village in the winter months of 1692, Betty Parris, age 9, and her cousin Abigail Williams, age 11, the daughter and niece (respectively) of Reverend Parris, began to have fits described as “beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease to effect” by John Hale, minister in nearby Beverly.[23] The girls screamed, threw things about the room, uttered strange sounds, crawled under furniture, and contorted themselves into peculiar positions, according to the eyewitness account of Rev. Deodat Lawson, a former minister in the town. The girls complained of being pinched and pricked with pins. A doctor, historically assumed to be William Griggs, could find no physical evidence of any ailment. Other young women in the village began to exhibit similar behaviors. When Lawson preached in the Salem Village meetinghouse, he was interrupted several times by outbursts of the afflicted.[24]