Posted on 07/05/2021 8:01:40 AM PDT by rickmichaels
National Geographic caused a stir by suggesting that Fourth of July fireworks are racist because their smoke disproportionately affects communities of color.
The publication marked Independence Day on Sunday by tweeting: 'Scientists found that vulnerable people and communities of color are disproportionately exposed to air pollution from firework celebrations.’
The tweet included a link to an article about a study which found that communities of color and vulnerable populations with higher rates of asthma, older residents and children, are exposed to higher levels of smoke from firework displays than other groups.
The study by researches at the University of California's Irvine campus suggests that law enforcement should crack down on illegal displays and that municipal and corporate displays should be replaced by drone light shows.
National Geographic's tweet was met with swift criticism from Twitter users who branded it unnecessarily divisive and decried the outlet for putting a damper on the holiday.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Accidentally funny and stupid at the same time, it’s a double!
It’s part of the celebration. Geez. Everything and everyone is racist. Getting old quick. The people calling us racist are white.
Mental illness - that’s the only explanation.
I cancelled my long running subscription to NG over 15 years ago over its anti-science wokeness. I don’t regret it in the least.
I much prefer the colored fireworks with their soothing reds, yellows, and blues.. The white ones are too bright and hard on the eyes.
Is that anti-racist enough?
The burden of the article seems to be the higher exposure of POCs due to “illegal” fireworks, i.e. backyard festivities. So: if POCs disproportionately set off fireworks at home, National Geographic is engaged in a culturally oppressive assertion of dominance over indigenous celebrations. National Geographic has gone racist.
What morons.
Isn’t National Geographic known for photographs of nude black people wearing penis gourds and huge rings in their lips?
That sounds pretty racist to me. I’m not sure I want to take what they say as credible.
This has to be straight out of the 'Journal of Irreproducible Results.'
That is why thoughtful, envirmentally conscious gangbangers use smokeless gunpowder.
The only people buying and detonating fireworks in my neighborhood are the POCs.
UCI Study Shows Dangers of Fireworks In SouthlandThere's nothing like having a Persian guy and a Chinese guy tell us how to celebrate Independence Day with more "sustainable" celebrations.
By City News Service
June 29, 2021UC Irvine scientists have published a study showing that Fourth of July fireworks spark plumes of pollutants that can pose significant health risks, so they are encouraging a reimagining of the typical Independence Day celebrations that are more environmentally friendly. The lead author of the study, Amirhosein Mousavi, a postdoctoral scholar in UCI's Program in Public Health, told City News Service thepollutants were worse last year because the COVID-19 quarantine restrictions spurred more individual backyard fireworks displays.
Instead of gathering with neighbors for fireworks displays, “everybody basically had a firework,'' Mousavi said.
On average, Los Angeles County last year saw a 50% increase over 2019 in pollutants on the Independence Day holiday that were generated by fireworks, Mousavi said. “That was so shocking,'' he said.
Pollution was down during the lockdown restrictions because there were less people driving and more working from home, but that all changed as residents blasted off bottle rockets and other pyrotechnics, he said.
“People were needing to see some celebration because it was the Fourth of July, which I understand, but they didn't choose one of the safer ones'' that were suggested, Mousavi said.
The scientists compared the air with Northern California, where laws are more strict regarding fireworks, and there was less pollution up north, Mousavi said.
The UCI researchers were able to use newer technology to measure the pollution in the air. PurpleAir sensors were able to get more specific data on various areas.
Before, the data was from much larger geographical areas, which watered down what was happening in various neighborhoods more prone to fireworks activity, Mousavi said.
The fireworks-related pollution was also twice as much in neighborhoods housing lower socioeconomic residents, more minorities and those with higher asthma rates, Mousavi said.
The fireworks-related pollution was higher in the northern cities of Orange County, where “safe and sane'' fireworks are allowed, Mousavi said.
The larger, more organized fireworks displays put on by local governments are just as toxic as the backyard fireworks, Mousavi said.
“They could be replaced by much better'' alternatives, such as “drone shows,'' or laser displays, Mousavi said. Drone shows are growing in popularity in Japan, for instance, Mousavi said. The “younger generations'' prefer the drone shows on holidays such as New Year's Eve in Japan, Mousavi said. “The drone shows are more sustainable,'' he said. An investment in drones will be much cheaper in the long run than setting off new batches of traditional pyrotechnics year after year, Mousavi said.
The pollutants generated by the fireworks can increase the risks of cancer as well as anxiety attacks for those with asthma, Mousavi said. The pollutants can be sucked into the lungs and passed on to other tissues in the body, the researchers say. Fireworks contain barium, copper, magnesium, potassium and strontium. “These fine particles are known to cause a wide range of adverse health effects, including premature mortality, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and neurological diseases,'' said Jun Wu, a UCI professor of public health who is a co-author of the study.
I'm disappointed that the Person and the Chinese guys didn't tell us how fireworks are causing global warming.
Out in a section of southern California where a sibling lives, it is 90% “people of color” (”Latinos”) that are shooting off most of the fireworks, and that’s not only on the 4th of July.
Lets not forget menthol fags as well
Maybe these people who find the color of something racist should stop eating chicken, pork, potatoes, vanilla ice cream and so on. Oh, and what about under garments? This is beyond ridiculous!
Me, too. It seemed like they just couldn’t let go of global warming and other leftist fads in every issue. A bit more than a year ago I accepted a dirt cheap subscription to Smithsonian Magazine, which I awlays enjoyed years ago. I let it lapse for exactly the same reason. More the half the articles were just some crap. The left ruins everything they touch
The depths of stupidity keeps getting deeper.
Now it's racism. Everything is racist. Now the "woke" Left are deciding hundreds, soon to be thousands, of everyday occurrences and behaviors are due to racism. It's becaming laughable too.
Fireworks are racist? How is one supposed to respond to that claim without bursting out laughing? It's ludicrous.
For years I tolerated the National Geographic creeping into the world of climate change. But I think this is the straw that broke the camel's back of me continuing my subscription to National Geographic. It is the last publication I used to take that has finally gone over the edge into the world of stupidity.
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