Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

The feature article on the front page of the May 29 Tennessean is entitled, "A cluster of emissions," and the first sentence proclaims, "Tennessee's four largest cities rank among the worst of the nation's carbon emitters."

As is normal in newspapers, a news photo accompanies the article, in this case a shot of downtown Nashville obscured in a thick haze with an electronic sign proclaiming "Air Quality Alert."

But wait ? what's wrong with this picture? The article is about carbon dioxide emissions, and carbon dioxide is an invisible gas. Whatever was fouling the air in the Nashville skyline in that June 2007 photo was most certainly not carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide is a perfectly natural component of the atmosphere, and life could not exist without it. Plants could not grow without carbon dioxide, and without plant life there could be no animal life. In fact, if it were not for carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the earth would be too cold to support all but the most primitive species. Those particulates that are dirtying the Nashville air in the picture, whatever they are, are not a product of carbon emissions.

Climate change is natural

The ordinary reader would logically assume if carbon emissions were cut, the air quality would improve, and people could breathe better. This is not true. Smog, ozone, haze, etc., are not caused by carbon emissions. Nashville is located in a basin, and when atmospheric inversions (when warmer air aloft traps particulates beneath it) occur, particularly in the summer, there will be dirty air at times. But it undoubtedly was worse decades ago, when pre-catalytic converter automobile engines were less efficient and people burned coal for heat.

Oh, and the article was continued on Page 8A of the newspaper. And once again there is an accompanying photo, with downtown Nashville again experiencing a Los Angeles-like smog, this time a 2004 file photo. I guess in case readers did not get the point from the first picture.

Climate change has happened throughout history, the earth has been much warmer in the past and much cooler in the past, as well. All scientists agree that human activity only accounts for a tiny fraction of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In fact, a big volcanic eruption can produce more greenhouse gases than all of human activity throughout history combined.

Human activity has added additional carbon dioxide to the atmosphere since 1998, and yet the earth has actually cooled since then, and this is not consistent with the original greenhouse theory. This is a serious subject worthy of serious debate, one that should not be clouded by inappropriate use of pictures that could be interpreted as sensationalizing the carbon emission debate. Carbon dioxide emissions did not cause the smoggy air in the photos, and that's what's wrong with this picture.

John Fox is a paralegal who works in downtown Nashville.  (Source >>>)