The ‘Chemtrails' That Should Worry Us
I recently wrote a piece debunking weather conspiracy theories. One of the featured topics was 'chemtrails.' Some people believe condensation trails ("contrails") coming out of airplanes are chemtrails being used to control the climate, our minds, or whatever. In that article, I explained what contrails are and pointed to scholarly evidence refuting 'chemtrail' narratives. However, a follower on one of my social media platforms made a great point. 'Chemtrails' that we should be concerned about are right in front of us everyday - exhaust from cars.
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 12: Two commercial airliners appear to fly close together as the pass over ... More London on March 12, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by) Getty Images
According to a National Weather Service website, contrails are, 'Cloud-like streamers frequently observed to form behind aircraft flying in clear, cold, humid air.' They can be formed by water vapor that overcomes combustion heat or from aerodynamic pressure reduction from air flow around wing tips or propellors. Yes, I know this is not a perfect analogy, but on a cold day, our breath produces something similar to a contrail.
TORONTO, ON - February 3 - The breath of a worker on Yonge St. can be seen in the air on a bitterly ... More cold day in Toronto. Lance McMillan/Toronto StarFebruary-3-2023 (Photo by Lance McMillan/Toronto Star via Getty Images) Toronto Star via Getty Images
So what's in the exhaust fumes from an automobile? Most cars emit a chemical stew of things. Carbon dioxide, though non-toxic, is a primary contributor to climate warming and ocean acidification. Carbon monoxide is quite toxic, but new engines produce less of it than older cars. It can also interact with other constituents in the atmosphere to affect certain greenhouse gases like methane or ozone. Nitrogen oxides are inherent to most combustion engines and are contributors to photochemical smog. Sulfur dioxide can also contribute to air pollution. Other ingredients in the exhaust pipe 'stew' include hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) and benzene.
FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2009 file photo, cars give off exhaust fumes in Montpelier, Vt. The state of ... More Vermont is reaping the benefit of national clean air policies. The Environmental Protection Agency recently reported Vermont hasn't had what it defines as a bad-air day in more than two years. Vermont officials say the state's last unhealthy air day was in July 2011. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File) Copyright 2009 AP. All rights reserved.
Diesel engines may actually emit small particles of metal and black soot. Laurence Allan wrote, 'Modern cars are fitted with diesel particulate filters (DPFs) to reduce the number of harmful particles being pumped out into the atmosphere.' Particulate matter can cause or amplify certain health ailments.
FILE - Smog lingers over the city overlooking the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles as seen from ... More Signal Hill, Calif., on Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File) Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
The EPA website noted, "The Clean Air Act, which was last amended in 1990, requires EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (40 CFR part 50) for six principal pollutants ("criteria" air pollutants) which can be harmful to public health and the environment." These pollutants are carbon monoxide, lead, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particule pollution. Government regulations and recent trends in alternative energy transition have led to cleaner air.
Clean Air Acts and EPA regulation have produced progress on cleaner air since 1990. EPA
As for carbon dioxide, an EPA website pointed out the following facts: The average passenger car emits roughly 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
The average passenger car emits aroud 400 grams of carbon dioxide per mile.
Carbon dioxide emissions from one gallon of gasoline is 8,887 grams CO2. It is even slightly higher for diesel.
Carbon dioxide values continue to rise globally, and climate continues to change, naturally and through these anthropogenic contributions.
Trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide. NOAA
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New York Times
8 minutes ago
- New York Times
How Lewis Hamilton's Belgium GP weekend unraveled despite Ferrari upgrades
SPA, Belgium — Heading into this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, there was reason for Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari to feel optimistic. Hamilton has been building momentum after a rollercoaster start to life with Ferrari, matching his best Sunday finishes at the Austrian GP and British GP and outqualifying teammate Charles Leclerc in three of the previous four races. This weekend, Ferrari brought a set of upgrades it hoped would boost its performance, including a new rear suspension. Advertisement Leclerc grabbed third place on the grid for Sunday's race with an impressive final lap in Q3, outqualifying sprint race winner Max Verstappen. But Hamilton languished in a lowly 16th as his miserable Spa weekend continued. Hamilton had already been eliminated in the first stage of a qualifying session this weekend. A spin on his final lap in sprint qualifying on Friday meant he started 18th, and only made up three places in the 15-lap race. On Saturday, his second knockout at Spa came after a track limits breach on his final lap of the Q1 session. The lap had been good enough to advance to Q2 just one place behind Leclerc, only for the stewards to note he had put all four wheels outside the white lines at the top of the hill at Raidillon. 'Everyone does that, takes that curb,' Hamilton told reporters after the session, suggesting he was unsure if the stewards had made the right call. 'But I'm out, so…' He wasn't looking to shirk accountability for a small yet costly error — a matter of millimeters, according to team principal Fred Vasseur. 'From my side, another mistake,' Hamilton told Sky Sports. 'So I've really got to look internal. I've got to apologize to my team, because it's just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s. It's (a) very, very poor performance from myself.' Ferrari never anticipated the upgrades at Spa would vault it into immediate contention for wins, given the massive gap to pace-setter McLaren, which also brought updates this weekend. But the hope was that the rear suspension, in particular, would soothe some of the issues Hamilton and Leclerc have dealt with this year. 'As always, and especially for our team, everything is hyped up a lot,' Leclerc said in the news conference after qualifying. 'So yes, it's an upgrade and it's a step in the right direction, but we are still speaking about very fine differences of a whole lap. It feels a little bit different, and it's going in the right direction.' Advertisement Leclerc has previously spoken about the need for Ferrari to use 'extreme' setups to get the car into a window where it could go faster. Hamilton claimed he was trialing different setups to get the car into a sweet spot, only to gravitate more towards Leclerc's setups of late, coinciding with his uptick in results. Since the Spanish GP on June 1, Hamilton has scored 32 points and built a 40-point buffer to seventh-place Kimi Antonelli. Leclerc suggested the car was now 'a little bit better' to find the setup window, making it easier to extract all the pace out of the car — a skill, as one of F1's best qualifiers, that has come so naturally through his career, but has been harder to unlock through 2025. 'This year, I've been struggling a little bit more to put everything together come qualifying,' Leclerc said. 'This weekend seems to be better. But we just need to prove that over multiple race weekends.' Hamilton should not let his miserable weekend at Spa serve as too much of a setback. His shock switch to Ferrari from Mercedes, one made with a record-breaking eighth world title very much in mind, hasn't delivered the kind of performance either he nor the team would have aspired to, chiefly due to the limitations of the car and the gap that has grown to McLaren at the front. Vasseur didn't seem concerned about Hamilton's qualifying difficulties at Spa. 'I think the struggle is not the pace,' Vasseur told F1 TV. 'He was able to have the same pace as Charles in Q1. Track limits is for a couple of millimeters. But the rule is the rule. And the lap time was deleted. 'But it's not a matter of pace or adaptation. I think he was able to do the job.' Hamilton is a five-time winner of the Belgian GP, including last year, when he inherited victory after George Russell's disqualification. You have to go back to his debut season in 2007 for the last time he finished the race but failed to stand on the podium, crossing the line in fourth place. It's a track he loves and where he flourishes. Advertisement A recovery from 16th on Sunday into the points will mark a good return for the Briton. Barring something remarkable (heavy rain has been floating in and out of the Sunday forecast), it's likely this will go down as another dip in this fluctuating first season with Ferrari. 'We're trying to do the best with what we have,' Hamilton said on Sky Sports. 'Obviously, everyone is working flat out back at the factory. We have had upgrades. But I think that's probably it for the rest of the year. I think the focus now, back at the factory at least, is on next year's car. 'This season has been a tricky one.'
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
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Norris takes Belgian GP pole position
Belgian Grand Prix Venue: Spa Dates: 25-27 July Race start: 14:00 BST on Sunday Coverage: Live commentary of practice and qualifying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 with race on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app Lando Norris pipped McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix. Norris beat Piastri, the championship leader, by just 0.085 seconds as Red Bull's Max Verstappen slipped down to fourth, beaten by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, after errors on his final lap. Leclerc's team-mate Lewis Hamilton was knocked out of the first session after having his final lap time deleted for exceeding track limits and will start 16th. Williams driver Alex Albon slipped ahead of his friend George Russell's Mercedes by 0.059secs to take fifth. Yuki Tsunoda had his best performance since joining Red Bull at the third race of the season by taking sixth, 0.381secs off Verstappen. Norris happy with 'decent' lap Norris secured his pole with his first lap in the final session, on which he was 0.189secs quicker than Piastri. The Briton was not able to improve on his second run, which Piastri was, but a mistake at Stavelot for the Australian cost him the chance to take pole for the second day running after his sprint pole on Friday. Norris had been nearly 0.5secs slower than Piastri in Friday's session but he said the margin was not reflective of his true pace. Norris said: "I was confident after yesterday - 0.3secs is just slipstream and not being first out of the pit lane. It was a decent lap, so I'm happy." Piastri said: "A bit disappointing. The second lap was coming together really well but just made a little mistake into 14 and lost a lot of time. The car was really good but it's fine margins out there. "We're a good team-mate pairing, we learn a lot from each other. Felt like I did OK but didn't quite execute when it matters." Norris now faces the same problem Piastri had in the sprint - giving the driver behind him the slipstream on the run up to the Les Combes chicane on the first lap. Losing out to Verstappen in that way in the sprint race cost Piastri that win. Now Norris will have to defend from his championship rival. But rain is expected for Sunday, which changes the picture because of the visibility issues of following another car in the wet. "Most likely some rain and drizzle," Norris said. "Could be in for a chaotic race. Going off the front and hopefully can take advantage of that and go from there." Verstappen had been third fastest after the first runs, but a wheelspin moment out of the La Source hairpin cost him time all the way along the straight through Eau Rouge and up to Les Combes. The four-time champion was able to claw some of the time lost back over the rest of the lap and did improve his time slightly. But he said the lap was "so bad" and it was enough to allow Leclerc, who felt he was able to maximise the Ferrari, to slip ahead. A disappointed Hamilton said to go out in Q1 was "not acceptable" but he would try to "have fun" in the race. Behind Tsunoda, the top 10 was completed by the Racing Bulls drivers Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, who made it into the top 10 for a grand prix qualifying session for the first time in his career, repeating the feat he managed in sprint qualifying the day before. Verstappen wins Belgian GP sprint race Full results Radio 1 DJs help preview Belgian Grand Prix
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Haas pair delivers
Follow live coverage as Spa hosts Round 13 of the 2025 Formula One world championship and the Belgian Grand Prix weekend Getty Images Getty Images A decent bounty of points for Haas today with Esteban Ocon in fifth and Oliver Bearman in P7. All counts for a lot when you are in the battle in the midfield. Comfortable stuff for Max Verstappen. Besides that one moment going a bit deep at the final chicane, he didn't miss a beat. Make that 12 wins in sprints now for the Dutchman, 10 more than any other driver. Thibaut Courtois waves the checkered flag and Max Verstappen crosses the line in front of Oscar Piastri, with Lando Norris in third. A sharp overtake on Lap 1 sealed it, and that was job done. A very welcome sprint race win for the four-time defending world champion and his Red Bull team. LAP 13/15 — Just two laps to go. Max Verstappen holding off Oscar Piastri, who's holding off Lando Norris. Boy this is close at the front… LAP 10/15 — Some smart defence from Max Verstappen. He reports on the radio he 'can't break on the peak' and made a mistake into the Bus Stop, going a bit deep. That let Oscar Piastri get the closest yet into Les Combes, but Verstappen weaved a bit (fairly!) and placed his car perfectly to ensure the McLaren couldn't try a move. Just 1.3 seconds separating the top three right now… Here is the Lap 1 move that got Max Verstappen ahead of Oscar Piastri and into the lead of this sprint race... LAP 8/15 — Fair play to the two Haas drivers. Esteban Ocon is still sitting in P5, and Oliver Bearman P7. Only modest points on offer in the sprint race, but that would still be a double-points finish if they can hold on. LAP 7/15 — Oscar Piastri still can't get close enough on the run from La Source to Les Combes. Lando Norris is making some tiny gains on the lead duo, but hardly enough to seriously get in the fight. Getty Images LAP 6/15 — That's third place for Lando Norris, sweeping past Charles Leclerc. A very easy move with DRS. He's got two seconds to make up to Oscar Piastri though, which will be tough. Piastri still hasn't gotten close enough to try a move back on Max Verstappen yet. The higher top-end speed of the Red Bull is going to protect Verstappen a lot. LAP 4/15 — It took a little while but Lando Norris is back past Charles Leclerc. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri has set the fastest lap of the sprint race so far. He is just seven-tenths behind the leader. And Pierre Gasly has joined the race in an extremely orderly fashion, as his extra practice session begins — because he's not in a race here. Getty Images LAP 2/15 — Zero surprise to see Max Verstappen sweep into the lead. The skinnier wing on the Red Bull meant he was always going to be able to have a run on Oscar Piastri down to Les Combes. Now a question of whether he can hold on against the McLaren, which should be gaining ground in the middle sector and onwards. LAP 1/15 — Lights out. Away we go! Solid start from Oscar Piastri, but once through Raidillon, Max Verstappen finds a way past Piastri on the opening lap. Charles Leclerc does the same on Lando Norris for third too. Boom. All drivers are starting the race on mediums except for Franco Colapinto, who is on softs from the pit lane. Franco Colapinto will start from the sprint lane, after he has a rear wing change following sprint qualifying yesterday. And it is now confirmed Pierre Gasly will not race due to that water leak in his Alpine — although he might join the race later for a few laps of grand prix qualifying and race prep. That means there will be just 18 cars on the grid for the start, and in effect 19 in the sprint race. Five minutes until lights out for the sprint race in Belgium. LET'S GO… Getty Images An update from Alpine on Pierre Gasly... 💬 'Pierre will not start today's Belgian Grand Prix sprint race from the grid due to a suspected water leak on his car. The team will look to rectify the issue as soon as possible ahead of the start.' As a side note, Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is here on the grid — a huge F1 fan, and huge in real life! Getty Images Here is how the grid will line up for today's sprint — and yes, it will be interesting to see how this grid differs to the one starting tomorrow's grand prix… 1: OSCAR PIASTRI (MCL) > 2: Max Verstappen (RBR) Max Verstappen (RBR) 3: Lando Norris (MCL) Lando Norris (MCL) > 4: Charles Leclerc (FER) Charles Leclerc (FER) 5: Esteban Ocon (HAS) Esteban Ocon (HAS) > 6: Carlos Sainz (WIL) Carlos Sainz (WIL) 7: Oliver Bearman (HAS) Oliver Bearman (HAS) > 8: Pierre Gasly (ALP) Pierre Gasly (ALP) 9: Isack Hadjar (RB) Isack Hadjar (RB) > 10: Gabriel Bortoleto (SAU) Gabriel Bortoleto (SAU) 11: Lawson (RB) / 12: Tsunoda (RBR) 13: Russell (MER) / 14: Alonso (AST) 15: Stroll (AST) / 16: Albon (WIL) 17: Hülkenberg (SAU) / 18: Hamilton (FER) 19: Colapinto (ALP) / 20: Antonelli (MER) Luke Smith Anthoine Hubert's mother is here on the grid with Pierre Gasly, who was a close friend of the late French driver. Gasly has stayed close to the family and arranges a yearly track run in memory of Hubert, who died at Spa in 2019 aged 22. Gasly also has 'Anthoine H.' on his cap this weekend. Getty Images Max Verstappen had dominated the F1 sprint races since they were introduced, winning 12 of the first 16 since the opening event in 2021. That was until Brazil and Qatar last year, when the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took a win apiece. As for the opening sprints of this year, there was a memorable and surprising victory for Lewis Hamilton — his first in Ferrari red — after he started on pole. Then in Miami, Norris reigned supreme after Kimi Antonelli qualified on pole. However, Norris missed out on pole and grand prix victory later that weekend. So, was Verstappen's sprint reign more about the Red Bull's competitive advantage than the format suiting the current four-time world champion? Verstappen won this sprint race from pole in the wet when it was last in Belgium, in 2023. He starts from second on the grid today.
