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1 in 8 cancer cases worldwide are caused by infections, study finds

296 points · 158 comments · colinprince

  1. ck2 · · focus · HN ↗
    well they are finding forever-chemical and micro-plastics in all freshwater in the USA now and even in ALL mother's milk

    so safe bet that cancer rates are never going to be lower than they are today

    remember US also just deregulated all pollution from power plants, funded re-starting coal plants and dropped car engine efficiency requirements

    oh they are also trying to double oil-fracking output which toxifies groundwater and air for miles around it with offgassing

    every rocket launch and deorbit by starlink et all also put toxic pollution into the atmosphere

    so next decade should end well for cancer rates

    1. scottLobster · · focus · HN ↗
      You can't be worried about fracking and coal at the same time in the US. The former is the reason for the latter's demise
      1. cassepipe · · focus · HN ↗
        You can. It's not because fracking has displaced coal that it's overall a net benefit (I know it is somewhat true for climate change, I don't have an informed opinion concerning environmental pollution) and it's what should have happenned.

        For example either renewables + batteries or nuclear could have displaced coal. Just because there wasn't enough money/political support for it doesn't mean that we shouldn't worry about both fracking and coal usage consequences.

        1. scottLobster · · focus · HN ↗
          Yeah, on a long enough timeline we should be moving away from fossil fuels as much as possible, but in the meantime fracking has allowed us to substantially lower carbon emissions without massive societal upheaval. It's like equating hybrid cars with traditional ICE vehicles. Sure they both have problems, but one has a lot fewer.

          And no, renewables + batteries and nuclear couldn't have displaced coal precisely due to a lack of money and political support. Why are those constraints any less important? The goal isn't just to build renewable tech, the goal is to build a functional society that uses renewable tech. There also is a technological constraint here, fracking became viable in the early 2000s before modern battery and solar tech existed at its current price point.

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