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1. Embed this notice
   Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 07-Jul-2023 04:12:30 JST Paul Cantrell

   Hey #Minnesota and #MSP: Open the windows! Get outside! This is the cleanest air we’ve had for…sheesh, I don’t know, months at least.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 07-Jul-2023 04:12:53 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     I realized this morning I’d kind of forgotten what blue skies feel like.

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 07-Jul-2023 04:14:41 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     (meaning the real actual thing, not the pernicious social media schemes of oligarchs)

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 07-Jul-2023 04:17:54 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     #MSP AQI now at 29, was as low as 15 this morning. Unbelievable!

     For reference, we were well over 250 and heading for 300 at the worst of the smoke. I don’t know whether AQI scales linearly, and thus whether “16x lower” is meaningful in this context, but…well, I do know this is cause for celebration!

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 07-Jul-2023 04:21:38 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     OK, so no, it’s not linear:
     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_quality_index#Computing_the_AQI

     …and PM 2.5 (fine particles such as smoke) are not 16x lower than the peak now, but more like ••62x lower••

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     Jeff Miller (orange hatband) (jmeowmeow@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 07-Jul-2023 04:25:01 JST Jeff Miller (orange hatband)

     in reply to

     @inthehands Seattle cheers along with blue skies after a couple of smoky days.

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 07-Jul-2023 04:43:51 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     OK, my own particle counter is reading •120x• lower than our smokiest day (see photos).

     Dang.

     (The left numbers are >0.5µm particles, which includes smoke. The right numbers are >2.5µm particles, which includes pollen, dust, or in the photo on the right, probably some of the wood dust from my neighbor running a circular saw.)

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 07-Jul-2023 04:48:15 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Jesse Morris

     @aubilenon
     Bah. If body damage scales linearly with “number of particles you’re exposed to” (which is not at all a given, but also not an unreasonable working assumption), then this is a perfectly fine way to state it.

     Yes, if we’re comparing one reduction to another, then looking at ratios of factors would be better (3/2 > 62/61). But we’re not; we’re comparing today vs another day.

   • Embed this notice
     Jesse Morris (aubilenon@escaperooms.social)'s status on Friday, 07-Jul-2023 04:48:16 JST Jesse Morris

     in reply to

     @inthehands the way you’re using it “lower” isn’t linear either, but hyperbolic. (2x lower to 3x lower is a lot bigger difference than 61x lower to 62x lower)