Former miners' leader Arthur Scargill says he will spend two minutes in a room full of carbon dioxide if George Monbiot does the same in a radioactive room
here is a bit more ..
Choose your poison. Arthur Scargill has offered to stand in a room full of carbon dioxide emissions for two minutes if environmental campaigner George Monbiot would do the same in a radioactive room.
The former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers believes he would be less harmed than Monbiot. But is he right?
Arthur Scargill Arthur Scargill
Dr John Emsley, a chemistry expert and science writer, agrees CO2 would be the better bet. "It's a nasty choice but at least in the CO2 room you wouldn't come to too much harm – it's not a toxic gas and we breath it in small doses all the time. Our own bodies even generate CO2. If there was a high level of CO2 you might pass out after 10 minutes because of a lack of oxygen but at least you'd live.
"Radiation on the other hand is much more sinister and, depending on the intensity and type, it could be deadly."
Well, it needs to be a bit more carefully defined than that. Don't humans start to keel over at oxygen levels in air below about 17%? Therefore, emit enough CO2 in a short period of time and poor old Arthur will quickly be no more and - I for one think - the World will be a poorer place.
Conversely, I would be perfectly happy to have a lump of natural uranium cast into an attractive and interesting lamp fitting for the bedroom. Radioactive it might be, but only really threatening if one is within 5mm of it. Coal mines on the other hand are often pretty convincing radio hazard areas.
Is is possible that both of them are slightly odd?
Ahhhh - bless his cotton socks!!!!! It's just Arthur being silly again. Last time he was this silly, he cost my father and the entire village in which I spent my childhood a lot of jobs, a lot of money and a lot of pride.
Would that the blessed Arthur would be prepared to enter that room full of ALL the waste products of burning coal - the carbon monoxide, the phenols, the sulphides etc. Stay there for two minutes, Arthur. I'll write you a lovely epitaph.
The secret of life is to aim below the head (With thanks to MMM)
Nope and it seems he is still interested in Coal! I guess they wheel him out whenever they want someone to stick up for the coal industry.
