Email Jim at jthompson@taii.com

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Having spent a great deal of time wandering at far distances, I have often marveled at people with a more provincial view. Their world is a much smaller sphere, yet they often have an outsized view of the influence and knowledge of that sphere at distances beyond their dominion.

This happens often when one engages locals in, say, a discussion about where to find a good local restaurant. They will tell you, "Everyone knows where Bob's (or Pete's or Evelyn's) restaurant is." Well, obviously, I don't, because I am asking.

This phenomenon is not just one in rural areas, either. A number of years ago I went to a Mets game in the old Shea Stadium in New York. I was by myself and sat next to an accountant who lived on Staten Island. He was in his forties. He was amazed that I was from Atlanta--in his entire life he had never crossed the Hudson River. He had seen New Jersey from Manhattan, but never been there.

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Sometimes I wonder if our perception of humankind's impact on the environment is not outsized as well. Can humans really do all the damage attributed to them? No doubt you have seen those pictures of vast floating masses of plastic in the Pacific Ocean. Perhaps you have even read that it is impossible to buy sea salt that does not have microscopic bits of plastic in it. However, how big do those masses have to be to be in order to have a big impact? I don't know, but I can do math. The Earth's radius is 3,959 miles. This makes its surface area 196,861,433 square miles. If one of those plastic masses covers 1/10 of 1% of the earth's surface, it has to be, if square, nearly 450 miles on each side. Now, granted, if you were there, in a ship or on a plane, a blog of plastic 450 miles on a side would look gigantic (it is just slightly larger than California). But if they are that big, and I doubt they are, they are only covering 1/10 of 1 % of the entire Earth's surface--is that so much? On the other hand (sounding like a consultant, now), don't forget what I stated about the sea salt. I truly don't know how this event affects the environment if at all.

Let's look at this a different way. One of the pieces of trivia I like to throw out at dinner conversations is this. It is mathematically possible to fit all humans in the world into the city of Jacksonville, Florida. Each person will have a space 22 inches by 22 inches, and I recommend you jockey for a space near the edge. However, it can be done and it upends the concept that the world is overflowing with people.

In 1980, Mount St. Helen's in the state of Washington erupted. The eruption took 1,300 feet off the top of the volcano and left an area of devastation of 230 square miles (granted, only .0001% of the Earth's surface but massive in appearance if you were close at hand). Clearly not the work of humans, nevertheless this devastation has largely been healed by nature in the ensuing thirty six years.

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So, what is the impact of your mill on the world as a whole? The truth is we don't know--no one knows because there are simply bits of science yet to be discovered. It is likely, however, that the impact is not as great as environmental NGOs say it is and not as little as your CEO may concede.

As in all matters, it pays to add a little reason to the discussion. On top of that, it pays to add unbiased scientific analysis--a rare quantity these days.

What do you think about impact? Please take our quiz this week here.

For safety this week, we can agree on this--all personnel safety is local. Maintain a safe working environment.

Be safe and we will talk next week.

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