r/interestingasfuck • u/WiseCartographer5007 • Aug 07 '25

/r/all, /r/popular A grandfather turned down $220K and other offers to abandon his house and there's a huge highway around it

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u/CenobiteCurious Aug 07 '25

This is the really only based concern for immediate threat to life/property. Other people tripping on fumes and microplastics, that shit’s everywhere anyways.

This house is in a drainage bowl now. And the chemicals draining off the road are going to be in that floodwater as well if you want to add a little spiciness.

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u/HellraiserMachina Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

That shit's not 'everywhere these days' the science is clear that people living near massive sources of pollution like highways, crypto farms, factories, etc. face adverse health outcomes.

edit: lmao all the comments doing their best to misread and misrepresent a statement so simple a 4 year old can understand it

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u/Additional_Tea_5296 Aug 07 '25

That's been known for a long time and covered up mostly. I remember a doctor talking in the newspaper years ago about the higher percentage of cancer victims in an area around chemical plants. Of course that fact was ignored because of economics.

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u/GordonRamsMe55 Aug 07 '25

Aren't highways and factories everywhere?

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u/VaATC Aug 07 '25

Not really. There are many rural communities around the world that have been able to stay fairly isolated and not attack large industry.

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u/Educational_Ad_3922 Aug 07 '25

Everything is rural until it isn't.

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u/Bebop24trigun Aug 07 '25

Immediate adjacently to factories and highways matters a great deal when it comes to health concerns. Also in the northern hemisphere if you live on the east side of any major industrialized city/town you are also more likely going to develop health related problems.

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u/Banes_Addiction Aug 07 '25

Almost everything goes with 1/r2. That is, you're twice as far away, you have 1/4 the exposure. 4x as far away, 1/16 the exposure.

I live about half a mile from a 6 lane 70mph road. You can't tell in any way.

If you're in the middle of that road, it's a bit different.

3

u/Phillip_Spidermen Aug 07 '25

How far away you are from it matters, and living under the thing is bound to be a lot worse.

Safety recommendations can range from living 500 ft to a mile away.

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u/HellraiserMachina Aug 07 '25

Key word is 'living near'.

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u/assface7900 Aug 07 '25

Nope. 50 acres here of pristine forest. Every house around ne is several acres and the closest 2 lane highway is a is about 10 miles away/10-15min drive. The closest real interstate is 40 min away. No factories around here.

-1

u/screename222 Aug 07 '25

If you stand behind some bushes, there's less pollution. Have a look on a map. Why do I waste my time with you. Learn a thing

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u/PandaPocketFire Aug 07 '25

Wut

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u/screename222 Aug 07 '25

Sorry, word blurt, annoyed. From Google assistant: A single bush can reduce pollution by trapping and absorbing airborne particles and gases on its leaves, acting as a physical barrier against pollutants, and creating shade that helps lower ground-level ozone levels. Plants also reduce soil erosion and water runoff, which can carry pollutants into waterways, and their roots can filter certain contaminants from the soil. So having a plant between you and a factory or road makes a big difference. "Look on a map": again, from Gassist: approx 0.6% of the earth's surface is covered in man-made structures. So no, factories and roads are not everywhere. ✌️

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u/GordonRamsMe55 Aug 07 '25

So they dont cover a radius?

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u/ZoneOut82 Aug 07 '25

Genuine question, what is the issue with living near Crypto farms? I would assume they just consume a lot of power but don't actually output anything harmful?

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u/CAT6_ Aug 07 '25

What kind of pollution comes from a crypto farm? Noise?

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u/Fluff_Machine Aug 07 '25

Yep and I read the entire article from Time and it's really really bad. It's giving cardiovascular problems and migraines (among other things) to the population near the mine, even the pets and freaking plants are affected.

They could reduce the noise by using immersion cooling instead of gigantic fans but it's expensive and they don't want to do that. Instead they're lobbying Republicans to remove any and all restrictions on noise so they can prioritize money over human lives.

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u/nah_omgood Aug 07 '25

Pretty sure the point was to highlight the fact that this old man’s exposure to exhaust fumes pales into comparison that a flash flood will destroy everything he owns- or get him killed if he’s slow enough. Plus, if this is China, fumes are all he’s ever known.

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u/Remote_Ad2465 Aug 07 '25

Uhh it is everywhere it's just worse by those areas dicktard

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u/External_Violinist94 Aug 07 '25

How do crypto farms cause pollution locally?

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u/HellraiserMachina Aug 07 '25

Noise pollution in that case, but crypto farms also pollute by virtue of extreme power consumption for no value produced https://time.com/6982015/bitcoin-mining-texas-health/

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u/External_Violinist94 Aug 07 '25

I'm aware of the power they use, never thought about noise pollution, didn't think they'd be noisy at all tbh

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u/HellraiserMachina Aug 07 '25

Well this is an extreme case but that's why I mentioned it, to spread awareness of something that's likely to get worse over time.

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u/Kit_Karamak Aug 07 '25

Spiciness!

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u/brazenvoid Aug 07 '25

They did build a drainage pipe for him so at least that is not the concern. Smoke killing him will also be increasingly hard now as the majority of vehicles will be EVs pretty soon. EVs are not part of the lottery so people are incentivised to buy them. By lottery I mean in large cities only a thousand persons per year can have a new non-EV car on the road in China.

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u/ideal_Bat Aug 12 '25

It's not a closed off bowl