Leaded petrol has made us measurably dumber.Scientists suspect that leaded petrol has also made us more aggressive and of course it kills people as well. And the same guy who put lead in fuel also created a miracle refrigerant that tore a hole in the one thing that protected our planet from runaway radiation from the sun. This is the first of our Microgreens episodes where I spend a short amount of time answering your questions, or talking about something that may not get a whole, full episode.For the first episode I wanted to talk about the guy who really f*ed the planet twice.In this episode I share:The story of Thomas Midgley Jr.The issues with cars in the 1920s and how Thomas fixed itHow lead got added to petrolThe repercussions of lead in petrol started rapidlyWas Thomas Midgley really to blame?Thomas's second F up – the problem of leaking fridgesUnderstanding the science around lead and why it's so harmful to humansWhy Freon was Thomas's solution to the killer fridge problemThe science behind Freon and how it destroyed the ozone layerThe Montreal Protocol and the healing of the ozone layerKey quotes:"Epidemiologists have since pinned a global loss of IQ points to this very factor""Higher lead levels also correlate with spikes in violent crime""A UN campaign only just got the last countries out of leaded fuel in 2021""Back in the 1920s fridges killed people""The only reason our planet is habitable at all is because the ozone layer prevents about 90% of that radiation from reaching the earth’s surface"Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwestLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related