For decades, asthma patients have been selfishly using their albuterol inhalers to relieve their symptoms and help them breathe easier.
I say "selfishly," because, as it turns out, those who suffer from asthma have actually been slowly but surely ruining the planet:
CBS has the totally-believable, totally-valid report:
Inhalers that provide fast-acting treatment for people with certain respiratory conditions are contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, which can worsen both climate change and the conditions themselves, according to new research.
In the study, published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found inhalers approved for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, generated an estimated 24.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in the United States from 2014 to 2024. This is equivalent to the emissions of about 530,000 gas-powered cars each year, according to the study.
That's right, asthmatics: Every time you do this...
...you're basically doing this:
Shame on you! I bet you guys never thought that every time you took "medicine" to help you "breathe" and "survive," you were raising the global average temperature 2/3000ths of a degree relative to an arbitrary mid-20th-century baseline!
Evidently the big problem is the "hydrofluoroalkane propellants" that help deliver the medicine to your lungs. But those of you who use inhalers, take heart: There are ways you can treat your ailment without raising the sea levels 75,000 feet or whatever:
The study found other types of inhalers — such as dry inhalers and soft powder mist inhalers — are less harmful, delivering medication to the lungs without the need for propellants.
Yeah, I'm sure asthma sufferers will get right on that. 🙄
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