Did you deep-fry a turkey this Thanksgiving? If so, you may have affected the planet’s weather systems.
Say what? According to The Telegraph, chemists at the universities of Reading, Bristol and Bath claim to have discovered that, when droplets of cooking fat are released into the atmosphere, they form complex structures which attract moisture and form into clouds. Scientists claim cooking fat is responsible for ten percent of small particles in the air in many large cities, leading them to believe frying food could have a noticeable impact on cloud formation and rainy weather. This research was recently published in the journal Nature Communications. (Operators are standing by to take subscription requests. They’re extending a holiday season BOGO offer: buy a gift subscription for a loved one and receive one for yourself, absolutely free. Tell ‘em ‘Bob’ told you to call).
Dr. Christian Pfrang, Associate Professor of Physical and Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Reading, said: “I think it could be having an impact on cloud formation. It is likely that these structures have a significant effect on water uptake of droplets in the atmosphere, increase lifetimes of reactive molecules and generally slow down transport inside these droplets with yet unexplored consequences.” He added, “Fat does seem to encourage cloud formation.”
In fact, some researchers believe this cooling effect is so large it could even slow down global warming! If deep-frying food can pull the planet’s fat out of the fire, the South is doing everything it can to save the Earth. So are many of our State Fairs. They’ll deep-fry anything imaginable- and some things that aren’t.
So, go ahead folks, eat those fries, patronize Kentucky Fried Chicken, do up those turkeys and catfish. Sacrifice yourself to save the planet. When someone says, “A fat lot of good it will do,” they may not mean it sarcastically.
We may not be able to survive for long living off the fat of the land, but perhaps the Earth itself can.