I think nearly all football fans and nearly all football players prefer grass to artificial turf. Although modern Field Turf is vastly superior to old-school Astroturf in terms of both aesthetics and injuries, it's still not as good as grass. But artificial turf seems to be the wave of the future: Although it's expensive to install, once it's in, there's very little maintenance required, and that makes it cost-effective, which is why Field Turf is spreading through the NFL, college football and now even high schools.
As several high schools in the Boston area consider installing artificial turf fields, advocates of grass are making a new argument: Artificial turf causes global warming.
Stuart Gaffin, an atmospheric scientist whose focus is excess heat in urban areas and storm-water runoff, said synthetic turf poses problems on both scores.Last summer, as part of a study of heat radiation in New York City, Gaffin found the temperature above artificial turf fields measured at 140 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, creating what he described as "heat islands."
The makers of Field Turf say it only gives off slightly more heat than grass, and I doubt the environmental argument is going to work on cost-conscious administrators. But I like any argument that leads to football being played on the surface Walter Camp meant for it to be played on: grass.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Farting on the football field should also be banned, as it contributes to Global Warming.
Re: #1: Yeah, stupid liberals. Who needs plants, and ice caps, and polar bears anyway? More beer!
Wow, this global warming fraud has really reached ridiculous levels if people are now obsessing that football field surface temperatures are damaging the planet.
#2's comment epitomizes perfectly the false choice presented by those who have fallen for the global warming flim flam: either you MUST also believe in global warming (no matter how laugh-out-loud ludicrous its various propositions get), or you are AGAINST plants and polar bears (an aminal very carefully chosen by the global warming scammers to elicit sympathy). Hey #2, who (besides you) has even mentioned those "stupid liberals"?
The whole thing is a joke, it's really funny to see who falls for it.
Or maybe environmentalists have a better understanding of how the cumulative effects of many, disparate small things will necessarily have larger consequences. It's math, not politics.
Besides, the "false choice" isn't made by pointing out the connectedness of things: it's made by the outright dismissal that anything serious is happening to the global environment. Certain specific causes (e.g., field turf), along with the level of that seriousness and the possible consequences are the only things that should be open to debate at this point.
As for "stupid liberals," I've read enough Fanhouse comment threads to feel confident in assuming it was coming (heck, it's a condition of current American culture, and is all but implied in the juvenile first comment here). I just got here first this time.
Yeah, #3, it'll be really funny when your grandchildren are trying desperately hard to cling to the remaining coastline in the US - or does global warming only affect the "carefully chosen polar bears"?
Uh, bluestardude, nobody has called, or is calling, anyone else a stupid liberal. Except you.
Global warming theory can be adjudged as ludicrous on its face, without resort to such name calling.
I love how on the hook people are with this global warming thing. The very notion that humans even CAN cause climate change is actually the claim that is kooky, but global warming zealots believe the lie to such an extent that they have to try to portray those who DOUBT the kooky theory as the crazy ones.
The article wasn't about global warming. The biggest concern with the heat coming off the fields was for the players health. The environmental issues pertained primarily to the cleaning chemicals for the turf and the disposal of the worn out fields, not global warming.
Quit making something out of nothing.
It's expectedly true that FieldTurf is better than the "original" AstroTurf developed in the 1960s, but AstroTurf currently manufactures and installs an artificial grass just as good if not better than FieldTurf. It's sold under the name AstroTurf GameDay Grass. Besides the "duh!" slant that real grass is better than artificial grass this article reads like a FieldTurf Press Release.
Artificial turf is not cost effective. It costs more in real expense than real grass. As a plant, real growing green grass gives us oxygen. Artificial turf is made out of unrecyclable plastic, a product of the oil industry.
Grow green grass, stop global warming.
The comments about artificial turf were in regards to Urban Heat Islands (UHI) and have nothing to do with global warming. Natural grass retains water and gives off evapotranspiration which has a cooling effect.
The meteorologist quoted here is correct...but a few football fields will contribute very little to Urban Heat Islands compared to all the roads and buildings.
The quote used from the article does not mention global warming at all, it just mentions a hot playing surface, which can dehydrate or cause heatstroke in athletes, meaning that the safety and comfort levels of Field Turf fields in the summer can be questionable when the mercury and the sun are working together.
I think people interested in buying artificial turf should also look for the manufacturer compliances.
Many of these turfs are submitted to several tests and certifications.
One provider, ACT Global Sports, even has iso 14001, which is for environmental compliances. http://www.actglobalsports.com/manufacturing.htm.