05-03-2007 - Human World

sagar: Author=’Eleanor Imster, Deborah Byrd’ program=’5147′ video=”In the steamy city of Mumbai, India, one citizen, Geeta Vittal, told the International Herald Tribune that when she first got an air conditioner she thought it was an extravagance. Now she has five. “All my friends have air conditioners now,” she said “Ten years ago, no one did.” (Photo by Jantik)In recent years, experts have believed that Earth’s ozone layer was on the road to recovery. But the 2006 ozone hole broke records for area and depth.

Is the ozone layer in Earth’s stratosphere recovering? The experts we contacted said there’s still a consensus that it is, due to a successful global effort to reduce chlorofluorocarbon emissions.

But, they said, there are some contradictions in part because of the rising standard of living in India and China. Some scientists point to air conditioning in Asia as one factor. Satellite observations have shown extremely high levels of chlorine chemicals in the atmosphere…

And these chemicals – mostly coolants that leak from air conditioners – are known to destroy ozone. These particular coolants are banned or are being phased out in the U.S., Europe and other industrialized countries. But they’re not against the law in the developing countries of Asia, including India and China.

The air conditioning business is booming across Asia. And many of these air conditioners contain the ozone-depleting chemical HCFC-22. There’s also another factor at work here. Scientists agree that Earth’s lower atmosphere is warming. This warming appears to have caused a cooling of the upper atmosphere, and it’s thought that this cooling will delay the eventual recovery of the ozone.

Our thanks today to “NASA”:http://www.nasa.gov : explore, discover, understand.

Written by EarthSky

2 Responses to “Private: Is Earth’s ozone layer recovering?”

1. Benjamin Napier says:

   March 15, 2007 at 10:14 pm

   CFC’s are not destroying the ozone layer. Even if they were, we have done nothing to stop the problem. While the United States Government passed a law saying we, the people, could no longer use Freon 12, the Federal Government itself decided that it would be too expensive for them to follow the law imposed on the rest of us. So, the U.S. governemnt still is a consumer of CFC’s. Also, keep in mind that the rest of the world is not bound by our laws.

   By the way: Dichlorodichloro methane (freon 12) is a very stable molecule. The theory is that free radical chlorine is the culprit in the destruction of the ozone layer. There is no demonstated mechanism by which freon 12 (heavier than air) floats up into the stratoshere and is then dissociated to expose the dreaded chlorine to the ozone layer. Mount Pinatubo, when it exploded blasted more chlorine (free radical unencumbber by carbon or fluorine) into the stratosphere in one burp than man has produced in his entire existance.

   Is it possible that the “ozone hole” is a natural occurence and has nothing to do with our air conditioners and refrigerators? By the way, Al Gore and the rest of the environmental saviors are still enjoying air conditioning and jet travel. Given a choice, they will continue living a twenty first century life style long after yours has been downgraded to a medieval disaster.

   We ain’t destroying the environment. Don’t let politicians wreck your life for votes. The good old days actually sucked.

   Reply
2. Stefany says:

   April 10, 2007 at 8:37 pm

   Where do most countries including the U.S have some holes in the ozene layer?

   Reply