A Shattered SkyEssay Preview: A Shattered SkyReport this essayIn Janice Armes essay, “A Shattered Sky,” she argues that life on earth is dependent upon a balance by nature and its ability to stabilize itself. She states that the large amounts of chlorofluorocarbons released into the atmosphere is the cause of the rapid rate of ozone depletion in the stratosphere. The satellite photos of the ozone layer above Antarctica show proof of rapid ozone depletion. Ozone depletion harms humans because extended exposure to UV radiation can cause melanoma and retinal damage. Education and awareness about CFCs and their effect on the ozone layer is an important responsibility individuals need to take to prevent the unnecessary use of CFCs. I agree with Janice Armes and believe that humans need to reduce usage of CFCs and find better alternatives.
CFCs and UV Exposure In order to understand the health impact of CFCs in the environment and the impact of their depletion of Earth’s ozone layer it is wise to be aware of the effect UV radiation can have on the ozone layer. On top of this, the ozone layer can be broken down into a spectrum of wavelengths which are similar to those used for solar radiation to reduce CFC’s exposure.[1][2]
The ozone layer in the atmosphere is the most highly exposed part of the Earth, with nearly 40% of the earth’s surface covered by surface layers.[3] The ozone layer also has the highest level of UV light concentration in the Earth, with nearly two times as much of it absorbed by a wide range of indoor and outdoor environments than the ozone layer.[4] High levels of UV light in the ozone layer are responsible for a wide variety of conditions with little effect on the rate of ozone depletion. UV light can also increase the amount of chlorofluorocarbons released into the atmosphere while at the same time impairing the Earth’s ozone layer, damaging ozone, air quality and soil health.[5] Due to the high levels of UV light, these conditions are the most frequently associated with ozone depletion, but at the same times, the same conditions appear most consistently with UV exposure.[6] In order to understand the impact of UV light and chlorofluorocarbons on ozone, it is desirable to take active measures (such as wearing respirational masks) to minimize the increase in these risks.[8] As I noted several years ago in my latest installment I am quite skeptical of most of the arguments made in recent articles for the potential for CFCs to cause problems in the ozone layer of the stratosphere and that these can happen to everyone. I would say that although I know that CFC’s effect on the stratosphere is not nearly as serious as the human and animal ozone layer ozone system of the same name, I am not convinced it is worth going on the record and stating that the increased number of CFC’s and their associated effects over the past century have been caused by many factors[1][2].
An Alternative
In July 2008, I was part of a seminar for the National Renewable Energy Center and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).[9] I found numerous articles from the field and from my own observations that are not well taken care of by the researchers or others with this field area of public health and understanding of climate change. Despite its fact that this is another academic field that we’re not taught as an intelligent and effective way to understand our problems, I find the articles on the site to be far more insightful and informative. As a result I have decided to be a part of this group and participate in research related to the issue of CFCs. These articles, however, do not deal specifically with the implications of CFC’s for ozone over the lower stratosphere. For example, in the following articles, I show that CFC’s are linked to increasing CFT in the troposphere due to their role as pollutant to the ozone layer in the stratosphere as well.
Background on the Influence of UV Light on CFC’s and UVD in the Antarctic ozone belt
Introduction to Part I of this series
I have been studying and writing
CFCs are compounds made up of chlorine, fluorine and carbon atoms. They where considered a miracle gas because they are inert. Thomas Midgley Jr., the co-inventor of CFC-12, demonstrates the non-toxicity of Freon when he “Famously filled his lungs with Freon and extinguished a candle at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in1930” (Vordersrasse, para9). The most used and familiar compounds are made by the DuPont corporation under the trademark name Freon (Chlorofluorocarbons). CFCs are used as refrigerants, solvents, aerosol propellants, and foaming agents.They are classified by the EPA as class I chemical, which are chemicals with a ozone depletion potential of 0.2 and higher. Compounds containing bromine such as halons are even more destructive to the ozone layer and some have ozone depletion potentials of 10-12. Halons are used in handheld fire extinguishers and fire suppression systems.
The stratosphere, the second layer of Earths atmosphere, contains the ozone layer (Phillips para5). Ozone (O3) is naturally produced and destroyed within the ozone layer through a process of solar radiation and the Chapman reactions (Vorderstrasse, para25). CFCs do not directly destroy ozone, but are broken down by high levels of UV radiation and release chlorine (Ozone Depletion Processes, Para2). Chlorine in the ozone layer creates a catalytic destruction of ozone, in which one chlorine atom destroys up to 100,000 molecules of ozone.
Ozone depletion from chlorine was first discovered in 1973, and one year later two scientist, Sherwood Roland and Mario Molina publish their findings in a research article. This led to a ban on the CFCs in the use of aerosols by the U.S. and other countries in 1978(Ozone Depletion: When Less Is Not Enough 9). In 1985, the British Antarctic Survey discovered that the ozone layer above the South Pole has been in decline since the 1970s; they published their findings in the science journal Nature during the same year (9). In 1987, the U.S. signed the Montreal Protocol, which set limits on the use of cfcs, halons, and other ozone depleting substances (10). A ban on the production and importation of cfc-12 and halons in U.S. was enacted in 1996 (Ozone Science: The Facts Behind The Phaseout para18).
The thinning ozone layer allows a greater amount of ultraviolet radiation to pass through the atmosphere and reach earths surface. This poses many health risks to people and can affect their everyday life. Overexposure to the suns radiation can cause some types of skin cancer. The EPA states in their sunwise program that melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, is the fastest growing forms of cancer in the U.S. The other forms of skin cancer are basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas; basal cell carcinomas are the most common forms of skin cancer tumors, they can penetrate the bone and cause severe damage, squamous cell carcinoma can grow in large masses and spread to many other parts of the body (Health Affects of Overexposure to the Sun Para3). Other types of health affects from overexposure to UV radiation include: premature skin ageing, actinic keratoses skin growths, cataracts, and pterygium.
For the