This is a very shortened version of her explanation.
There is some hope that we can collectivly get CO2, methane and other greenhouse gasses under control and avoid the very worse of climate change.
A series of opinion pieces on, mostly climate change and related subjects to do with New Zealand.
I asked a scientist friend of mine who works on the UN agreement to limit the use of CFC’s gasses, which are used in refrigerators and cause the hole in the ozone layer. ‘Why is it that the industrial Northern hemisphere countries emit the CFC’s and we, in the Southern Ocean have the hole in the ozone layer and its lack of protection exposes us to cancer from sunburn’. This is a very shortened version of her explanation. CFC gas is released in the Northern hemisphere and because the gas is light it rises into the upper atmosphere with warm air and, in the strong circulating upper atmosphere winds, it is carried down to the equator where it crosses to the Southern hemisphere. The CFC’s have a chemical reaction that kills ozone when exposed to extreme cold and UV light. Antarctica is different to the North Pole because it is very high and as a result it is very cold. In the spring when the sun returns to the South Pole, with the combination of the UV light and extreme cold the CFC’s react with the Ozone and destroy it. The circular motion of the Southern Ocean winds holds the ozone depleted hole in the atmosphere in position and stops it being repaired by fresh ozone, which means that there is a single large region that has no ozone in the upper atmosphere. The North pole does have depleted ozone regions but they are smaller and split into two or three patches. The very fact that the countries of the world came together to reach an agreement to stop using CFC's and use a less harmful gas was incredible. Then, when they realised that the CFC replacement was also a harmful greenhouse gas, they came to a new agreement and adopted a gas that had almost zero greenhouse gas emissions.
There is some hope that we can collectivly get CO2, methane and other greenhouse gasses under control and avoid the very worse of climate change.
8 Comments
2/7/2017 11:10:51 am
I am afraid that the world is going backwards in science.
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Bob Bristow
3/7/2017 07:59:13 pm
In case you find it of interest I attach an article from the U.A.E's English paper regarding Evolution also being dropped from state school biology, although the article states it is to make room for teachings regarding advances in DNA, it does suggest a religious conflict. Non state schools and higher education facilities are free to teach Darwin however. I understand that in the U.S believers in creationism are more likely to doubt AGW, not sure that is true in the UAE where AGW is generally accepted. On a personal basis I was never taught Darwin's theory of evolution, but I have no problem understanding what the industrial revolution has created in our world. I spent a large proportion of my life working in the UAE so feel I can make a statement regarding the country.
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Bob Bingham
7/7/2017 04:44:48 pm
The world situation is not as bad as it might appear if you are based in the USA. World wide extreme religion is failing as people become more educated and have a broader view. The USA is going backwords, its true, and the rest of the world is looking on in amazement at the ignorance of the president and his advisers. The problem for the USA and the UK is that a small number of people control the media and believe that they can manipulate the people. They have done well recently but I suspect that the people will fight back in the next few years and return to a more secular and social way of government.
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Bob Bristow
3/7/2017 03:17:05 pm
Thinking back to the Montreal protocol which went into effect on January 1st 1989, it was amazing how quickly industry pulled together and phased out the regulated substances. It does give us hope that we can do the same for CO2 and other GHG's. However it is not all good on the effort to recover our ozone defenses, there are still unregulated destroyers being released, hold off with the champagne, we are not quite there yet.
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Bob Bingham
7/7/2017 04:33:28 pm
Hello Bob. The agreement banning CFC's gives us hope and then the replacements to CFC's have also been banned so the world can act together when it matters. Even the USA pulling out of the Paris agreement will not divert the worlds efforts. In fact I think that it has highlighted the problem and made many countries realise the seriousness of the problem and try harder.
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20/7/2017 04:43:40 pm
1. Evolution.
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24/7/2017 05:29:46 am
#global_warming #KüreselIsınma #rainfall #Yağış
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Bob Bingham
26/7/2017 07:35:49 am
Thanks for the link Dennis. As the world warms threats come from many unexpected places.
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