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A few days ago I read an article in our very own Whyville Times about
the hole in the ozone layer. The writer, Arnan argued that we should
bring back factories
that create CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons, in case you didn't read his
article). CFCs are not only produced by factories, they are produced by
many other things such as perfumes, car pollution, old refrigerators
and aerosol cans.
I was outraged! The
ozone hole is a major problem, and should not be ignored.
It's been about a billion years since ozone molecules began protecting
life on Earth from the effects of the sun's ultraviolet rays. According
to what I've read, humans just began to do things that really do damage
to the ozone later during the
past 60 years or so.
Turns out that only 10 out of every million molecules of air are ozone.
You can find most ozone in a layer of the stratosphere between 6 and 25
miles (10 and 40
kilometres) up.
As Arnan explained, each spring over Antarctica, the ozone layer is
rapidly destroyed by CFCs.
Arnan said that since Antarctica is an
uninhabited continent, the hole
in the ozone layer affects no one. Unfortunately, it definitely affects
Australians. While Australia
does not have the hole directly above it, high amounts of UV are still
poured all over the country, to the point where it can be unhealthy to
be on their beaches, farms and non-shaded
areas. Many people not only in Australia but around the world have
been diagnosed with skin cancer due to the effects of the ozone layer.
The ozone hole does grow, because it
is basically "fueled" by CFCs. Each year, we use more and more CFCs.
I do understand that we need some factories that use CFCs, but there
are now factories that are much more efficient and environmentally
safer that use less CFCs to create their product. As the Editor
said, there are now fridges that don't use any CFCs. If we all cut
down on our hairsprays and perfumes, if more people started using
electric cars and we all started thinking about the environment a bit
more, we could live in a healthier world.
Thanks!
From SallyBabe
p.s. This is not meant to be an attack at anyone who feels the same
way that Arnan does. I am just simply explaining the other side of the
story.
Editor's
Note: It appears most of SallyBabe's information came from this
website: http://www.theozonehole.com/.
SallyBabe, thanks for bringing up this very important scientific
evidence; next time we'd love it if you shared your sources with us.
Thanks!
In looking into this topic, I also found some news about cancer in
Australia: http://www.cancer.org.au/content.cfm?randid=960742.
One question: Is the U.S. and Canada still producing many CFCs? For
example, how mahy hairsprays still use CFCs?
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