CHAPTER SEVENTEENGreenhouse Gases Disappear
The effect of not building more coal-fired utility generating stations and removing internal combustion engine cars from the road is already having a profound positive effect on lowering greenhouse gases (GHG). In this chapter, I'll look at some GHG projections into the future.
Of all the nasty things humans have done to damage the earth, creating a giant hole in the ozone layer is near or at the top of the list. The ozone layer protects our planet from receiving too much ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Excessive UV radiation is known to cause cataracts, skin cancer, plant damage, and immune system suppression. Two years after the reports of the scientists who discovered the hole were confirmed, several nations reacted quickly to solve the problem by signing the Montreal Protocol in 1987. The protocol ultimately banned chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), nasty chemicals that deplete ozone.
However, a new study done by NASA confirms that the hole in the ozone layer is finally closing. The hole is now the smallest it has been since 1988. This data comes from the Aura satellite, which has been measuring the levels of the nasty chemicals that created the hole in the first place. The study was published in January 2018 in Geophysical Research Letters and shows that a drop in ozone-depleting chemicals has translated into a depletion that is 20 percent less than it was in 2005.
Susan Strahan, who works at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center and is an atmospheric ...