Man-made CFCs Are Jeopardizing Our Future

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

foam and plastic insulation, and in industrial solvents (Caldara 20).
Industry began using CFCs in the World War II era. In 1973, atmospheric chemists F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina of the University of California at Irvine postulated the connection between ozone depletion and CFCs. Although CFCs were found to be harmful to the ozone twenty three years ago they are still in active use today. According to The Alliance of Responsible CFC Policy, the value of the annual production of these chemicals in the U.S. alone plus the materials and services directly dependent on them is $135 billion (Caldara 21).
The ozone layer is a fragile swath of gas that absorbs almost all of the harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation emanating from the sun. It shields our planet like a blanket. The destruction of this protective layer can largely be blamed on the presence of CFCs in the atmosphere. CFCs are molecules that are comprised of one or more carbon atoms, to which are attached chlorine ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

layer exists. It materializes over Antarctica each September, and scientists have noted it has worsened each year since 1979 (Caldara 19). In the late 1980s, the gap was two times the size of the continental United States. Ozone losses have been documented in other areas of the world as well. An average yearly loss of three percent of ozone has been noticed above Arosa, Switzerland, for at least 10 years. Seven hundred miles from the North Pole, over Spitzbergen, Norway, a hole one-third the size of Antarctica's has been pinpointed. All of which have been caused by the presence of CFCs in the atmosphere (Caldara 19).
NASA reports that the ozone layer has already declined more than ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: