Immortality Essay Example For Students

Immortality Essay The Ozone Layer: a Hole in the Theory. Some scientists have proclaimed that the human race is slowly depleting the layer of ozone which protects us from ultra violet light. In reality, humans have very little control of the world in which we live. Scientific evidence has shown that there is very little depletion in the ozone layer and the contributions the human race makes towards this depletion is and always will be insignificant compared to nature. The theories of the depletion and what it would cause are flawed and contradictory. Where and when did this global killing threat begin? It all began in the mid 1960s when the United States government began pursuing super sonic transports. These would be planes which would travel in the stratosphere, very close to the ozone layer. The first environmentalist complaints were actually of the noise factor. These large planes would be traveling in excess of the speed of sound. Subsequently there would be sonic booms heard on the surface (Singer). The arguments fell on deaf ears in Washington. The next objection came in the form of ozone depletion. A fleet of over 500 of these planes would ultimately destroy the ozone. This would allow more ultra violet radiation to fall to the earth and in turn skin cancer rates would sky rocket. That was more than enough for the federal government to get involved, they immediately canceled the project. At that time there was no study done to investigate these claims, but there has been since. The initial estimation was that a fleet of 5 00 SSTs would effectively reduce the ozone layer seventy percent. In the 1970s that number fell to ten percent. With the emergence of the Concorde, which is a SST, in the 1980s, studies were done that show the emissions from these planes actually insulate the ozone layer and prevent it from being depleted (Singer). There is irony in the fact that the initial claim of ozone depletion, actually turned out to aid it. This isnt the only piece of irony when it comes to the ozone. The second part of the initial claim said that ultra violet light would fall on the earth and cancer rates would go up. One could claim that melanoma rate have gone up within the past years because melanoma rates have increased 800% since statistics were first collected in 1935. Unfortunately there has been no corresponding change in the ozone layer or the amount of UV light reaching the surface. To the contrary, UV levels have been on the decline at every test center (Singer). Also the fact that indoor workers have a twenty-one percent higher chance to get melanoma than outdoor workers, further supports the fact that UV rays themselves do not induce melanoma (Howard). Another piece of irony, the SSTs cause ozone depletion, which in turn cause UV rays to increase. And UV rays equal cancer, right? Paragraph on the current measurements of the ozone and what scientists believe cause the changes in thickness. When SSTs were no longer an issue the scientific community was still concerned about this claim of depleting the ozone layer. They began to look at what else could cause this depletion and at this time compiled a list of ozone gases. Ozone gases have now become a term associated with those awful gases which destroy the human races only protection from the sun and its deadly UV rays. What are these gases though? Where do they come from? The most commonly referred to of gases are CFCs. These gases are Fluorocarbons. CFCs come from commonly used items such as aerosol cans, refrigerators, and air conditioners. Believers in the depletion theory believe that humans release these gases and they go into the atmosphere and neutralize the chemicals that hold the ozone together. Thus holes begin to emerge and in turn the whole world is doomed. One study in 1959 stated that if the fluorocarbon industry continues to grow at its twenty-two percent rate between 1960 and 1972, then by 1995 the ozone would be depleted by over forty percent (Ponte). Well the industry grew at over twenty-two percent during those years and yet there hasnt been a forty percent decrease in ozone. Not even a thirty, or even a fifteen and even ten is too large. In actuality the measurements now show a six percent increase (Bidinotto). Yes an increase! The other amazing fact is that in 1976 an Alaskan volcano spewed 570 times the worlds CFC production (Begely). That means in a matter of days this one volcano produced more CFCs than the human race has in the last 570 years. Some scientists argue that volcanoes cant actually propel these gases far enough into the atmosphere to cause any damage. If this is truly the case, how am I then supposed to believe that my little can of deodorant actually can? In trying to defend their claim they actually disprove what it was they were saying in the first place. The other major gas claimed to deplete the ozone layer is chlorine. This claim is very easy to discredit . Chlorine gas weighs two and a half times more than air. It would take tremendous amounts of force to put it high enough into the air to effect the ozone (Singer). As I look out onto the deserted street below me, n EssayThe ozone depletion theory began in an attempt to prevent a fleet of SSTs from being implemented. The theory has changed as the times and evidence produce contradictions. The new theory has become as much political as it has scientific. One of President Clintons top advisors recently said, We have to follow this greenhouse effect issue even if it is wrong. We will be doing the right thing in terms of economic and environmental policy (Limbaugh). With all the contradictory evidence how is it we still believe? Humans have a need to know that they can effect the environment around them. Scientists and politicians have fed off this and given us a sense of control. In reality though we have no control over the ozone layer. Source Cited Begely, Sharon. Is the Ozone Hole in Our Heads? News Week October 11, 1993: pg. 71. Bindotto, Robert Ozone and Objectivity Online. November 20, 1996Can We Delay a Greenhouse Warming? United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1983 Limbaugh, Rush. See I Told You So. New York: Pocket Books a division of Simon and Schuster Inc. 1993Lutgens, Fredrick K. and Tarback, Edward J. The Atmosphere NJ Prentic-Hall, Inc. 1986 pg. 189- 195. Singer, Fred, S. Ph.D. My Adventures in the Ozone Layer. Online November 18,1997 Ponte, Lowell. The Cooling NJ Prentice- Hall Inc., 1976 Haimson, Lepnie, Oppenheimer, Michael, and Wilcove, David The Way Things Really Are Online. BibliographySource Cited Begely, Sharon. Is the Ozone Hole in Our Heads? News Week October 11, 1993: pg. 71. Bindotto, Robert Ozone and Objectivity Online. November 20, 1996Can We Delay a Greenhouse Warming? United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1983 Limbaugh, Rush. See I Told You So. New York: Pocket Books a division of Simon and Schuster Inc. 1993Lutgens, Fredrick K. and Tarback, Edward J. The Atmosphere NJ Prentic-Hall, Inc. 1986 pg. 189- 195. Singer, Fred, S. Ph.D. My Adventures in the Ozone Layer. Online November 18,1997 Ponte, Lowell. The Cooling NJ Prentice- Hall Inc., 1976 Haimson, Lepnie, Oppenheimer, Michael, and Wilcove, David The Way Things Really Are Online. Science