Stratospheric Ozone Layer
Depletion
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Introduction
Though the ozone depletion story is one of scientific
and technological advancement, it also is important to understand the social
factors involved in its creation and solution. This case study begins with a brief bit of history about the
creation of the first refrigerator.
Throughout the entire case, it is important to keep in mind the terms
and thought processes presented in class so that they can be used to understand
the decisions made and how the problems faced by different people through time
were solved. At various points in the
past, people have felt that they knew the truth or had the answer to a problem
only to find the information was incomplete and that much more was still to be
discovered. Even today, the
problem of the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer is still being
debated and solutions that most effective deal with all of the technical and
social problems are being sought. For
now, we have answers that are working but only if everyone abides by the social
contracts entered into on our behalf by the governments of the world. In order to better understand why these
contracts have been made, what they entail and what might happen if they are
broken, we must begin with an invention from almost 150 years ago, the refrigerator.
The First Refrigerator
In
the spring of 1851 Dr. John Gorrie put Gay-Lusac 's variation of the ideal gas
law into practice when he invented the first working refrigeration unit. Gorrie
was a physician in Florida trying to combat malaria. At that time, spoiled food
was suspected as a cause of the disease. Having a good knowledge of science,
money to spend, and time to devote to his interest in inventing, Gorrie set to work
on his idea of a 'cool box'. The would-be inventor looked at the variation of
the ideal gas law that Gay-Lusac derived. In terms of practical applications,
this formula says that if a gas is allowed to expand, it will consume heat from
the surroundings. Gorrie reasoned that if the surroundings were isolated, the
cooling effect could be utilized to produce ice, which could be used to keep
food from spoiling. Using a steam pump, Gorrie assembled the first
refrigeration unit.
Unfortunately,
his idea was good but his design poor. His refrigerator did not have much
success, but the idea of keeping things cool by utilizing the cooling power of
an expanding gas would not be easily lost. Gorrie died without seeing his idea
put into productive use, but he had started something that, with a little help
from scientists and industrialists, would become an integral part of American
life.
The goal of the endeavor that led to the
creation of the refrigerator was to stop malaria. Unfortunately, the decisions made were based on faulty
assumptions and poor scientific knowledge of the medical causes of
malaria. Though the new technology
was very successful at keeping things cool and so preserving food, it did not
stop malaria. The disease was not
caused by spoiled food. This does
not mean that the technology created—refrigerators, air conditioners, and many
other things—were not useful. No
matter hw successful the by products of the problem solving process might be, the
problem of malaria was not solved.
If the goal had been to preserve food and not stop malaria, the goal
would have been reached. Due to the
faulty assumption, the technology created did not work in the way it had been intended. This illustrates the difference between
problem solving and research and why both are vital to advancements in technology.
