Stratospheric Ozone Layer
Depletion
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Page 9
The Role of
Science
Contrary to the image created by the term
"ozone layer," the amount and distribution of ozone molecules in the
stratosphere vary greatly over the globe. Ozone molecules drift and swirl
around the stratosphere in changing concentrations. Therefore, scientists
observing ozone fluctuations over just one spot could not be confident that a
change in local ozone levels meant an alteration in global ozone levels, or
simply a fluctuation in the concentration over that particular spot.
In December of l974 the first government
hearings in the United States were held on the CFC-ozone theory. These hearings
were the opening volley in a war over CFCs in the United States and around the
globe. Many governmental and non-governmental agencies worked to find answers
to the questions raised by the Rowland and Molina theory. Once enough
scientists agreed to the idea that CFCs could deplete stratospheric ozone,
these groups began working to ban CFCs.
Many companies saw that CFCs were dangerous and
not essential to their product lines. These companies voluntarily banned CFCs.
Both state and federal governments moved to give the CFC ban the force of law
in the following years.
Even so, there was still debate over the extent
to which CFCs actually destroyed the ozone layer. In
August, 1981 NASA scientist Donald Heath announced that satellite records
showed ozone over the earth had declined 1 percent. From that point on, there
was little question that there was a problem and that something needed to be
done about it. Unfortunately, the political process did not act swiftly enough
for some and moved too quickly for others. Though the scientific facts had been
debated for over ten years, there was still no clear plan of action.
Satellites had given scientists the ability to
overcome the problem of uncertainty because they provide a picture of what is
happening simultaneously over the entire Earth. However, the speed of ozone
depletion was still debated and only slowly was the seriousness of the ozone
depletion problem realized. Even the ozone hole did not seem to give enough
force to the arguments for banning CFCs. Many different theories were
postulated to explain the problem. In the end, CFCs were blamed and the global
consensus began to build behind the idea that CFCs should be banned. Scientists
had finally conceded that though there were natural forces at work that could
deplete ozone, human interference in the natural cycles had accelerated the
process of ozone destruction. Without some type of action, the ozone layer
would continue to deteriorate until it was no longer able to protect the
surface of the Earth from ultraviolet radiation.
