> Wrong. It's been proven scientifically (a term you don't seem familiar
> with) that CFCs destroy the ozone layer. Gee, some fool could say the
> earth is flat too. Doesn't make it so. You might read up on the science
> of the situation before showing off your right-wing extremist views.
[snip]
I've been loosely following the CFC debate since it began several years
ago. From what I've seen, there is still some debate as to whether or not
CFC's actually destroy the ozone layer. What has been proven is:
Chlorine free radicals act as an ozone-destroying catalyst.
Under certain conditions, R-12 Freon can release its chlorine atoms.
If I remember correctly, chlorine free radicals are considered a major
ozone depleter in the stratosphere, moving from one ozone molecule to the
next and releasing the third Oxygen atom as a free radical.
At the same time, I've also read about a number of volcanoes in the world
that emit HCl among other gasses, particularly one near the antarctic
circle. Some of these volcanoes easily send up plumes into the jet streams
and some of their gasses penetrate the stratosphere.
Supersonic aircraft flying at high altitudes are also suspected as possible
ozone depleters.
To-date, I haven't seen anything so far proving that breakdown of
dichloro-difluoro-methane occurs in the upper atmosphere. This isn't to
say that the research hasn't been done and that the proof exists. I just
haven't seen it yet.
At the same time, I currently don't have a problem with using the new
refrigerant in my '95 Saturn, and my '66 Mustang doesn't have an A/C,
so I guess I'm currently in good shape.
I've seen both the media as well as research scientists balloon facts
in order to get attention (Pons-Fleischmann is a good example), so I'm
going to just wait and see for now. If R-12 is a major contributor to
ozone depletion, then it would be a good idea to not produce it. If not,
it takes less energy to produce/use R-12 than many other types of Freon,
so if it's found to not be a factor, then the conservationist position
would probably reverse its position and suggest it over other refrigerants.
--
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David W. Webb
"He who dies with the most toys still dies." -unknown
Any correlation between my opinions and those of Texas Instruments is
purely coincidental. (I don't speak for TI)
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