This article is deeply flawed.
See why below
Ozone hole over Antarctica grows again
John Vidal
Tuesday November 4 2008
Stratospheric levels of harmful CFCs will take between 40 and 100 years to dissipate and have only dropped a few per cent since reaching a peak in 2000, scientists warn
The ozone hole over Antarctica grew to the size of North America this year – the fifth largest on record – according to the latest satellite observations.
US government scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say this year's ozone hole reached its maximum level on September 12, extending to 10.5m sq miles and four miles deep.
That is bigger than 2007 but smaller than 2006, when the hole covered over 11.4m sq miles.
Scientists blamed colder-than-average temperatures in the stratosphere for the ozone hole's unusually large size this year.
"Weather is the most important factor in the fluctuation of the size of the ozone hole from year to year," said Bryan Johnson, a scientist at NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, which monitors ozone, ozone-depleting chemicals, and greenhouse gases around the globe.
"How cold the stratosphere is and what the winds do determine how powerfully the chemicals can perform their dirty work."
The main cause of the ozone hole is human-produced compounds called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which release ozone-destroying chlorine and bromine into the atmosphere.
The Earth's protective ozone layer acts like a giant parasol, blocking the sun's ultraviolet-B rays.
Though banned for the past 21 years to reduce their harmful build up, CFCs still take many decades to dissipate from the atmosphere
The 1987 Montreal Protocol and other regulations banning CFCs reversed the build-up of chlorine and bromine, first noticed in the 1980s.
"These chemicals – and signs of their reduction – take several years to rise from the lower atmosphere into the stratosphere and then migrate to the poles," said NOAA's Craig Long, a research meteorologist at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction.
"The chemicals also typically last 40 to 100 years in the atmosphere. For these reasons, stratospheric CFC levels have dropped only a few per cent below their peak in the early 2000s."
"The decline of these harmful substances to their pre–ozone hole levels in the Antarctic stratosphere will take decades," said NOAA atmospheric chemist Stephen Montzka of the Earth System Research Laboratory.
"We don't expect a full recovery of Antarctic ozone until the second half of the century."
Starting in May, as Antarctica moves into a period of 24-hour-a-day darkness, winds create a vortex of cold, stable air centred near the South Pole that isolates CFCs over the continent.
When spring sunshine returns in August, the sun's ultraviolet light sets off a series of chemical reactions inside the vortex that consume the ozone.
The colder and more isolated the air inside the vortex, the more destructive the chemistry.
By late December the southern summer is in full swing, the vortex has crumbled, and the ozone has returned – until the process begins anew the following winter.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008
This article above is deeply flawed because it is relying on faulty science
There is no scientific basis to believe that CFCs are the sole cause of ozone depletion
Many factors go into the creation and depletion of ozone:
The Sun
Temperature
Long wave emissions
The creation of pollution belts around the planet within the troposphere, these pollution belts caused by many variants of global warming chemicals such as methane
Chemicals seeping into the stratosphere from earth, from aircraft emissions, and other pollutants
There is no scientific basis to accepting that ozone depletion is in any way receding
Ozone hole over Antarctica November 1, 2008 The ozone hole on November 1, 2008, the ozone hole is recovering from its September minimum Photo: NASA
The ozone hole on November 1, 2008: the hole is recovering from its September minimum
Photo: NASA
The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from sun
Most UVA, UVB, and UVC rays are converted by contact with the stratosphere ozone belt
Graphic on the ozone layer. Ozone layer filters dangerous ultra-violet rays coming from the sun. Man made pollutants burn a hole in the ozone layer. CFC and HCFC Halons Methyl bromide used in aerosols, refrigerants, air conditioning, extinguishers, agricultural pesticides. The U.S. is demanding methyl bromide not be banned despite the fact that the use of methyl bromide in developed countries was supposed to have been completely phased out by Jan. 1, 2005 under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Methyl bromide is a highly toxic fumigant pesticide which is injected into soil to sterilise it before planting crops. It is also used as a post-harvest decontaminate of products and storage areas. Although it is highly effective in eradicating pests such as nematodes, weeds, insects and rodents, it depletes the ozone layer and poses a danger to human health. While alternatives exist for more than 93 percent of the applications of methyl bromide, some countries such as the U.S., Japan and Israel claimed that because of regulatory restrictions, availability, cost and local conditions, they had little choice but to continue its use as a pest control. Picture: AFP/Graphic/Anibal MaizCaceres
Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening all the body if the thin level of stratosphere ozone ceases to renew
All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside
Most plant life will not be able to grow
All plants that provide food that humans and animals eat will not be able to grow
Stratosphere ozone renews from the Sun's rays, provided that the stratosphere warms sufficiently
Ozone holes are caused by the stratosphere remaining extremely cold
Increasingly long wave emissions reflecting from Earth are being stopped by global warming chemicals forming a barrier in the troposphere
One of these chemicals is carbon dioxide CO2
Stratosphere ozone is also destroyed by chemicals seeping outwards from Earth through the troposphere.
A major ozone destroying chemical is methyl bromide
 
Published on Friday, September 21, 2007 by Inter Press Service
The Chemical That Must Not Be Named
Delegates from 191 nations are on the verge of an agreement under the Montreal Protocol for faster elimination of ozone-depleting chemicals, but the United States insists it must continue to use the banned pesticide methyl bromide.
by Stephen Leahy
Women's college in Patna, India
‘It’s a black mark on this meeting.   It is the chemical that must not be named,’ said David Doniger, climate policy director at the Natural Resources Defence Council, a U.S. environmental group.
'There is a powerful lobby group of strawberry and vegetable growers in Washington,’ Doniger told IPS.
Methyl bromide is a highly toxic fumigant pesticide which is injected into soil to sterilise it before planting crops.
It is also used as a post-harvest decontaminate of products and storage areas.
Although it is highly effective in eradicating pests such as nematodes, weeds, insects and rodents, it depletes the ozone layer and poses a danger to human health.
While alternatives exist for more than 93 percent of the applications of methyl bromide, some countries such as the U.S., Japan and Israel claimed that because of regulatory restrictions, availability, cost and local conditions, they had little choice but to continue its use as a pest control.
And so despite the ban, the Montreal Protocol allows ‘critical use exemptions’ for countries to continue to use banned substances for a short period of time until they can find a substitute.
In 2006, the United States received an exemption to use 8,000 tonnes of methyl bromide, compared to 5,000 tonnes for the rest of the developed world combined.
At the 19th Meeting of the Parties here in Montreal, the committee reporting on methyl bromide use reported ‘excellent progress’ in the continuing phase-out of the chemical and that not many applications for critical use exemptions had been received.
The notable exception continues to be the U.S., which has applied for 6,500 tonnes for 2008 and 5,000 tonnes for 2009, even as the rest of the developed world has dropped significantly to just 1,900 and 1,400 tonnes, respectively.
A NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory image shows the Sun. The 186-nation treaty that protects Earth from the Sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays fetes its 20th anniversary Sunday, with the US and Europe poised to call for an accelerated timetable for banning ozone-depleting chemicals still in use. The U.S. is demanding methyl bromide not be banned despite the fact that the use of methyl bromide in developed countries was supposed to have been completely phased out by Jan. 1, 2005 under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Methyl bromide is a highly toxic fumigant pesticide which is injected into soil to sterilise it before planting crops. It is also used as a post-harvest decontaminate of products and storage areas. Although it is highly effective in eradicating pests such as nematodes, weeds, insects and rodents, it depletes the ozone layer and poses a danger to human health. While alternatives exist for more than 93 percent of the applications of methyl bromide, some countries such as the U.S., Japan and Israel claimed that because of regulatory restrictions, availability, cost and local conditions, they had little choice but to continue its use as a pest control. The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from the sun. UVA, UVB, and UVC rays if not stopped in their maximum intensity from reaching Earth by stratosphere ozone would mean Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening all the body. All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside. Most plant life will not be able to grow, including all plants that provide food that humans and animals eat. Photo: NASA

A NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory image shows the Sun.
The 186-nation treaty that protects Earth from the Sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays fetes its 20th anniversary Sunday, with the US and Europe poised to call for an accelerated timetable for banning ozone-depleting chemicals still in use.
The U.S. is demanding methyl bromide not be banned despite the fact that the use of methyl bromide in developed countries was supposed to have been completely phased out by Jan. 1, 2005 under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
Methyl bromide is a highly toxic fumigant pesticide which is injected into soil to sterilise it before planting crops.
It is also used as a post-harvest decontaminate of products and storage areas.
Although it is highly effective in eradicating pests such as nematodes, weeds, insects and rodents, it depletes the ozone layer and poses a danger to human health.
While alternatives exist for more than 93 percent of the applications of methyl bromide, some countries such as the U.S., Japan and Israel claimed that because of regulatory restrictions, availability, cost and local conditions, they had little choice but to continue its use as a pest control.
The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from the sun.
UVA, UVB, and UVC rays if not stopped in their maximum intensity from reaching Earth by stratosphere ozone would mean Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening over all the body.
All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside.
Most plant life will not be able to grow, including all plants that provide food that humans and animals eat.
Photo: NASA
The delegate from Switzerland expressed concern that some countries were asking for large amounts and that 40 percent of the stocks were not being used for critical uses.
The United States maintains a large inventory of methyl bromide in excess of 8,000 tonnes, but the U.S. representative said these would be used up by 2009.
Emissions of methyl bromide have an immediate impact on the ozone layer, noted Janos Mate of Greenpeace International.
‘Scientists think it has three to 10 times the impact of other chemicals,’ Mate told IPS
The ozone layer will be at its ‘most delicate’ over next few decades before it begins to significantly recover.
Climate change is slowing this recovery, and the impacts are not fully understood, he said.
The ozone layer is the part of the atmosphere 25 kilometres up that acts as a shield protecting life on Earth from damaging ultraviolet rays, which can cause sunburns, skin cancer and cataracts.
The rays can also harm marine life.
In the past two years, ozone holes larger than Europe have opened over the Antarctic and Southern Ocean.
Thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from sun
Most UVA, UVB, and UVC rays are converted by contact with stratosphere ozone belt
Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening all the body
All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside
Most plant life will not be able to grow
All plants that provide food that humans and animals eat will not be able to grow
Canisters of Methyl Bromide The 186-nation treaty that protects Earth from the Sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays fetes its 20th anniversary Sunday, with the US and Europe poised to call for an accelerated timetable for banning ozone-depleting chemicals still in use. The U.S. is demanding methyl bromide not be banned despite the fact that the use of methyl bromide in developed countries was supposed to have been completely phased out by Jan. 1, 2005 under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Methyl bromide is a highly toxic fumigant pesticide which is injected into soil to sterilise it before planting crops. It is also used as a post-harvest decontaminate of products and storage areas. Although it is highly effective in eradicating pests such as nematodes, weeds, insects and rodents, it depletes the ozone layer and poses a danger to human health. While alternatives exist for more than 93 percent of the applications of methyl bromide, some countries such as the U.S., Japan and Israel claimed that because of regulatory restrictions, availability, cost and local conditions, they had little choice but to continue its use as a pest control. The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from the sun. UVA, UVB, and UVC rays if not stopped in their maximum intensity from reaching Earth by stratosphere ozone would mean Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening all the body. All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside. Most plant life will not be able to grow, including all plants that provide food that humans and animals eat.

Canisters of Methyl Bromide.
The 186-nation treaty that protects Earth from the Sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays fetes its 20th anniversary Sunday, with the US and Europe poised to call for an accelerated timetable for banning ozone-depleting chemicals still in use.
The U.S. is demanding methyl bromide not be banned despite the fact that the use of methyl bromide in developed countries was supposed to have been completely phased out by Jan. 1, 2005 under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
Methyl bromide is a highly toxic fumigant pesticide which is injected into soil to sterilise it before planting crops.
It is also used as a post-harvest decontaminate of products and storage areas.
Although it is highly effective in eradicating pests such as nematodes, weeds, insects and rodents, it depletes the ozone layer and poses a danger to human health.
While alternatives exist for more than 93 percent of the applications of methyl bromide, some countries such as the U.S., Japan and Israel claimed that because of regulatory restrictions, availability, cost and local conditions, they had little choice but to continue its use as a pest control.
The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from the sun.
UVA, UVB, and UVC rays if not stopped in their maximum intensity from reaching Earth by stratosphere ozone would mean Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening over all the body.
All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside.
Most plant life will not be able to grow, including all plants that provide food that humans and animals eat.
The World Metrological Organisation reported this week that the hole is back and bigger than ever.
And it could grow larger as spring returns to the southern hemisphere.
Climate change appears to playing a role in the formation of these holes.
Paradoxically, as the Earth warms at the surface, in the polar regions the upper atmosphere is getting colder, creating just the right conditions for chemicals like chlorine and bromine to destroy ozone.
Last year, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder discovered that winds circling high above the far northern hemisphere have a much greater impact on upper stratospheric ozone levels than previously thought.
Those winds appear to be increasing with climate change, translating into less ozone in the upper stratosphere.
Meantime, the U.S. growers lobby group is upset that the U.S. delegation isn’t pushing for higher volumes of methyl bromide, claiming that they could get far higher amounts under the Protocol’s rules because economically viable alternatives are not yet available.
‘It’s time to inject some common sense into this process,’ said Charles Hall of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association in a statement.
U.S. growers have never understood that methyl bromide is destroying the ozone layer, said Doniger.
Italy, Greece and Spain have nearly eliminated their use in agriculture, he added.
‘We’re all suffering with a thinner ozone layer just to benefit a few U.S. companies,’ said Mate.
© 2007 IPS - Inter Press Service
Ozone around the world, September 23, 2007 Photo: NASA
Ozone around the world, October 1, 2009 Photo: NASA
The ozone hole as seen over the Antarctic is caused by a lack of ozone in the stratosphere over the Antarctic area
The lack of ozone in the stratosphere over the Antarctic is caused by the temperature over the Antarctic becoming very low
Graphic on the ozone layer. Ozone layer filters dangerous ultra-violet rays coming from the sun. Man made pollutants burn a hole in the ozone layer. CFC and HCFC Halons Methyl bromide used in aerosols, refrigerants, air conditioning, extinguishers, agricultural pesticides. The U.S. is demanding methyl bromide not be banned despite the fact that the use of methyl bromide in developed countries was supposed to have been completely phased out by Jan. 1, 2005 under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Methyl bromide is a highly toxic fumigant pesticide which is injected into soil to sterilise it before planting crops. It is also used as a post-harvest decontaminate of products and storage areas. Although it is highly effective in eradicating pests such as nematodes, weeds, insects and rodents, it depletes the ozone layer and poses a danger to human health. While alternatives exist for more than 93 percent of the applications of methyl bromide, some countries such as the U.S., Japan and Israel claimed that because of regulatory restrictions, availability, cost and local conditions, they had little choice but to continue its use as a pest control. Picture: AFP/Graphic/Anibal MaizCaceres
Normal low Austral winter temperatures are intensified by heat waves being prevented from reaching the stratosphere from Earth by global warming chemicals in the troposphere.
This causes extreme low temperatures in the stratosphere over the Antarctic
The lack of ozone over the Antarctic is also due to the thin band of ozone in the stratosphere not replenishing sufficiently due to ozone destroying chemicals seeping from Earth.
The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from sun
Most UVA, UVB, and UVC rays are converted by contact with the stratosphere ozone belt
Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening all the body if the thin level of stratosphere ozone ceases to renew
All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside
Most plant life will not be able to grow
All plants that provide food that humans and animals eat will not be able to grow
Wildebeests walk to a pond at dusk in Amboseli national park, 188 miles southeast of Nairobi, Kenya, August 29, 2007. Africa is already suffering from the world failing to reduce global warming, with parts of the impoverished continent becoming uncultivable and uninhabitable. The 186-nation treaty that protects Earth from the Sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays fetes its 20th anniversary Sunday, with the US and Europe poised to call for an accelerated timetable for banning ozone-depleting chemicals still in use. The U.S. is demanding methyl bromide not be banned despite the fact that the use of methyl bromide in developed countries was supposed to have been completely phased out by Jan. 1, 2005 under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Methyl bromide is a highly toxic fumigant pesticide which is injected into soil to sterilise it before planting crops. It is also used as a post-harvest decontaminate of products and storage areas. Although it is highly effective in eradicating pests such as nematodes, weeds, insects and rodents, it depletes the ozone layer and poses a danger to human health. While alternatives exist for more than 93 percent of the applications of methyl bromide, some countries such as the U.S., Japan and Israel claimed that because of regulatory restrictions, availability, cost and local conditions, they had little choice but to continue its use as a pest control. The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from the sun. UVA, UVB, and UVC rays if not stopped in their maximum intensity from reaching Earth by stratosphere ozone would mean Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening all the body. All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside. Most plant life will not be able to grow, including all plants that provide food that humans and animals eat. Photo: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters

                  slide cursor here

Wildebeests walk to a pond at dusk in Amboseli national park, 188 miles southeast of Nairobi, Kenya, August 29, 2007.
Africa is already suffering from the world failing to reduce global warming, with parts of the impoverished continent becoming uncultivable and uninhabitable.
The 186-nation treaty that protects Earth from the Sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays fetes its 20th anniversary Sunday, with the US and Europe poised to call for an accelerated timetable for banning ozone-depleting chemicals still in use.
The U.S. is demanding methyl bromide not be banned despite the fact that the use of methyl bromide in developed countries was supposed to have been completely phased out by Jan. 1, 2005 under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
Methyl bromide is a highly toxic fumigant pesticide which is injected into soil to sterilise it before planting crops.
It is also used as a post-harvest decontaminate of products and storage areas.
Although it is highly effective in eradicating pests such as nematodes, weeds, insects and rodents, it depletes the ozone layer and poses a danger to human health.
While alternatives exist for more than 93 percent of the applications of methyl bromide, some countries such as the U.S., Japan and Israel claimed that because of regulatory restrictions, availability, cost and local conditions, they had little choice but to continue its use as a pest control.
The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from the sun.
UVA, UVB, and UVC rays if not stopped in their maximum intensity from reaching Earth by stratosphere ozone would mean Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening over all the body.
All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside.
Most plant life will not be able to grow, including all plants that provide food that humans and animals eat.
Photo: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
Stratosphere ozone renews from the Sun's rays, provided that the stratosphere warms sufficiently
Ozone holes are caused by the stratosphere remaining extremely cold
Increasingly long wave emissions reflecting from Earth are being stopped by global warming chemicals forming a barrier in the troposphere
One of these chemicals is carbon dioxide CO2
Stratosphere ozone is also destroyed by chemicals seeping outwards from Earth through the troposphere.
A major ozone destroying chemical is methyl bromide
The loss of the ozone layer
Polar Stratospheric Clouds - NASA Archive The 2006 ozone hole area has now beaten an all time record of 28 million square kilometres reached in 2000. Data from European Space Agency Envisat satellite show that some 40 million tonnes of ozone were lost during the 2006 southern hemisphere winter. This is one million tonnes greater than the ozone loss previous record of 2000. A satellite has detected record losses of ozone over Antarctica 2006, the European Space Agency said on Monday, further damaging the shield that protects the Earth from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays. NASA stated that from September 21 to 30, 2006 the average area of the ozone hole was the largest ever observed, at 10.6 million square miles. Scientists from NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., use balloon-borne instruments to measure ozone directly over the South Pole. By Oct. 9, 2006 the total column ozone had plunged to 93 DU from approximately 300 DU in mid-July. More importantly, nearly all of the ozone in the layer between eight and 13 miles above the Earth's surface had been destroyed. In this critical layer, the instrument measured a record low of only 1.2 DU., having rapidly plunged from an average non-hole reading of 125 DU in July and August. Ozone in the stratosphere is an extremely important factor — one of the basic elements that has allowed the creation of animal and plant life on the planet. Greenhouse gases, though minor components of the atmosphere, have an enormous influence on the troposphere and stratosphere. Photo: NASA Archive
Polar Stratospheric Clouds
Photo: NASA Archive
Surrounding planet Earth are different atmospheres.
Exosphere is a transitional zone that separates Earth from space.
Thermosphere and Mesosphere are the adjacent atmospheres as you move towards Earth.
Closest to the planet are the Stratosphere and Troposphere, the troposphere being the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the site of our weather, our rain and our wind.
Observable phenomena, and knowledge of chemical reactions, have built a large database with regard to ozone depletion.   Much is known — the consequences of CFC’s, how ozone is built, how it is destroyed — but theoretical explanations still predominate.
What we do know is the Universe, including the Sun, releases stored energy in a range of alternating electric and magnetic fields.   Scientists have named the shortest detectable wavelengths Gamma rays and X-rays.   Ultraviolet waves are next on the spectrum:
    UVC in the 10 to 290 nanometer band,
    UVB, 290 to 320 nanometers,
    UVA, 320 to 400 nanometers.
2006
Visible light is in the 400 to 700 nanometer range.
Infrared waves are longer — 700 to 100,000 nanometers.
A nanometer is one billionth (109) of a meter.
Microwave and radio waves are the longest waves we have detected.
Radio telescopes have to be coordinated to catch the longer waves, but waves extending hundreds of kilometers are within this spectrum.
Ozone is produced naturally when oxygen absorbs the UVC end of the ultraviolet spectrum.
In the troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere, UV waves, chiefly from solar radiation, strike oxygen molecules O2 inducing the two oxygen atoms to split apart.
Freed atoms collide with other oxygen molecules, producing ozone — O3.
 O2+ UV= O+ O 
 O+ O2= O3   
A man walks past a display of paintings by students on the preservation of the ozone layer in Bangalore in 2002. 2006 sees greatest loss of ozone ever in the annual Antarctic summer Ozone hole. The last three years has seen the ozone hole over Antarctica equal or just below the all time record, 28 million square kilometres, roughly twice the size of Antarctica. The 2006 ozone hole area has beaten an all time record of 28 million square kilometres reached in 2000. Data from European Space Agency Envisat satellite show that some 40 million tonnes of ozone were lost during the 2006 southern hemisphere winter. This is one million tonnes greater than the ozone loss previous record of 2000. 'Such significant ozone loss requires very low temperatures in the stratosphere combined with sunlight,' ESA Atmospheric Engineer Claus Zehner said. 'This year's extreme loss of ozone can be explained by the temperatures above Antarctica reaching the lowest recorded in the area since 1979.' The largeness of the 2006 hole, combined with the most thinning of ozone reached in 1998, has resulted in a new depletion record for ozone in the stratosphere. The well published guess that the Ozone hole will begin to close by 2018 or become closed by 2060 is more a political wish of the US President and politicans in power in the US rather than science. Ozone in the stratosphere is an extremely important factor — one of the basic elements that has allowed the creation of animal and plant life on the planet. Greenhouse gases, though minor components of the atmosphere, have an enormous influence on the troposphere and stratosphere. Photo: AFP/Indranil Mukherjee

slide cursor here

A man walks past a display of paintings by students on the preservation of the ozone layer in Bangalore in 2002.
2006 sees greatest loss of ozone ever in the annual Antarctic summer Ozone hole.
The last three years has seen the ozone hole over Antarctica equal or just below the all time record, 28 million square kilometres, roughly twice the size of Antarctica.
The 2006 ozone hole area has beaten an all time record of 28 million square kilometres reached in 2000.
Data from European Space Agency Envisat satellite show that some 40 million tonnes of ozone were lost during the 2006 southern hemisphere winter. This is one million tonnes greater than the ozone loss previous record of 2000.
'Such significant ozone loss requires very low temperatures in the stratosphere combined with sunlight,' ESA Atmospheric Engineer Claus Zehner said.
'This year's extreme loss of ozone can be explained by the temperatures above Antarctica reaching the lowest recorded in the area since 1979.'
The largeness of the 2006 hole, combined with the most thinning of ozone reached in 1998, has resulted in a new depletion record for ozone in the stratosphere.
The well published guess that the Ozone hole will begin to close by 2018 or become closed by 2060 is more a political wish of the US President and politicans in power in the US rather than science.
Ozone in the stratosphere is an extremely important factor — one of the basic elements that has allowed the creation of animal and plant life on the planet.
Greenhouse gases, though minor components of the atmosphere, have an enormous influence on the troposphere and stratosphere.
Photo: AFP/Indranil Mukherjee
While most ozone is formed in the stratosphere, ozone close to the planet’s surface is produced by reactions involving hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, and sunlight.
Ozone itself is a very powerful oxidizing agent.   Used as bleach for waxes, oils and textiles, it is also a powerful germicide available to sterilize air and drinking water.
Reacting with other molecules it can severely damage living tissue, both of plants and animals.   Today, some of the most severest ozone concentrations are found over rural areas as well as cities.
Organic compounds emitted from vegetation and other sources are combining with nitrogen from power plants, industrial exhaust and automobiles to produce ozone.
The life systems that have evolved on Earth have done so under an umbrella of ozone in the stratosphere — the narrow ozone band in the stratosphere protecting us from the surge of UV waves emanating from space.
For eons, the chemistry of life on Earth has developed with less than 2% of UVB waves, and almost no UVC, reaching the surface.
Further ozone loss will seriously influence the biochemistry of nearly all surface life forms, and the food chain that has evolved to sustain much of ocean life.
What destroys ozone?
The ozone molecule is not particularly stable and can be easily separated through thermolytic and photolytic reactions.   Ultraviolet light energy striking the ozone molecule splits it into an oxygen molecule and a radical.   The free radical joins another ozone molecule to form two oxygen molecules, or joins another radical to from an oxygen molecule.
 O3 + UV = O2+ O 
 O + O = O2   
 O + O3 = O2+ O2 
The global exchange between ozone and oxygen is estimated to be as much as 300 million tons per day.   A natural balance in the stratosphere sustains a thin ozone layer.
Gasses and particulates destroy ozone.
Volcanic emissions are a natural way to destroy ozone.
If a volcanic eruption is strong enough it will send particulates and gases into the upper troposphere and stratosphere.
Scientists estimate that the Mount Pinatubo eruption in June 1991 had eruption columns at an altitude of 35 kilometers, higher than the average concentration layer of ozone.
Adding to this natural effect, two months later the volcanic Mount Hudson in southeast Chile erupted.
Volcanic eruptions are a natural phenomenon, a temporary loss of ozone that the Earth life system incorporates into its biosystem.
Carbonyl sulphide is a photochemical reaction of sulphur.
It contains organic compounds and was a major factor in causing the stratospheric ozone depletion of 1991/1992.
The ozone hole over Antarctica was the largest recorded following the two eruptions.
Recording of ozone has been taking place over the Antarctic for the past fifty years.
Volcanic emission particulates and chemicals are not the only factors involved in ozone depletion.
Chlorine and Bromine are known to be two major causes of recent ozone breakdown.
For instance, when a chlorine radical connects with ozone, it produces oxygen and chlorine oxide, ClO.
This begins a chain reaction where the chlorine oxide quickly releases the chlorine radical — which then attaches itself to another ozone molecule, producing a new oxygen molecule and chlorine oxide molecule, which quickly releases, and so on.
CFCs, halon, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, methyl bromide, methyl chloroform and carbon tetrachloride, all are recognized as manufactured compounds that when released into the atmosphere significantly destroy ozone.
With an increase in biomass burning, industrial, and waste management activities, and the use of fertilizer — tests have shown soil-borne microorganisms produce nitrogen oxides as a decay product — more nitrogen oxides are being released into the atmosphere.
While much of the nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide returns to the ground, nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, remains.   N2O acts as a greenhouse gas.   It also rises into the stratosphere where it is decomposed by UV radiation.   Some N2O is converted to NO.   Nitrogen oxide reacts catalytically with ozone to produce nitrogen dioxide and oxygen.
                          NO + O3 + UV = NO2 + O2
Aircraft as they fly around the world emit nitrogen oxides in their exhaust.   A chemical process takes place in the wake of the exhaust transforming fumes into particulates.   With an increasing number of planes flying near the tropopause, both nitrous oxide, and particulates, become readily available for transfer to the stratosphere.   Aircraft exhaust is a factor in Ozone depletion.
Cooling of the Stratosphere due to increased global warming.
Science is always a matter of conjecture, observable interactions amid a grouping of theories.   Theories, that in the absence of better theories, explain cause and effect relationships.
It has been determined through exacting measurements that the natural composition of air in the troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere, is almost the same: 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen.   The remaining 1% consists of Argon, H2O and smaller amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases and particulates.
The stratosphere has the same ratio of nitrogen to oxygen as the troposphere, but the stratosphere maintains a concentration of ozone at its center.
When ozone is produced, by the effect of oxygen reacting to UV, the new ozone molecule is in a high-energy state and will quickly dissociate unless it is de-excited.
Around the 35-kilometer level (about center of the stratosphere) enough ozone is produced that, bumping up against nitrogen and oxygen molecules, energy is released and the destabilized molecule becomes stable.
                           (Excited O3)  +  (N2, O2)  ->  O3
This produces heat at this concentrated layer, due to heat generated from UVB.
With more ozone produced there is more heat.
The heat rises into the higher stratosphere and some ozone is produced in the higher stratosphere and mesosphere because of UVB radiation.
However there are not enough nitrogen and oxygen molecules above the 40 kilometer level to provide the stabilization ozone needs.
There are far fewer UVB rays below 20 kilometers, (due to the stratospheric mid-band ozone layer almost completely absorbing the UV) therefore less production of excited ozone.
The layer of concentrated ozone therefore remains centered at its highest density at 35 kilometers.
Reduction in temperature is a factor in ozone being destroyed.
The stratosphere has much less water vapor than the troposphere, but there are seasonal variations.   Relatively high water vapor values are observed in the lower stratosphere during Northern Hemisphere summers and Southern Hemisphere winters.   This correlates with less ozone in both regions during this period.
It is believed water vapor acts in two ways to produce a depletion of ozone.   The water molecule is broken down, releasing reactive molecules that can destroy ozone.   Water vapor creates lower temperatures as it reaches the mid stratosphere.
The part of the surrounding circle of the stratosphere, the part that is over the Antarctic, is much colder than other areas, including that over the Arctic, (maximum cold in September).   When an increase of water vapor meets the extreme, -78° temperatures, stratospheric clouds begin to form.
These clouds, observed over both polar regions (over the Arctic, and lands near the Arctic Circle, in January, February, March) look silvery white.   A lustrous green and violet-red sheen forms at the edges.   The colorful appearance created by minute particles, measured in microns millionths of a meter, refracting visible light waves.
These particles hold high concentrations of nitric acid.   Scientists have recently detected larger particles, and they believe the larger particles fall through the ozone clouds helping to create a denitrification in the stratosphere.   The denitrification — the loss of nitrogen — causing less chemical reactions with O2, therefore less O3 in all areas the particles reach.
An added element in the Antarctic is the polar vortex that occurs in winter.
Winds in the stratosphere attain speeds as high as 100 meters per second.
The spiraling, whirling action of the wind creates isolation around the southern pole, allowing no replacement of ozone (from the warmer, rich, high producing stratospheric fields over the tropics) to enter.
Since the early 1980’s, a severe depletion of ozone has been occurring in the austral winter, springtime (June thru December).
Measurements of a progressive loss of ozone began to be documented in the 1950’s.   More than 50% depletion of ozone was first recorded in 1981.   This area of 50% thinning began to be labeled an ozone hole.   Today almost total destruction of ozone occurs in the atmosphere between 13 kilometers and 23 kilometers.
Lab tests show that chemical reactions from manufactured compounds accelerate the destruction of ozone.   In extreme cold temperatures, compounds such as CFC’s begin to react on the surface of stratospheric clouds, creating a chain reaction.  
When the stratosphere warms as spring progresses, the vortex of wind abates.
New stratospheric ozone formed over the warmer tropics enters to help refill the Antarctic.
The warming also allows nitrogen to be released from the frozen particulates in the stratospheric clouds.   Nitrogen also seeps up from the troposphere and from Earth.
The increased nitrogen reacts with O2 to form O3, building into enough of a concentration for ozone in the thin mid-band of the stratosphere to remain stable. troposhere
Ozone drawn from the tropics towards the poles — replenishing the heavy loss of ozone that is now occurring over both poles in their coldest months — is thought to be one reason for a general loss of ozone being seen in all areas of the planet.
Ozone and planetary stratospheric temperature levels are monitored daily.
Satellites, the space shuttle, space lab missions, aircraft expeditions, ozonesonde balloons, all provide data confirming a continuing reduction in what was considered normal seasonal levels of ozone.
2006 is the largest area and has the thinnest recorded levels of ozone
From September 21 to 30, the average area of the ozone hole was the largest ever observed, at 10.6 million square miles.
 40 million tonnes of ozone lost during the 2006 southern hemisphere winter
The largeness of the 2006 hole, combined with the most thinning of ozone has resulted in a new depletion record for ozone in the stratosphere.
2006 sees greatest loss of ozone ever
Ozone layer hits new depletion record October 2006
Graph of Ozone depletion as of October 19 2006.
Current year compared against past 10 years.
Ozone Hole depletion 2006 graph. Graph over four month period August thru November and part December. Current year compared against past 10 years. Red: 2006 depletion Blue 2005 depletion Green: 2003 depletion Dotted black line mean for past ten years 2006 the largest area and the thinnest recorded levels of ozone Previously 1998 had been the thinnest ozone hole has recorded, around 100 dobson units 2000 peaked at 28 million Sq Km, the previous largest area of ozone loss 40 million tonnes of ozone lost during the 2006 southern hemisphere winter The largeness of the 2006 hole, combined with the most thinning of ozone has resulted in a new depletion record for ozone in the stratosphere. Ozone layer hits new depletion record October 2006 2006 sees greatest loss of ozone ever. 2007, 2008, 2009 have seen similar slightly less losses. Photo: www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/polar/
October 1, 2009
Ozone Hole depletion years 2007 2008 and 2009 to October 1, 2009 graph. 2009 ozone hold depletion year compared over past ten years. Red: 2009 depletion Blue 2008 depletion Green: 2007 depletion Dotted black line mean for past ten years 2006 the largest area and the thinnest recorded levels of ozone Previously 1998 had been the thinnest ozone hole has recorded, around 100 dobson units 2000 peaked at 28 million Sq Km, the previous largest area of ozone loss 40 million tonnes of ozone lost during the 2006 southern hemisphere winter The largeness of the 2006 hole, combined with the most thinning of ozone has resulted in a new depletion record for ozone in the stratosphere. Ozone layer hits new depletion record October 2006 2006 sees greatest loss of ozone ever 2007, 2008, 2009 have seen similar slightly less losses. Photo: www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/polar/
Satellite measurements of Arctic ozone show it is 15% to 30% lower than typically observed in the years following 1979 — when satellite records began.
In 2000 the ozone hole in the Antarctic expanded to 28 million square kilometers, the largest area of depletion ever recorded.
The 2001 ozone hole spread to cover an area of 25 million square kilometers, with increased thinning inside and around its perimeter.
There was less thinning in the austral winter of 2002.   A slighter warming in the stratosphere possibly from a spin-off of the El Niño effect.
The ozone hole in September 2003, the month usually showing the lowest levels of the year over the Antarctic, grew rapidly and peaked in size at around 28 million square kilometres (roughly twice the size of Antarctica) in mid September.
The ozone holes of September 2004 and 2005 were recorded at between 22 and 25 million square kilometres but thinning as in 2000.
The 2006 ozone hole area is an all time record of 28 million square kilometres reached in 2000.
Data from European Space Agency Envisat satellite show that some 40 million tonnes of ozone were lost during the 2006 southern hemisphere winter.
This is one million tonnes greater than the ozone loss previous record of 2000.
The largeness of the 2006 hole, combined with an almost equal to the most thinning of ozone reached in 1998, has resulted in a new depletion record for ozone in the stratosphere.
Ozone layer hits new depletion record as of 2006
Ozone Hole September 24 2006. From September 21-30, 2006 the average area of the ozone hole was the largest ever observed, at 10.6 million square miles. This image, from Sept. 24, the Antarctic ozone hole was equal to the record single-day largest area of 11.4 million square miles, reached on Sept. 9, 2000. Satellite instruments monitor the ozone layer, and we use their data to create the images that depict the amount of ozone. The blue and purple colors are where there is the least ozone, and the greens, yellows, and reds are where there is more ozone. Photo: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/ozone_record.html
Ozone Hole September 24 2006.
From September 21-30, 2006 the average area of the ozone hole was the largest ever observed, at 10.6 million square miles.
This image, from Sept. 24, the Antarctic ozone hole was equal to the record single-day largest area of 11.4 million square miles, reached on Sept. 9, 2000. Satellite instruments monitor the ozone layer, and we use their data to create the images that depict the amount of ozone.
The blue and purple colors are where there is the least ozone, and the greens, yellows, and reds are where there is more ozone.
Scientists from NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., use balloon-borne instruments to measure ozone directly over the South Pole.
By Oct. 9, the total column ozone had plunged to 93 DU from approximately 300 DU in mid-July.
More importantly, nearly all of the ozone in the layer between eight and 13 miles above the Earth's surface had been destroyed.
In this critical layer, the instrument measured a record low of only 1.2 DU., having rapidly plunged from an average non-hole reading of 125 DU in July and August.
The numbers mean the ozone is virtually gone in this layer of the atmosphere said David Hofmann director of the Global Monitoring Division at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory.
      Photo: NASA      
While lowest values of ozone are still being recorded over East Antarctica, a greater depletion now extends to a wider area across the Southern Ocean.
As has previously been mentioned, global lowering of temperatures in the stratosphere correlates with increasing loss of ozone.
As mean global surface temperatures have increased, stratosphere temperatures have lowered.
Except for anomalies caused by the volcanic eruption of El Chichon in 1982, and Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, stratospheric temperatures continue to show a marked downward turn. The complexity of all factors that destroy ozone is still a mixing of theories.   Water vapor, reduced temperature, chemical and particulate reactions, all intermingle in these theories.
It is obvious volcanic eruptions warm the stratosphere, yet with this warming there is major ozone loss — due to increased particulates and chemicals reacting with ozone.
Longwave radiation
Despite the major effort to ban CFC’s, and other chemicals, there is at present only a slight decrease in chlorine (the destroyer of ozone).   Various chemicals continue to seep up from the troposphere.
Increasing polar stratospheric clouds, and a general lowering of stratospheric temperatures, is a trend that itself will create further ozone loss.
Another factor recently examined are bands of infrared waves.
Scientists can now detect long waves that they have not previously been able to record, thousands of miles in length, which are naturally emitted from earth.
These long waves create warmth if the radiation dissipates in the stratosphere.
Earth at night is cooled by long wave emissions flowing from the surface.
These emissions have in the past moved out from the troposphere into the stratosphere.
Now gasses in new temporary bands in the troposphere, (created by greenhouse gasses from Earth) are absorbing the long wave bands before they reach the stratosphere.
These screens are increasing.
Less long waves entering the stratosphere is one more factor in the lower temperatures of this region.
Lower temperatures in the stratosphere means less ozone is produced.
With fewer infrared long waves entering the stratosphere, with an increased emission of methane entering the stratosphere — methane is transformed into water — with carbon dioxide and methane enhancing the transport of water vapor into the stratosphere, there is further concern in the complexity to the loss of ozone.
An increasing intensity of radiation from the Sun.
Most incoming radiation from the Sun is reflected back to space.   UVB is absorbed by ozone, UVB and UVC by oxygen.   Plants and animals, the oceans and the ground itself, absorb what remains (previously only 2% of the UV rays coming from space).
Prior to a billion years ago, information on whatever life there was on Earth is sketchy.   Cyanobacteria fossils have been found that existed in the earlier time — when methane, ammonia, and other toxic gases surrounded the planet.   These bacteria as they grew and developed began to produce oxygen as a byproduct.
As the seas and oceans formed from water vapor gas, the water cooled and a widespread growth of algae began.   Vast quantities of oxygen drifted into the atmosphere, changing the atmospheric composition close to what it is today.   Organisms that existed in an atmosphere free of oxygen became extinct.
The Eukaryota — today’s animals, plants, fungi, and protist — began to appear.   Around 900 million years ago the first of what is classified as ancestors of the animal species began to develop.
It is believed that ozone, beginning to absorb most of the UVB radiation  (peaking early at 98%),  played a major role in life as we know it existing outside the oceans.
Plants, animals all began to evolve, with little or no immunity to UBV and UVC — because only 2% was getting through the mid-band ozone layer being maintained in the stratosphere.
Except for sporadic, high-energy volcanic eruption cycles — ozone quickly replenished by nature after the eruptions that caused the depletion — a balance between ozone production and destruction, a process that takes place constantly, has maintained the thin, mid-band ozone layer, until today.
Now, with the thinning of ozone, increases in solar UV radiation are beginning to affect both terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemical cycles.
Phytoplankton can be considered the foundation of the aquatic chain.   As a plant it provides not only food for the oceans, but also oxygen for the planet.   Some phytoplankton have evolved a variety of protective mechanisms beyond the present levels of UVB  (2% of that coming from space).   Other phytoplankton have not.
Active movement enhances productivity in certain types of phytoplankton, those capable of movement.   Scientists are noting higher levels of UVB induce both a decrease of orientation mechanism, and general movement reductions.   Less movement reduces survival rates for these organisms.
Krill in their juvenile stage are showing DNA damage caused by more intense UVB radiation.
New research is showing that both decreased reproductive capacity, and impaired larval development is taking place in more advanced forms — these changes are being noted of fish, shrimp, crab, and amphibians.
Even current levels of UVB radiation act as a limiting factor in the reproduction of many species.
Physiological and developmental processes of many plants change when levels of UVB radiation change.   A few plants have evolved mechanisms to reduce or repair tissue damage from higher levels of radiation, but many have not.
The timing of developmental phases, changes in how nutrients are distributed within the plant, general plant diseases, plant competitive balance, these are all affected by increased concentrations of UVB radiation.
Animal species, including the humanoid species, exhibit local and systemic immune changes.   Various complications and illness are caused by excessive UVB.
Some scientists consider the restriction of the use of CFC’s and other chemicals will restore ozone to its previous levels.   They point out that measurements of chlorine (the major chemical that destroys ozone, chlorine is produced by CFC’s and other chemicals) in the stratosphere are already showing a slight decline.
Other scientist point to the possibility of ozone being cultivated in the stratosphere, as greenhouse gas ozone is cultivated in the troposphere — by the deliberate intent and introduction of human induced chemicals into the stratosphere that produce more ozone than destroy it.
(The feasibility of this is not yet known.)
Adding ozone to the troposphere contributes of course to greenhouse gasses that create global warming.
Warming that causes other problems such as increased cyclonic (hurricane) activity.   Ozone and other greenhouse gasses in the troposphere also absorb long-wave infrared rays from the planet.
It is not known how the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gasses — in their absorbing infrared rays from the planet — will lead to even colder temperatures in the stratosphere (colder temperatures being a factor in the loss of ozone).
Add to this the combined escalation of human induced particulates, manufactured chemicals not restricted, increasing levels of water vapor and methane — and the prospect of ozone returning to its former levels without human assistance cannot be assessed.
If an understanding of the complicated interactions is bypassed, and remedial action is not taken, ozone levels in the stratosphere — including the important mid-band layer — will likely continue to decrease.
Ozone-Friendly Chemicals Lead to Warming
Aug 20, 2006
A section of the ice sheet covering much of Greenland is seen in this Aug. 17, 2005 file photo. Scientists say the ice is thinning and blame global warming, predicting a 3-foot rise in ocean levels by the end of the century through a combination of thermal expansion of the water and melting of polar ice. When more than two dozen nations decided to fix the ozone hole over Antarctica in 1989, they had little idea that their solution — replacing the CFCs with other chlorine—containing gases — would also be a big contributor to global warming. Photo: AP/John McConnico
(AP) A section of the ice sheet covering much of Greenland is seen in this Aug. 17, 2005 file photo.
Scientists say the ice is thinning and blame global warming, predicting a 3-foot rise in ocean levels by the end of the century through a combination of thermal expansion of the water and melting of polar ice.
When more than two dozen nations decided to fix the ozone hole over Antarctica in 1989, they had little idea that their solution — replacing the CFCs with other chlorine—containing gases — would also be a big contributor to global warming.

By JOHN HEILPRIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cool your home, warm the planet.   When more than two dozen countries undertook in 1989 to fix the ozone hole over Antarctica, they began replacing chloroflourocarbons in refrigerators, air conditioners and hair spray.
But they had little idea that using other gases that contain chlorine or fluorine instead also would contribute greatly to global warming.
CFCs destroy ozone, the atmospheric layer that helps protect against the sun's most harmful rays, and trap the earth's heat, contributing to a rise in average surface temperatures.
In theory, the ban should have helped both problems.   But the countries that first signed the Montreal Protocol 17 years ago failed to recognize that CFC users would seek out the cheapest available alternative.
The chemicals that replaced CFCs are better for the ozone layer, but do little to help global warming.   These chemicals, too, act as a reflective layer in the atmosphere that traps heat like a greenhouse.
That effect is at odds with the intent of a second treaty, drawn up in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 by the same countries behind the Montreal pact.
In fact, the volume of greenhouse gases created as a result of the Montreal agreement's phaseout of CFCs is two times to three times the amount of global-warming carbon dioxide the Kyoto agreement is supposed to eliminate.
This unintended consequence now haunts the nations that signed both U.N. treaties.
Switzerland first tried in 1990 to sound an alarm that the solution for plugging the ozone hole might contribute to another environmental problem.  
The reaction?
"Nothing, or almost," said Blaise Horisberger, the Swiss representative to U.N.-backed Montreal treaty.   "We have been permanently raising this issue.   It has been really difficult."

This Nov. 2005 photograph provided by the Environment Investigation Agency shows more than 2 dozen cylinders of HCFC-22 refrigerant chemicals, also known as R22, at a facility operated by the Ningbo Koman Refrigeration Industry Co., Ltd., in China's Zhejiang province. A U.N. report says the atmosphere could be spared the equivalent of 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions if nations, instead of HCFCs and HFCs, used ammonia, hydrocarbons, injected carbon dioxide or other ozone-friendly chemicals in foams and refrigerants. Under the Montreal Protocol treaty, industrial countries have until 2030 and developing countries until 2040 to quit using HCFCs and HFCs. When more than two dozen nations decided to fix the ozone hole over Antarctica in 1989, they had little idea that their solution — replacing the CFCs with other chlorine—containing gases — would also be a big contributor to global warming. Photo: AP/Environment Investigation Agency, Ezra Clark
(AP) This Nov. 2005 photograph provided by the Environment Investigation Agency shows more than 2 dozen cylinders of HCFC-22 refrigerant chemicals, also known as R22, at a facility operated by the Ningbo Koman Refrigeration Industry Co., Ltd., in China's Zhejiang province.
A U.N. report says the atmosphere could be spared the equivalent of 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions if nations, instead of HCFCs and HFCs, used ammonia, hydrocarbons, injected carbon dioxide or other ozone-friendly chemicals in foams and refrigerants.
Under the Montreal Protocol treaty, industrial countries have until 2030 and developing countries until 2040 to quit using HCFCs and HFCs.
Horisberger, a biologist with the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape, kept trying.   Finally, the first formal, secret talks on the subject were held in Montreal last month.
"Saving the ozone layer by reducing CFCs and at the same time promoting alternatives was an urgent crisis in the early years of the Montreal Protocol," said Marco Gonzalez, the treaty's executive secretary, in Nairobi, Kenya.
"Now there is always a need to find new substances which are safe, energy-efficient and also have minimal impact across a range of environmental issues."
The Montreal Protocol, which now has 189 member nations, is considered one of the most effective environmental treaties.
Almost $2.1 billion has been spent through an affiliated fund to prod countries to stop making and using CFCs and other ozone-damaging chemicals in refrigerators, air conditioners, foams and other products.
Scientists blame CFCs for poking a huge, seasonal hole in the stratospheric ozone layer about 7 miles to 14 miles over Antarctica.
Last year, the ozone hole peaked at about 10 million square miles, or the size of North America.
That was below the 2003 record size of about 11 million square miles.   Scientists expect the hole will not heal until 2065.
CFCs also are thinning the ozone layer over the Arctic and, to a lesser extent, globally.
As the protective layer thins, more ultraviolet radiation gets through, increasing people's risk of skin cancer and cataracts and threatening more plants and animals with extinction.
Some of the replacement chemicals whose use has grown because of the Montreal treaty — hydrochloroflourocarbons, or HCFCs, and their byproducts, hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs — decompose faster than CFCs because they contain hydrogen.
But, like CFCs, they are considered potent greenhouse gases that harm the climate — up to 10,000 times worse than carbon dioxide emissions.
The Kyoto treaty's goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, motor vehicles and other sources that burn fossil fuels by about 1 billion tons by 2012.
Use of HCFCs and HFCs is projected to add the equivalent of 2 billion to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere by 2015, U.N. climate experts said in a recent report.
The CFCs they replace also would have added that much.
"But now the question is, who's going to ensure that the replacements are not going to cause global warming?" said Alexander von Bismarck, campaigns director for the Environmental Investigation Agency, a nonprofit watchdog group in London and Washington.
"It's shocking that so far nobody's taking responsibility."
"A massive opportunity to help stave off climate change is currently being cast aside," he said.
This Nov. 2005 photograph provided by the Environment Investigation Agency shows canisters of HCFC-22 refrigerant chemicals, also known as R22, at a facility operated by the Ningbo Koman Refrigeration Industry Co., Ltd., in China's Zhejiang province. Under the Montreal Protocol treaty, industrial countries have until 2030 and developing countries until 2040 to quit using HCFCs and HFCs. When more than two dozen nations decided to fix the ozone hole over Antarctica in 1989, they had little idea that their solution — replacing the CFCs with other chlorine—containing gases — would also be a big contributor to global warming. Photo: AP/John McConnico
(AP) This Nov. 2005 photograph provided by the Environment Investigation Agency shows canisters of HCFC-22 refrigerant chemicals, also known as R22, at a facility operated by the Ningbo Koman Refrigeration Industry Co., Ltd., in China's Zhejiang province.
Under the Montreal Protocol treaty, industrial countries have until 2030 and developing countries until 2040 to quit using HCFCs and HFCs.
The U.N. report says the atmosphere could be spared the equivalent of 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions if countries used ammonia, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide or other ozone-friendly chemicals, rather than HCFCs and HFCs, in foams and refrigerants.
Such alternatives are more common in Europe.
"This potential of not using greenhouse gases is not fully used," said Horisberger, the Swiss official.
"It's because of many reasons — technical, big commercial interests."
Industry is split over how to replace CFCs and HCFCs.
One of the biggest producers of fluorine-based refrigerants, Honeywell International Inc. (HON), says it is discontinuing its use of "the older technology, environmentally unfriendly CFC and HCFC refrigerants," and replacing those chlorine-containing chemicals with HFCs in retrofits and in new equipment.
Industry representatives cite safety and energy efficiency problems with the use of ammonia and hydrocarbons, which mainly involves propane gas.
"If there's a leak in a residential line, it can ignite — you have a potential bomb," said Stephen Yurek, general counsel for the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute.
It represents North American makers of equipment for homes, businesses and transportation.
Manufacturers also say they could not meet U.S. energy efficiency requirements that took effect this year if they used those chemicals.
"The technology just isn't there," Yurek said.
A 2002 study prepared for an industry coalition that encourages use of HCFCs and HFCs says the safety measures and higher energy bills required by some alternatives would cost U.S. consumers hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
"We're saying efficiency is just as important as the refrigerant being used," Yurek said.
"If it's going to increase the amount of energy used to operate a piece of equipment, you're actually worse off because you're going to be pumping more CO2 (carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere."
The Montreal Protocol has been powered by a global fund run by the United Nations and the World Bank.
On average, more than $150 million is spent a year to help developing nations comply with the treaty by phasing out CFCs.
The fund pays the costs for companies to switch from CFCs to HCFCs, HFCs and other chemicals commonly used in air conditioners, semiconductors, foams, fire extinguishers, hair spray, and roof and wall insulation.
The biggest beneficiaries are companies in seven countries: China, India, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Romania and North Korea.
Meanwhile, consumers in the U.S. and elsewhere continue to snap up products that would cost more if HCFCs and HFCs were already eliminated.
Under the Montreal treaty, industrial countries have until 2030 and developing countries until 2040 to quit using HCFCs and HFCs.
"It is true that there will be a significant growth over the next 10 years of HCFC production and consumption in the developing countries," said Lambert Kuijpers, a Dutch nuclear physicist and a lead author of the U.N. report.
"This will also contribute to global warming in a so far unprecedented way, if it will occur as anticipated."
That is a touchy subject for supporters of the Montreal agreement.
Few want to acknowledge anything could be wrong with a treaty that is on track to fix at least one major environmental problem.
"You have to put it into historical perspective.   Hydrocarbon technology wasn't ready. ... It was still being tested in the early 1990s.   And only gradually that technology became mature and became accepted," said Sheng Hsuo Lang, the fund's deputy chief officer.
"In hindsight, you can say, 'Why didn't you wait?' Or you can take action right away."
---
On the Net:
Montreal Protocol: http://ozone.unep.org/
Multilateral Fund: http://www.multilateralfund.org/
© 2006 IAC Search & Media
Note from TheWE.cc
The above article is taking the most positive outlook in assuming that ozone levels in the stratosphere will reduce.
There is no indication to determine this presently.
Assuming that ozone levels in the stratosphere will reduce, takes place more as a political statement than a factual one.
A desire for ozone depletion to be happening — politicians seeking to hide from truth — rather than having a scientific base.
As outlined prior to the above article, many factors are involved in ozone reduction — CFCs being only one factor.
None of the other multiple causes for ozone depletion — such as the continuing increase in air traffic, pollution caused by planes as just one instance — are being addressed, either for ozone depletion, or for global warming.
The last three years has seen the ozone hole over Antarctica equal or just below the all time record, 28 million square kilometres, roughly twice the size of Antarctica.
2006 sees greatest loss of ozone ever
The 2006 ozone hole area has reached in October 2006, beating an all time record of 28 million square kilometres reached in 2000.
Data from the European Space Agency Envisat satellite showing that some 40 million tonnes of ozone has been lost during the 2006 southern hemisphere winter.
This is one million tonnes greater than the ozone loss previous record of 2000.
The largeness of the 2006 hole, combined with an almost equal to the most thinning of ozone reached in 1998, has resulted in a new depletion record for ozone in the stratosphere.
With the Ozone layer hitting a new depletion record in 2006 the well published 'guess' that the Ozone hole will begin to close by 2018 or become closed by 2060 is showing this hypothesis is more a political wish of the US President and politicians in power in the US rather than science.
This recently incorporates statements issued by the UN body responsible for issuing information on this subject.
There is not more important factor for human survival that the retention of Ozone in the stratosphere.
Ozone above us is one of the basic substance that has allowed the creation of animal and plant life on the planet.
Greenhouse gases, though minor components of the atmosphere, have an enormous influence on the troposphere and stratosphere.
With no check on greenhouse gasses and their subsequent effect on Earth's climate, and the ozone containing stratosphere, the loss of the entire web of life, including human continued existence here, has become no longer some discussion or theory.
Human
Animal
Most plant life here on this planet
Is now seriously threatened.
 
Published on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 by the Los Angeles Times
A Climate Threat From Flat TVs, Microchips
A synthetic chemical widely used in the manufacture of computers and flat-screen televisions is a potent greenhouse gas, with 17,000 times the global warming effect of carbon dioxide, but its measure in the atmosphere has never been taken, nor is it regulated by international treaty.
by Margot Roosevelt
The chemical, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), could be considered the “missing greenhouse gas,” atmospheric chemists Michael J. Prather and Juno Hsu of UC Irvine wrote in a paper released June 26 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
“With the surge in flat-panel displays, the market for NF3 has exploded.”
The rapid growth in production alarms some climate scientists.
Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) in atmosphere has life of 550 years
In the atmosphere it has a life of 550 years, according to calculations by Prather and Hsu.
When the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 international global warming treaty, was negotiated to control the rapid rise of planet-warming gases, NF3 was a niche product used in modest amounts in the semiconductor industry.
At the time, computer chip manufacturers used perfluorocarbons to clean the vacuum chambers where integrated circuits were made.
But about two-thirds of the PFCs escaped into the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect, a warming of the Earth’s surface.
Reacting to environmental concerns, the industry sought a substitute — and estimated that NF3, though it had greater potential for global warming, was less likely to escape into the air.
“We moved into manufacturing NF3 for environmental reasons,” said Corning F. Painter, vice president of global electronics for Air Products in Allentown, Pa., the world’s leading producer.
The company received a 2002 Climate Protection Award from the Environmental Protection Agency for its transition.
“We are having a hard enough time controlling carbon dioxide and methane — we shouldn’t be creating a new problem.”
Charles E. Kolb Jr.
IPCC scientist Massachusetts-based Aerodyne Research Inc.
We are not controlling:
Carbon dioxide
Methane
HCFC-22 refrigerant chemicals
Or any of the other human produced agents that deplete ozone
 — TheWE.cc
Last year, it announced a major production expansion at its U.S. and Korean plants.
About three-quarters of the chemical is now used to manufacture computer microchips; the rest is used to make liquid crystal display panels on flat-screen televisions, Painter said.
Overall, world production of NF3 is likely to reach 8,000 tons a year by 2010, Painter said.
That is the equivalent of more than 130 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
By comparison, according to the UC Irvine paper, a major coal-fired power plant producing 3,600 megawatts of electricity emits as much as 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year.
Air Products officials say that about 2% of NF3 is emitted during manufacturing and that much of that is burned off before reaching the atmosphere.
But Prather, a leading author of the influential reports of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, cited a study showing that even “under ideal conditions,” more than 3% may be emitted.
And, he added, “a slippery gas” such as NF3 could easily leak out undetected during manufacture, transport, application or disposal.
“We don’t know if 1% is getting out or 20% is getting out. . . . But once you let the genie out of the bottle, you can’t get it back in.”
Prather said UC Irvine researchers were working on a method to measure concentrations of the gas in the atmosphere so that industry emissions estimates would not be the only source of information.
Atmospheric scientists not connected with the paper said the authors had raised a significant issue for future climate negotiations.
“NF3 lives a very long time in the atmosphere,” said Charles E. Kolb Jr., an IPCC scientist with Massachusetts-based Aerodyne Research Inc.
“We are having a hard enough time controlling carbon dioxide and methane — we shouldn’t be creating a new problem.”
Another climate scientist, V. (Ram) Ramanathan of UC San Diego, noted the potency and long life of NF3, adding:
“This paper raises new awareness of this molecule. We need to know how much of these super-greenhouse gases are up there.”
The Kyoto Protocol covered six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, PFCs and sulfur hexafluoride.
California, citing the danger of water shortages, wildfires and other effects of climate change, last month adopted a draft plan to control global warming emissions statewide, including several synthetic greenhouse gases but not NF3.
“The larger issue is the chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons,” said state air resources board spokesman Stanley Young.
“Enough material [is] stored in old refrigerators, air conditioners and insulating foams to equal over 600 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in California alone.”
Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times
Relieving stress
Obviously we need refrigeration
Just not the kind that destroys ozone
Refrigerators and televisions are lined up to be destroyed during an anti-stress session or 'Destruction Therapy' before town's fiestas in Castejon, northern Spain, June 21, 2008. The therapy was aimed to relieve stress at the workplace and this was the first time the general public had participated, the events organizers, Stop Stress Navarra said. A synthetic chemical widely used in the manufacture of computers and flat-screen televisions is a potent greenhouse gas, with 17,000 times the global warming effect of carbon dioxide, but its measure in the atmosphere has never been taken, nor is it regulated by international treaty. Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) in atmosphere has life of 550 years The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from the sun. UVA, UVB, and UVC rays if not stopped in their maximum intensity from reaching Earth by stratosphere ozone would mean Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening all the body. All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside. Most plant life will not be able to grow, including all plants that provide food that humans and animals eat. Picture: REUTERS/Vincent West		A participant destroys refrigerators, cars and televisions with sledge-hammers during an anti-stress session or 'Destruction Therapy' before town's fiestas in Castejon, northern Spain, June 21, 2008. The therapy was aimed to relieve stress at the workplace and this was the first time the general public had participated, the events organizers, Stop Stress Navarra said. A synthetic chemical widely used in the manufacture of computers and flat-screen televisions is a potent greenhouse gas, with 17,000 times the global warming effect of carbon dioxide, but its measure in the atmosphere has never been taken, nor is it regulated by international treaty. Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) in atmosphere has life of 550 years The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from the sun. UVA, UVB, and UVC rays if not stopped in their maximum intensity from reaching Earth by stratosphere ozone would mean Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening all the body. All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside. Most plant life will not be able to grow, including all plants that provide food that humans and animals eat. Picture: REUTERS/Vincent West

(left)
Refrigerators and televisions are lined up to be destroyed during an anti-stress session or "Destruction Therapy" before town's fiestas in Castejon, northern Spain, June 21, 2008.
The therapy was aimed to relieve stress at the workplace and this was the first time the general public had participated, the events organizers, Stop Stress Navarra said.
A synthetic chemical widely used in the manufacture of computers and flat-screen televisions is a potent greenhouse gas, with 17,000 times the global warming effect of carbon dioxide, but its measure in the atmosphere has never been taken, nor is it regulated by international treaty.
Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) in atmosphere has life of 550 years.
The thin ozone belt in the stratosphere protects human, animal and plant life from ultraviolet rays sent from the sun.
UVA, UVB, and UVC rays if not stopped in their maximum intensity from reaching Earth by stratosphere ozone would mean Humans will not be able to step outside without huge special clothing screening all the body.
All animal life will die if not kept indoors and never allowed outside.
Most plant life will not be able to grow, including all plants that provide food that humans and animals eat.
(right)
A participant destroys refrigerators, cars and televisions with sledge-hammers during an anti-stress session or 'Destruction Therapy' before town's fiestas in Castejon, northern Spain, June 21, 2008.
Photos: REUTERS/Vincent West
 
U.S. Government Mad Scientists Geo-Engineer Atmosphere
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Friday, September 5, 2008
U.S. Government Mad Scientists Geo-Engineer Atmosphere. U.S. government scientists are bombarding the skies with the acid-rain causing pollutant sulphur dioxide in an attempt to fight global warming by “geo-engineering” the planet, despite the fact that injecting aerosols into the upper atmosphere carries with it a host of both known and unknown dangers. Such programs merely scratch the surface of what is likely to be a gargantuan and overarching black-budget funded project to geo-engineer the planet, with little or no care for the unknown environmental consequences this could engender. Photo: infowars.com/
Such programs merely scratch the surface of what is likely to be a gargantuan and overarching black-budget funded project to geo-engineer the planet, with little or no care for the unknown environmental consequences this could engender.
U.S. government scientists are bombarding the skies with the acid-rain causing pollutant sulphur dioxide in an attempt to fight global warming by “geo-engineering” the planet, despite the fact that injecting aerosols into the upper atmosphere carries with it a host of both known and unknown dangers.
The proposal to disperse sulphur dioxide in an attempt to reflect sunlight was again raised in a London Guardian article this week entitled, Geoengineering: The radical ideas to combat global warming, in which Ken Caldeira, a leading climate scientist based at the Carnegie Institution in Stanford, California, promotes the idea of injecting the atmosphere with aerosols.
“One approach is to insert “scatterers” into the stratosphere,” states the article.
“Caldeira cites an idea to deploy jumbo jets into the upper atmosphere and deposit clouds of tiny particles there, such as sulphur dioxide.
Dispersing around 1m tonnes of sulphur dioxide per year across 10m square kilometres of the atmosphere would be enough to reflect away sufficient amounts of sunlight.”
Experiments similar to Caldeira’s proposal are already being carried out by U.S. government -backed scientists, such as those at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C, who this year conducted studies which involved shooting huge amounts of particulate matter, in this case “porous-walled glass microspheres,” into the stratosphere.
The project, which reached its conclusion this past April, is closely tied to an idea by Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen, who “proposed sending aircraft 747s to dump huge quantities of sulfur particles into the far-reaches of the stratosphere to cool down the atmosphere.”
Such programs merely scratch the surface of what is likely to be a gargantuan and overarching black-budget funded project to geo-engineer the planet, with little or no care for the unknown environmental consequences this could engender.
What is known about what happens when the environment is loaded with sulphur dioxide is bad enough, since the compound is the main component of acid rain, which according to the EPA:
“Causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to the damage of trees at high elevations (for example, red spruce trees above 2,000 feet) and many sensitive forest soils.
In addition, acid rain accelerates the decay of building materials and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation’s cultural heritage.”
The health effects of bombarding the skies with sulphur dioxide alone are enough to raise serious questions about whether such programs should even be allowed to proceed.
The following health effects are linked with exposure to sulphur.
Neurological effects and behavioural changes
Disturbance of blood circulation
Heart damage
Effects on eyes and eyesight
Reproductive failure
Damage to immune systems
Stomach and gastrointestinal disorder
Damage to liver and kidney functions
Hearing defects
Disturbance of the hormonal metabolism
Dermatological effects
Suffocation and lung embolism
According to the LennTech website:
“Laboratory tests with test animals have indicated that sulfur can cause serious vascular damage in veins of the brains, the heart and the kidneys.
These tests have also indicated that certain forms of sulfur can cause foetal damage and congenital effects.
Mothers can even carry sulfur poisoning over to their children through mother milk.
Finally, sulfur can damage the internal enzyme systems of animals.”
This graphic proposes, “Spraying aluminum powder and barium oxide into high levels of the atmosphere, again delivered by aircraft, to increase planetary reflectance (albedo) and cloud cover.” High levels of barium have been found in substances associated with chemtrails. U.S. Government Mad Scientists Geo-Engineer Atmosphere. U.S. government scientists are bombarding the skies with the acid-rain causing pollutant sulphur dioxide in an attempt to fight global warming by “geo-engineering” the planet, despite the fact that injecting aerosols into the upper atmosphere carries with it a host of both known and unknown dangers. Such programs merely scratch the surface of what is likely to be a gargantuan and overarching black-budget funded project to geo-engineer the planet, with little or no care for the unknown environmental consequences this could engender. Photo: infowars.com/
This graphic proposes:
“Spraying aluminum powder and barium oxide into high levels of the atmosphere, again delivered by aircraft, to increase planetary reflectance (albedo) and cloud cover.”
High levels of barium have been found in substances associated with chemtrails.
Fred Singer, president of the Science Environmental Policy Project and a skeptic of man-made global warming theories, warns that the consequences of tinkering with the planet’s delicate eco-system could have far-reaching dangers.
“If you do this on a continuous basis, you would depress the ozone layer and cause all kinds of other problems that people would rather avoid,” said Singer.
Even Greenpeace’s chief UK scientist — a staunch advocate of the man-made global warming explanation — Doug Parr has slammed attempts to geo-engineer the planet as “outlandish” and “dangerous”.
Stephen Schneider of Stanford University, who recently proposed a bizarre plan to send spaceships into the upper atmosphere that would be used to block out the Sun, admits that geo-engineering could cause “conflicts between nations if geoengineering projects go wrong.”
Given all the immediate dangers associated with bombarding the atmosphere with sulphur dioxide, along with the unknown dangers of other geo-engineering projects, many people are concerned that “chemtrails” could be a secret component of the same agenda to alter the Earth’s eco-system.
Reports of chemtrails, jet plumes emitted from planes that hang in the air for hours and do not dissipate, often blanketing the sky in criss-cross patterns, have increased dramatically over the last 10 years.
Many have speculated that they are part of a government program to alter climate, inoculate humans against certain pathogens, or even to toxify humans as part of a population reduction agenda.
In conducting Google searches, one finds discussion, such as this example, of using sulphur dioxide as a jet fuel additive to be dispersed over the world during routine commercial flights.
“I suggest that both the sulphur dioxide and the silica particles could be delivered into the stratosphere by dissolving an additive in jet aviation fuel,” writes engineer John Gorman, who has conducted experiments to test the feasibility of such a scenario.
“We would want to burn fuel containing the additive specifically when the aircraft was cruising in the lower stratosphere,” he adds.
Earlier this year, KSLA news investigation found that a substance that fell to earth from a high altitude chemtrail contained high levels of Barium (6.8 ppm) and Lead (8.2 ppm) as well as trace amounts of other chemicals including arsenic, chromium, cadmium, selenium and silver.
Of these, all but one are metals, some are toxic while several are rarely or never found in nature.
The newscast focuses on Barium, which its research shows is a “hallmark of chemtrails.”
KSLA found Barium levels in its samples at 6.8 ppm or “more than six times the toxic level set by the EPA.”
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality confirmed that the high levels of Barium were “very unusual,” but commented that “proving the source was a whole other matter” in its discussion with KSLA.
KSLA also asked Mark Ryan, Director of the Poison Control Center, about the effects of Barium on the human body. Ryan commented that “short term exposure can lead to anything from stomach to chest pains and that long term exposure causes blood pressure problems.”
The Poison Control Center further reported that long-term exposure, as with any harmful substance, would contribute to weakening the immune system, which many speculate is the purpose of such man-made chemical trails.
Indeed, barium oxide has cropped up repeatedly as a contaminant from suspected geoengineering experimentation.
KSLA also put aerosolized-chemical testing in its historical context, citing a voluminous number of unclassified tests exposed in 1977 Senate hearings.
The tests included experimenting with biochemical compounds on the public.
KSLA reports that “239 populated areas were contaminated with biological agents between 1949 and 1969.”
One of the accepted truisms of scientific study is the fact that if scientists are proposing an idea, then those scientists with access to the bottomless pit of black-budget secret government funding are already doing it.
It is highly likely that chemtrails are merely one manifestation of “geo-engineering” that is taking place without proper debate, notification or any form of legality, and with a callous disregard for the potential dangers to both our health and our environment.
Truth Rising
9/11 Chronicles Part One: Truth Rising
© 2008 Alex Jones | Infowars.com is an Alex Jones company. All rights reserved.
Lungs — the black spots are areas of growing cancer
Melanoma
In 1930 melanoma was rare, with a lifetime risk of just one in 1,500 people. Since then, it has grown exponentially, with a lifetime risk in the United States of 1 in 250 in 1980, 1 in 120 in 1987, 1 in 75 by 2000 and 1 in 32 today (Swetter 2007).
The black cells of melanoma will strike an estimated 59,940 in the United States in 2007 and kill a projected 8,110 (American Cancer Society 2006).
Worldwide it annually strikes an estimated 132,000 people with an estimated 48,000 deaths (Lucas: W.H.O. 2006).
...In 2006, the nation's most successful class-action law firm, Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman & Robbins LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against leading sunscreen producers (including Schering-Plough, makers of Coppertone, Sun Pharmaceuticals, producers of Banana Boat, Tanning Research Laboratories, (Hawaiian Tropic), Neutrogena Corp. and Johnson & Johnson (Neutrogena), and Chattem Inc. (Bullfrog).
Samuel Rudman, a partner, claimed, 'Sunscreen is the Snake Oil of the 21st Century and these companies that market it are Fortune 500 Snake Oil salesmen.'
'False claims such as ‘sunblock’ ‘waterproof’ and ‘all-day protection’ should be removed from these products immediately,' he said.
Australia and New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand have the highest melanoma rates on the planet (one in 25 will get melanoma in Aussieland) and as a result have taken dramatic public health measures to fight the disease.
They have a "No Hat, No Play" rule.
Every child must wear a hat to play outside.
Recess times are often scheduled outside the 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. time frame.
Soccer games, played without hats under the high sun in the U.S. are delayed till a safer time Down Under.
Children have begun wearing neck-to-knee swimsuits on beaches and at pools.
Lifeguards are directed to set an example by wearing sunglasses, wide-brimmed hats, long-sleeved shirts, zinc oxide, and sunscreen as well as sitting in the shade.
Many pools and playgrounds are now covered by expansive tents or newly planted trees (Gies et al. 1998).
There is an error in the article 'Melanoma, Baseball Caps and Sunscreen.'   The writer Brian Mckenna provides details of supposed chlorofluorocarbons reduction with the heading 'We addressed Ozone, we can do it with sunscreens'
We have not stopped the depletion of ozone.
This fallacy is perpetuated both by mainstream media and by such internet outlets such as 'Counterpunch' and is now accepted by the populace, even by scientists who never bother to check for correct data.
Chlorofluorocarbons is merely one of the causes of ozone depletion.
Chlorofluorocarbon spreading into the atmosphere has not been eliminated.
Melanoma, Baseball Caps and Sunscreen
Continue with Antarctic — Load Master file
Abrupt Climate Change and Global Warming in Kalaallit Nunaat page
   (includes Pentagon report on abrupt climate change)
Recent changes observed in Arctic Areas
          CO2 record high levels in the atmosphere          
           — Climate fear as carbon levels soar          
      Highest for 650,000 years      
Frequently asked questions about global warming
The WE Environment News
—  Why did you cut down the trees Grandma?
State of the World's Garden

British Antarctic Survey Ozone

Halley, Rothera and Vernadsky/Faraday

Information about ozone at Halley, Rothera and Vernadsky/Faraday stations.
     For updated inf click here:                       www.antarctica.ac.uk/met/jds/ozone/     
OMI Total Ozone depletion South Pole, October 1, 2009. Image: NASA
Situation at 2009 September 30
The 2009 ozone hole has formed over the heart of the continent.
Ozone values north of the polar vortex are near 450 DU in places, whilst inside the vortex ozone values are still dropping as ozone depletion intensifies.
Lowest values are over the centre of the continent, with minimum values below 120 DU.
Ozone levels are below normal across the continent, with depletion exceeding 50% in the worst affected areas, and there are areas above normal in the circumpolar belt.
The temperature of the ozone layer over Antarctica is just past the annual minimum, and a large area is cold enough for polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) to form.
During the early winter, the polar vortex was often rather more elliptical than it was in 2008, and this lead to some early depletion in circumpolar regions as stratospheric clouds became exposed to sunlight.
It reverted to a more circular circulation as winter progressed and this led to another relatively slow start to the growth of the ozone hole (as measured by NASA/SBUV2), with the "hole" not beginning until mid August.
The vortex became more elliptical again in late August, with South Georgia being affected by the fringes of the ozone hole between September 2 and 6.
The hole grew to reach an area of around 24 million square kilometres by mid September 2009, but declined to 21 million square kilometres towards the end of the month of September 2009.
Forecasts suggest that the tip of South America has been affected by the fringes of the ozone hole from September 24 for several days and will be again from around October 4, 2009.
Situation at 2008 November 6
The 2008 ozone hole season is past its peak and ozone levels over Antarctica are rising.
During the initial stages, the ozone hole was much smaller than has been usual for August, but it grew rapidly as stratospheric clouds were exposed to sunlight.
It covered over 25 million square kilometres in mid September, about the same as last year and remained at around 24 million square kilometres until early October.
It is now around 15 million square kilometres, which is larger than it was at this time in 2007.
The temperature of the ozone layer over Antarctica is rising from the winter minimum as the spring warming takes hold, but some areas are still cold enough for polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) to continue to exist.
PSCs were seen from Rothera on several occasions and also at Halley.
Ozone values are above 350 DU in parts of the circum-polar regions, which is a bit lower than at this time last year.
Lowest values, near 150 DU, are over Dronning Maud Land.
The temperature within the polar vortex is generally a little below the normal.
The vortex has begun to show a more elliptical circulation pattern, and the ozone hole extended over the tip of South America, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia between October 28th and 30th.
Situation at 2007 September 24
The winter polar vortex is in place, with higher ozone values, exceeding 500 DU in places, outside the vortex.
In general the vortex is more disturbed this year than it was last year.
The temperature of the ozone layer within the vortex is sufficiently cold that stratospheric clouds have formed and this has led to rapid chemical depletion of ozone.
Inside the vortex, ozone values are below 220 DU, with the ozone hole covering much of the continent.
Lowest ozone values are below 125 DU in central Antarctica.
Early August saw the largest ozone hole recorded for this time of year, although at the same time very high ozone levels existed over the northern Antarctic Peninsula.
The vortex was more circular in mid September but is returning to an elliptical shape and warming slightly.
In mid September its area was 24 million square kilometres, but has since declined to 19 million square kilometres, rather smaller than the average for the last decade at this time of year.
Some areas of Antarctica saw ozone values down to ozone hole levels (less than 220 DU) in mid June, suggesting the possibility of early chemical depletion, combined with some dynamic processes.
The tip of South America and the Falkland Islands saw ozone levels below 250 DU on August 24, with South Georgia experiencing similar levels on September 4.
The fringes of the ozone hole were over South Georgia on September 11.
The hole is expected to extend across the tip of South America, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia over September 22 - 25 and strengthen again.
Situation at 2006 October 13
Ozone levels across Antarctica dropped rapidly in September and are now near their minimum.
Lowest levels are currently near 100 DU over parts of Antarctica.
The polar vortex is shrinking, but remains significantly larger than average for this time of year.
Temperatures within it are generally below the normal for the time of year.
The ozone hole grew rapidly from mid August and reached nearly 28 million square kilometres in size at the equinox.
It was the largest on record for the week preceding the equinox, although not an absolute record in size.
It is now shrinking, although at 24 million square kilometres it is at a record size for mid October.
The ozone hole has become much more elliptical and the edge of the ozone hole is making passes over the tip of South America and South Georgia.
Antarctic Antarctic ozone hole movie 2006/2007 2006/2007 Ozone hole movie is produced from TOMS images.
Halley — Total ozone:   This figure [updated 2006 October 19] shows the variation in 2006 — 2007 and the normal for 1957-72.
A few moon observations carried out on August 8 suggested that ozone values were not far from normal at around 300 DU.
Mean values have dropped fairly steadily since then, reaching around 125 DU in early October (60% down on the normal for the time of year). 
This corresponds to a decline of roughly 1% per day since early August. 
The minimum value so far recorded is 115 DU on October 7.  By mid October values were rising, and are now around 140 DU (55% down on the normal for the time of year).
Rothera — Total ozone:    Ozone values for the first two months of 2006 were around 270 DU, but slowly increased to around 300 DU at the winter solstice.
Mean values fell after the solstice and reached a minimum of around 120 DU in early October.
There is oscillation with amplitude of around 40 DU and period about a month. 
The minimum daily value reached so far is 105 DU.  A significant rise in ozone amount began around October 10.
This figure [updated 2006 October 19] shows the variation during 2006.
Vernadsky — Total ozone:   The early observations show significant ozone depletion.
No new data has been received from the station since mid August.
This figure [updated 2006 August 31] shows the variation in 2006 — 2007 and the normal for 1957-72.
Temperature and PSCs:   The 100 hPa pressure level is near the base of the ozone layer, but is reached by most radiosonde flights.
The temperature at this height becomes sufficiently cold that polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) can exist widely during the winter.
The temperature is below the PSC threshold over most of Antarctica.
PSCs have been reported from  Rothera.
Halley — 100 hPa temperature:     The temperature at the 100 hPa level is significantly below the normal, but beginning to warm, although it remains at winter levels.
This figure [updated 2006 October 19] shows the variation at Halley in 2006 — 2007 and the normal for 1957-72.
Peninsula — 100 hPa temperature:     The temperature at the 100 hPa level was below or close to the normal during August.
It generally declined during September and is now substantially below the normal for early October.
This figure [updated 2006 October 10]  shows the variation in 2006 — 2007 and the normal for 1957-72.
Satellite: Satellite imagery gives a global perspective on the ozone hole.  Our 2006/2007 Antarctic ozone hole movie [updated 2006 October 6] is produced from OMI images.
The NCEP and KNMI analyses shown on the Canadian Met Service daily ozone maps pages give a good analysis in the Southern Hemisphere but the NCEP forecasts tend to increase ozone amounts within the ozone hole. US NWS CPC plots from NOAA show the current area of the ozone hole. 
The ozone hole passed over the tip of South America and the Falkland Islands around October 4, October 7 to 10 and over South Georgia between September 18 to 24 and October 9 to 12.
The Sciamachy uv index from the ESA  Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service shows the exposure risk at any location.
Arctic:  Ozone values generally range between 250 and  350 DU (within about 15% of the normal) at the moment, with the UK experiencing values close to normal.
Ozone amounts are generally declining towards the autumn minimum.
Ozone values over the Arctic since June are shown in our Northern Hemisphere TOMS movie.
Temperatures declined sufficiently during the northern winter of 2005/6 for stratospheric clouds to form and for chemical and dynamic ozone depletion to take place.
"Ultra-cirrus" clouds, at heights above 20km were briefly visible after sunset on January 20 from the UK.
These are likely to have been diffuse stratospheric clouds that are thinner but more widespread than the nacreous clouds.
For more UK information see the DEFRA UK Stratospheric Ozone Measurements page.
Reports of a substantial Arctic ozone hole forming in response to a solar proton event in the spring of 2004 are somewhat exaggerated.
Although this did lead to substantial depletion of up to 60% near the top of the ozone layer, less than 10% of the total ozone column is in this region.
The event therefore had less effect than normal day to day changes and no ozone hole was formed.
The spring of 2005 by contrast had much lower stratospheric temperatures and significant chemical ozone depletion did take place. 
Although the column ozone never quite dropped to "ozone hole" levels, the amount of ozone affected by chemical depletion was broadly comparable to that seen in the Antarctic ozone hole.
Equator: Ozone levels are normally lowest over the topics and OMI data shows nothing unusual.

 Situation at 2005 September 9
The atmospheric circulation over the Antarctic continent is in its winter state.
Stratospheric temperatures are cold enough for stratospheric clouds to form and they have been observed at Rothera and Vernadsky.
There is widespread ozone depletion over the continent, with ozone amounts over 50% down on the normal for the time of year in places.
Lowest ozone amounts are approaching 100 DU, with most areas of the edge region below 200 DU.
The lowest ozone areas are over the base of the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea.
Overall the area of the ozone hole is around 22 million square kilometres but is a little smaller in size than the 2003 hole, which was one of the largest on record during August.
Ozone values at Rothera are amongst the lowest recorded at this time of year.
Arctic: Ozone values over the Arctic during the course of a year are shown in our Northern Hemisphere TOMS movie for 2004/2005 (see also Northern Hemisphere TOMS movie for 2005/2006).
Antarctic Antarctic ozone hole movie 2005/2006 2005/2006 Ozone hole movie is produced from TOMS images.
Situation at 2004 September 21
The ozone hole (where ozone values are below 220 DU) grew rapidly from mid August to early September and covers around 20 million square kilometres, about average over the last decade.
It has only increased a little in area over the last fortnight.
The lowest ozone values are over the southern Antarctic Peninsula and off Enderby Land, and here values are over 40% below normal.
Ozone values are higher in a broad band between 60°S and 30°S, in places exceeding 400 DU.
The edge of the ozone hole passed over the southern tip of South America, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia from September 10 to 12.
It is expected to do so again from September 19 to 24, with larger ozone depletion possible from September 21 to 23, possibly affecting regions as far north as 40°S.
Arctic: Ozone values over the Arctic during the course of a year are shown in our Northern Hemisphere TOMS movie for 2003/2004 (see also Northern Hemisphere TOMS movie for 2004/2005).
Antarctic Antarctic ozone hole movie 2004/2005 2004/2005 Ozone hole movie is produced from TOMS images.
Situation at September 2003
The ozone hole in September, usually showing the lowest levels of the year in September, has grown rapidly and peaked in size at around 28 million square kilometres (roughly twice the size of Antarctica) in mid September.
It was larger than previously for the time of year in August and early September, but the maximum size only equalled the all time record. 
Very low ozone levels have been recorded over the Antarctic Peninsula. 
The edge of the ozone hole touched the tip of South America on September 6 — 7. 
Temperatures in the ozone layer are low enough that Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs), the key precursors to significant ozone depletion, have formed widely over the continent and ozone levels are dropping quickly.
The ozone hole is usually largest in early September and deepest in late September to early October.
Halley:  The Sun has risen at Halley and some ozone observations are now possible, though these are of low accuracy due to the low solar elevation. 
Some measurements made using weak moonlight in early August show ozone values around 220 DU (25% depletion).
Routine solar observations show values declining from late August and by mid September they had dropped to around 130 DU (55% depletion).
Rothera:  Values at Rothera showed a slight increase from around 270 DU at the beginning of 2003 to around 300 DU in early June, with a long period variation (about a month) of around 30 DU.
The day to day variation was around around 15 DU.
In early June values began to fall, reaching around 250 DU by the end of July. 
Values fell rapidly in August, reaching 135 DU by mid September, with day to day variation around 25 DU. 
Ozone sonde flights from Rothera are now showing substantial depletion between 15 and 23 kilometres, with nearly 100% depletion at some altitudes.
Vernadsky:  Early observations show ozone values declining from around 270 DU (10% depletion) in late July to around 170 DU (45% depletion) in early September, then recovering to around 200 DU in mid September. 
The daily mean of 160 DU on August 25 is the second lowest recorded for the month.
Temperature and PSCs:   The temperature of the ozone layer above Antarctica is at winter values, and  PSCs are widespread.
Halley reported sighting of PSC on July 28.
There has been a radiosonde programme of three flights per week at Rothera since 2003 March.
One of the largest holes on record
Overall it is clear that this year we have one of the largest ozone holes on record.
Antarctic: Antarctic ozone hole movie 2003/2004 Ozone hole movie is produced from TOMS images.
The NCEP analyses shown on the Canadian Met Service daily ozone maps pages give a good analysis in the Southern Hemisphere but the forecasts tend to increase ozone amounts within the ozone hole. 
US NWS CPC plots from NOAA show the current area of the ozone hole.
Arctic: Ozone values over the Arctic during the course of a year are shown in our Northern Hemisphere TOMS movie for 2002/2003 (see also Northern Hemisphere TOMS movie for 2003/2004).
Ozone values are slowly declining from the spring maximum, with values over the UK around the normal.
Stratospheric clouds were observed from Kjeller in Norway on December 20 (450Kb pdf),.
Stratospheric temperatures are currently well above the PSC threshold. 
Equator: Ozone levels are normally lowest over the topics and TOMS data shows nothing unusual.
TOVS data has a calibration problem and shows values that are significantly lower than those that are measured by other means.
Is the ozone hole recovering ?  Recent reports in the media suggest that the ozone layer over Antarctica is now recovering.
This message is a little confused.
Recent measurements at surface monitoring stations show that the loading of ozone destroying chemicals at the surface has been dropping since about 1994 and is now about 6% down on that peak. 
The stratosphere lags behind the surface by several years and the loading of ozone depleting chemicals in the ozone layer is at or near the peak. 
Satellite measurements show that the rate of decline in ozone amount in the upper stratosphere is slowing, however the total ozone amount is still declining.
The small size of the 2002 ozone hole was nothing to do with any reduction in ozone depleting chemicals and it will be a decade or more before we can unambiguously say that the ozone hole is recovering.
This assumes that the decline in ozone depleting chemicals continues and that there are no other perturbations to the ozone layer.
If the decline in ozone stabilizes, and the ozone layer in the stratosphere becomes thicker, it will be the middle of this century or beyond before the ozone hole ceases to appear over Antarctica.
What we saw in 2002 is just one extreme in the natural range of variation in the polar stratosphere and is the equivalent of an extreme in 'stratospheric weather'.
See Ozone hole 2006 above
Global warming and the ozone hole.  The ozone hole is a completely different phenomenon to global warming, however there are l between them.
The ozone hole is caused by ozone depleting chemicals in the atmosphere, which have been produced by industry, for example CFCs.
One link is that CFCs are also 'greenhouse gasses'.
Enhanced global warming is a probable consequence of increasing amounts of 'greenhouse  gasses', such as carbon dioxide and methane, in the atmosphere.
Although the surface of the earth warms, higher up the atmosphere cools, thus increasing the area susceptible to ozone depletion and providing another link between the two issues.
    For Toms, Arctic and Antarctic information,    
    and how ozone is produced and destroyed,    
    click here:     
    More on Ozone
    Ozone thinning 2003    
    Ozone talks fail over US demands    
Did you cut the trees grandma?
       Typhoon Wipha       
       Why did you cut the trees grandma     
 Why did you cut down the trees Grandma?
State of the World's Garden		ArcticEnviro NewsThe WE NewsTheWE.cc