Do global warming ostriches know about the Antarctic ozone hole and its cause?

Question

Many people here (some of them genuinely eager to learn) who doubt that human activities have accelerated global climate change find it hard to believe we have such power. Some are downright arrogant about their incredulity, and no doubt I'll encounter a few more of them now. Some of them believe (pathetically) that Al Gore single-handedly started this whole idea, and many have said it's all a liberal plot.

So I couldn't help wondering... do these people also doubt that humans had anything to do with the ozone depletion which created a "hole" over Antarctica? Do they even know about it? http://www.epa.gov/Ozone/science/hole/ Do they think Al Gore started this one, too, or that liberals created that story as well? Does this make some doubters realize what humans *are* capable of doing... and have already done?

Answer 1

The funny thing about the ozone hole is nobody talks about it anymore since it hasn't proven to be the end of all life on Earth as many predicted. Now the discussion has moved to AGW and the ozone hole is passe. Was it always there at certain times of the year? It's hard to tell because we didn't have the technology to measure it until recently (first detected in 1985 or so) and nobody was really looking before then.

Few think Al Gore started the AGW debate, that was James Hansend of the GISS at NASA. But it was Gore who made a movie and book about it so it's natural to associate him with the debate. And there still is a debate, contrary to what many want you to think.

Can our adding a few parts per million to the level of CO2 in the atmosphere possibly cause global devastation? CO2 levels have been far higher than they are today and life went on, up to 10 times higher by some estimates. But it's hard to be sure when you're looking at ice cores from Antarctica as your main basis, since it is a desert and snow can remain free of the ice for centuries. Getting blown around can alter the amount of various gasses in the snow so you may be able to see the problem with relying on ice cores alone.

They predicted we'd all get skin cancer from the ozone hole and guess what? We didn't. The science for the ozone hole was much simpler than for AGW and they were still wrong about the catastrophe it would cause.

Answer 2

Humans put stuff like CFC's into the atmosphere that reduced the ozone layer by 50%. With less ozone more heat is allowed to get to earth's surface-How are these  two different issues? GW is very complex.

Answer 3

its funny because a few of those scientists that are the most vocal AGW sceptics were arround in the 80s when the whole smoking lung cancer thing was going on. in the 90s they moved to the ozone hole and now they are again right and all the other scientists are wrong.

so yes. a few skeptics (Patrick Michaels, Fred Singer, Frederick Seitz) do doubt that man caused the ozone hole.

Answer 4

Do you know that the Montreal Protocol baned CFCs?  The U.S. banned them in the late 70s.  Do you also know that the hole in the ozone layer  reached a record-breaking maximum area of 11.4 million square miles in 2006?  

Before the AGW hysteria environmentalists were on another hysteria.  That the hole in the ozone layer was going to cause a pandemic of skin cancers in 20 years (ie today).  That has been proved false, and the AGW hysteria will be proved also false.

Answer 5

Were you aware ostriches don't bury their heads in the sand?  That's what happens when you listen to others without doing your own research.  

Do you know there's been a hole in the ozone layer since the first day man could measure the ozone layer?  Since we have no proof the hole was never there, I'd have to say there's no proof it's not a natural feature of this planet.  

And we all know Al Gore has never created ANYTHING...he's a politician born into wealth, but he'll take credit for it anyway.

I'm fully aware of what man is capable of....and his limitations.  For starters, I don't think for one second we can predict the future.

Answer 6

The Ozone hole and Global Warming are 2 way different issues.

The Ozone hole was caused by man-made CFC's. No doubt about it.

Global Warming hasn't been proved to be man-made and many claim that the solar impacts are much more powerful than any impacts man has made.

In Conclusion, Man does need to be more respectful to the environment like stopping deforestation but we must also put the Health of Humanity before the Environment. Our 4% contribution of CO2 hasn't been proven to have caused any warming as of yet. Till the time when technology and time can completely explain the causes like they had with the Ozone problem, we must be patient and not be hasty to jump on an alarmist bandwagon.

Answer 7

How can we possibly come to any conclusion on this "hole" since we didn't even know it existed until less than one hundred years ago? How do we know what cycles it goes through over the periods of millions of years?

What arrogant snobs humans are to even consider that we  have any kind of grasp of what this planet or the cosmos does let alone have any real effect on it.

If someone tells me that the evidence this or the evidence that, I can't help thinking about the thousands of times that we have been told this same type of thing only to have it proven wrong. I'm still waiting for Y2K to happen or to fall of the edge of the earth..

Answer 8

You might start by asking how long the hole in the ozone has been there.  It may have existed for hundreds or 1000's of years.  Driving up the cost of air conditioning chemicals made no change in the hole in the ozone.  Fluorocarbons are heavier than air and never could have had an effect on the ozone layer.

It is just another scam, like Y2K, global cooling, and global warming.

Answer 9

Well actually global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer are completely different things.  They are both problems that are being caused by humans, but they are different problems.

Global warming is being caused by an increased amount of greenhouse gases (CO2, Methane, CFCs) in the atmosphere. The extra greenhouse gases cause more heat retention in the atmosphere.

The ozone layer is what keeps harmful uv rays from reaching earth's surface.  The depletion of the ozone layer is caused by ozone depleting chemicals such as CFCs and Halons.  These chemicals have caused the large ozone hole over Antarctica.

So these problems are completely different, but both can cause harm if we do not do something soon.

Answer 10

This has nothing to do with the global warming discussion. The cause of the winter ozone depletion (not really a hole) is CFCs which have long since been phased out. Scientist estimate that within the next 100 years the "hole" should dissipate--- however naturnal chlorine releases can create a shorter term "hole".

See this:

http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/Ozone_Deple...