Environmental Risk Perception: Ozone Hole Diminishing

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Environmental Risk Perception Ozone Hole Diminishing This article states that the ozone hole is diminishing. The credit for this good news is the phasing out of the ozone-depleting chemicals sponsored by the Montreal Protocol (Ozone hole diminishing, Nov). According to this article, the hole reached a peak of 25 million square kilometers, coming down from 28 in previous years since 1998 up to 2006. The article emphasizes the fact that ozone-depleting gases are still being used. The article continues by stating that according to the World Meteorological Organization, the planet will come back to pre-ozone hole conditions between 2060 and 2075 (Ozone hole diminishing, Nov). Chemists poke holes in ozone theory The article states experimental data has the potential to “shatter” the current belief system regarding ozone depletion (Schiermeier, 2007). The shattering may go all the way up to how scientists and ultimately the laymen understands the ozone hole formation occurs and the connection to changes in climate. The Montreal Protocol has been a big plus in how the hole may be managed, but the effects of those years freely using CFCs will still linger in the atmosphere for decades to come (Schiermeier, 2007). Interaction of CFCs and the sun rays are complex, but chemists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California are relying on the new measurements to cast doubt on how the understanding of ozone holes are flawed. After experiments with a new photolysis rate applied to a chemical model of ozone depletion they found that 60% of ozone destruction at the poles has to do with anything else, but CFCs. The new finding is being tested by other researchers, but the possibility of the idea held for so long that ... ... middle of paper ... ..., that fear increases risk perception and anger reduces it (p. 21). Fear has kept us in the dark about the most important issues in our planet. Fear has kept us in our toes way too much time. Now I hope that the anger coming from the emergence of the truth about ozone layer and global warming not just make our specie to reduce risk perception by being angry about the lies, but to actually make sure the people who cause this unnecessary fear be held accountable. Works Cited Steg, L., Van Den Berg, A. E., & De Groot, J. M. (2013). Environmental psychology: An introduction. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. Ozone hole diminishing. (2007, Nov). Australasian Science, 28, 13. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/223695918?accountid=458 Schiermeier, Q. (2007). Chemists poke holes in ozone theory. Nature, 449(7161), 382-3. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/449382a

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