Heiser-The-Facade - Sparkling Eyes

members complied."I'm fully aware that to most of you whose expertise lies outside the hardsciences, the majority of the pages that follow will be a pretty mind-numbing bunch ofstatistics, formulas, and chemical equations. You can blame the Group for itsthoroughness, I guess. At any rate, the pages written in plain English were authored byyours truly, or were downloaded from the Internet from the National Resources DefenseCouncil and the EPA. My goal this morning is to present the dilemma that lies before usas easily, but accurately, as I can. In doing so, topics will inevitably arise and hopefullyquestions will be asked—that will require the expertise of my colleagues. Pleasefeel free to interact at any time. If something isn't clear, don't hesitate. We aims toplease," he chuckled.The audience was silent, save for the sound of the Colonel clearing his throat. Afew shifted in their seats."Well ... " Malcolm sat up straight, taking the cue, "you've all no doubt heardfrom Dr. Bandstra that the problem before us has something to do with the environment.I'd like to assume that terms such as `ozone depletion,' `greenhouse effect,' and `globalwarming' are part of your working vocabulary. Unfortunately, most people I've met whouse these terms have little or no idea what they actually mean. Since I want to be sureeveryone is on the same page, please indulge this brief introduction to several of earth'senvironmental maladies."Malcolm took a sip of water and continued. "Any explanation of ozone depletionhas to start with chlorofluorocarbons—CFCs for short. CFCs are industrial chemicalcompounds made of chlorine, fluorine, and carbon, invented in roughly 1928, that madethings like household and auto refrigeration possible. They also served as propellants fordispensing aerosol spray. It took almost half a century before anyone began to wonderwhat happened to all the CFCs re-leased into the atmosphere. Up until the 1970s,scientists took no concern at this question, since there was nothing in our atmosphere thatcaused CFCs to break down into their constituent chemicals. It was discovered at thattime, however, that 10-15 miles up, in the earth's stratosphere, ultraviolet rays from thesun did break CFCs down. The chlorine atoms released in this natural process thenchemically inter-acted with ozone, an unstable form of oxygen that surrounds the globe atthat altitude. The result of this atomic rendezvous was that the ozone was destroyed. Nowwho knows what ozone does?"Malcolm looked out over his audience expecting a response. He obviously lovedthe attention, and his enthusiasm was outweighed only by his cluelessness that he wasannoying. After a few uncomfortable seconds, Brian obliged him."It protects living things on earth from ultraviolet radiation.""Thank you Dr. Scott! Nice to know you're not as narrow as your resumeportrayed you.""You're welcome, I think.""Ever since this revelation, scientists, politicians, environmentalists, andindustrialists have been engaged in a vociferous de-bate as to the reality and extent ofozone depletion. Current scientific study has marked the polar regions among the mostaffected, but by no means are they the only serious depletion areas. Since the lateseventies and early eighties, as our own atmospheric chemist, Dr. Garvey, could tell us,CFCs have been replaced by other chemicals called HCFCs hydrochioroflourocarbons. If40