The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change

by Richard C. J. Somerville

eBook Details:

Publisher: University of California Press 1998
ISBN/ASIN: 1878220853
ISBN-13: 9781878220851
Number of pages: 224

eBook Description:

In the two years since this book was written, the science of global change has steadily advanced, while also growing more important to public policy. On the research frontier, recent measurements in the stratosphere have shown a dramatic slowing in the rate of increase of chemicals that attack the Earth’s protective ozone layer. The measured amounts of some of these chemicals have actually begun to decrease. These observational data confirm the success of international agreements designed to phase out the manufacturing of ozone-depleting substances. They provide reason for optimism that humankind, when confronted with serious global environmental problems, is capable of acting rationally and cooperatively for the benefit of all life on Earth. They offer hope that in a few decades natural processes may restore the ozone layer to something approaching its pristine state earlier in this century, before people inadvertently tampered with it.

However, not all the news from the ozone layer is good. Significant loss of stratospheric ozone has been detected over much of the Earth, less severe than the dramatic loss in the ozone hole over Antarctica to be sure, but still worrisome. Not all countries have complied with their treaty commitments to suspend production of the offending chemicals. An international black market has developed in several of these substances, which can be produced easily and profitably. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence of the harmful character of these chemicals, some individuals still remain unconvinced. The struggle for the health of the ozone layer is not yet over.

 Download or read it online here: The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change