Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
stratosphere in particular. It may take many years
of observation and research before this situation
is altered, but in the meantime a general
concensus among scientists and politicians, that
CFCs are the main culprits in the destruction of
the earth's ozone, has led to the proscription of
that group of chemicals. By the end of this
century, CFCs will no longer be produced, but
their effects will linger on until those presently
in the atmosphere are gone.
In dealing with the global aspects of air
pollution involving such elements as acid
precipitation, atmospheric turbidity and the
threat to the ozone layer, it is quite clear that
although society now has the ability to cause all
of these problems, and may even possess the
technology to slow down and reverse them, its
understanding of their overall impact on the
earth/atmosphere system lags behind. Until that
can be changed, the effects of human activities
on the system will often go unrecognized,
response to problems will of necessity be reactive,
and the damage done before the problem is
identified and analysed may be irreversible.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
Dotto, L. and Schiff, H. (1978)
The Ozone War,
Garden City: Doubleday.
Gribbin, J. (1993)
The Hole in the Sky,
(revised
edition) New York: Bantam.
Nance, J.J. (1991)
What Goes Up: the Global
Assault
on our Atmosphere,
New York:
W. M o r r o w.
