05-24-2019, 11:56 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-27-2019, 09:09 AM by George Spornic.)
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48353341
This recent topic is centered around something you may have heard in science class called CFC's or chloroflourocarbons. Their molecular makeup allows these substances to be effective cooling agents to be used in various household appliances such as a refrigerator or home insulation for example.
Global production of CFC's began to have negative consequences for the Earth's atmosphere as they are dangerous greenhouse gases that have a global warming potential thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide. Production of CFC's was banned at the Montreal Protocol in 1982 and all's well and good. However, researchers monitoring the atmosphere found that the rate of depletion of CFC's has decreased - MEANING that somewhere, CFC's are being produced at a relatively large scale. As the title states, China was evidently found, through the monitoring and some detective work, that they are producing this illegal chemical. The officials when confronted admitted that it was cheaper and better quality than alternatives, and under pressure, they have already begun clamping down the production by shutting down CFC producing factories. Which is good if they do because our atmosphere will be able to effectively recover.
I recall hearing about this in my chemistry class and thinking about the shadiness of China's business practices. I mean, for all we know, China might still have factories producing this dangerous GHG. Just because something's easy to produce and it's better quality doesn't mean you should produce the illegal substance. Despite that, China is apparently an exception to this however I think they should quickly get their act together before humanity is doomed because of their negligence to preserve the precious atmosphere. What are your thoughts on this subject?
This recent topic is centered around something you may have heard in science class called CFC's or chloroflourocarbons. Their molecular makeup allows these substances to be effective cooling agents to be used in various household appliances such as a refrigerator or home insulation for example.
Global production of CFC's began to have negative consequences for the Earth's atmosphere as they are dangerous greenhouse gases that have a global warming potential thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide. Production of CFC's was banned at the Montreal Protocol in 1982 and all's well and good. However, researchers monitoring the atmosphere found that the rate of depletion of CFC's has decreased - MEANING that somewhere, CFC's are being produced at a relatively large scale. As the title states, China was evidently found, through the monitoring and some detective work, that they are producing this illegal chemical. The officials when confronted admitted that it was cheaper and better quality than alternatives, and under pressure, they have already begun clamping down the production by shutting down CFC producing factories. Which is good if they do because our atmosphere will be able to effectively recover.
I recall hearing about this in my chemistry class and thinking about the shadiness of China's business practices. I mean, for all we know, China might still have factories producing this dangerous GHG. Just because something's easy to produce and it's better quality doesn't mean you should produce the illegal substance. Despite that, China is apparently an exception to this however I think they should quickly get their act together before humanity is doomed because of their negligence to preserve the precious atmosphere. What are your thoughts on this subject?