Ways To Protect...

Ways to Protect the Ozone Layer:

1. Minimize high altitude aircraft flights (oxygen reduction and water vapor deposition)
2. Minimize rocket flights (water vapor deposition)
3. Encourage growth of plants that produce oxygen, discourage deforestation
4. Decrease / control releases of high temperature steam / moisture to the atmosphere
5. Eliminate production and release of known ozone depleting chemicals (such as CFCs and HCFCs) where remotely possible. Subsidize production of safer alternatives where possible.
6. Establish controls to assure that new compounds to be used in high volume, are surveyed for effect on ozone.

Actions an Individual can take:

• Ensure technicians repairing your refrigerator or air conditioner recover and recycle the old CFCs so they are not released into the atmosphere.
• Vehicle air conditioning units should regularly be checked for leaks.
• Ask about converting your car to a substitute refrigerant if the a/c system needs major repair
• Help start a refrigerant recovery and recycling program in your area if none already exists.
• Replace halon fire extinguishers with alternatives (e.g. carbon dioxide or foam).
• Suggest school activities to increase awareness of the problem and to initiate local action.

On an international scale, banning the use of CFC will slow down the destruction of ozone. This is being achieved through the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to reduce the use of CFCs and eventually ban them completely. CFCs have now been banned in more economically developed countries. However, in some less economically developed countries CFCs are still being used due to the high cost of replacing it with a more ozone friendly substance.

How to solve problem of ozone layer:

·    Avoid Aerosols – In some parts of the world, aerosols are still used in spray cans.  These cans contain CFCs, which are deadly for the ozone layer.

·    Check Your Car's Air Conditioner – If you can avoid buying an air conditioning system with your car, that's great.  Otherwise, make sure that you keep your system checked so that coolant doesn't leak.

·    Don’t Buy Polystyrene – Polystyrene foam products have very destructive CFCs in them.  Avoid purchasing these so that plastic makers will no longer produce them.

·    Insulate Your Home Properly – When buying insulation materials for your home, be sure to purchase an insulator that does not use CFCs.

·    Write to the Government – Tell your community officials and local government that CFCs are a major concern and that when refrigerators are disposed of, CFCs must not be let into the atmosphere.

Since the banning of CFC in industry (Montreal Protocol, 1989), ozone depletion has mostly stopped with some signs that levels are increasing. Scientists believe that ozone will return to its pre-CFC level by about 2050.