Q & A with the Aerosol Commission versus EVERYONE ELSE

In a process known as the first aerosol indirect effect, enhanced aerosol concentrations cause the droplets in a cloud to be smaller and more numerous within a cloud of fixed water amount. This study found that this process can make the clouds more opaque and emit more thermal energy to the surface.

Consumer Aerosol Products Council

Q: What is being Done About Bad Ozone?
A: The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 require states and cities to implement programs to further reduce emissions of ozone precursors from sources such as cars, fuels, industrial facilities and power plants. Power plants will be reducing emissions, cleaner cars and fuels are being developed, many gas stations are using special nozzles at the pumps to recapture gasoline vapors, and vehicle inspection programs are being improved to reduce emissions.



Q: Is There Really a “Hole” in the Ozone Layer?
A: The ozone “hole” is a well-defined, large-scale destruction of the ozone layer over Antarctica that occurs each Antarctic spring. The word "hole" is a misnomer; the hole is really a significant thinning, or reduction in ozone concentrations, which results in the destruction of up to 70% of the ozone normally found over Antarctica.

The science of ozone thinning is complicated. Unlike global ozone depletion, the ozone “hole” occurs only over Antarctica. Since most ozone-depleting substances are released in the northern hemisphere, a common question is why the ozone “hole” occurs over the Antarctic. The first part of the answer is that even though most of these chemicals are heavier than air, regardless of where they're released, they mix throughout the troposphere over about a year, and then mix into the stratosphere in two to five years. The second part of the answer is that although the overall process is similar between global ozone depletion and the ozone “hole”, there are two different types of ozone depletion chemistry.

The first kind is called homogeneous depletion; resulting from reactions as gases mix together, it is responsible for the reduction in global ozone levels. The 5-10% drop in ozone over the US is an example of homogeneous chemistry.

The second kind of ozone depletion chemistry, called heterogeneous, causes the radical destruction of ozone over the Antarctic each spring. It results from reactions on the surfaces of ice particles. The existence of these particles, and the seasonal and geographic location of the “hole,” all result from a combination of meteorological and other effects that are specific to Antarctica at that time of year.



Q: Does Ozone Depletion Cause Global Warming?
A: The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that helps regulate the temperature of Earth. The sun heats the Earth, and clouds and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap some of this heat. Although water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas, fuel burning and other human activities release greenhouse gases, as well. The most important ones are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

Without any greenhouse gases, the Earth would be uninhabitable. Human activity has increased the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which may have contributed to the average warming of 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century.

Although many people confuse ozone depletion and global warming, they are primarily separate problems. While stratospheric ozone is a natural greenhouse gas that helps absorb heat, the ozone hole that has been shown to form over the polar region is not the cause of global warming.


The Argument:

Aerosol creates Ozone depletion. OD describes two distinct, but related observations: a slow, steady decline of about 4 percent per decade in the total amount of ozone in Earth's stratosphere since the late 1970s; and a much larger, but seasonal, decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions during the same period. The latter phenomenon is commonly referred to as the ozone hole.

In addition to this well-known stratospheric ozone depletion, there are also tropospheric ozone depletion events, which occur near the surface in polar regions during spring.

A Few Words About Fluids
The basic idea of an aerosol can is very simple: One fluid stored under high pressure is used to to propel another fluid out of a can. To understand how this works, you need to know a little about fluids and fluid pressure.
Aerosol cans come in all of shapes and sizes, housing all kinds of materials, but they all work on the same basic concept: One high-pressure fluid expands to force another fluid through a nozzle.


A fluid is any substance made up of free-flowing particles. This includes substances in a liquid state, such as the water from a faucet, as well as substances in a gaseous state, such as the air in the atmosphere.

The particles in a liquid are loosely bound together, but they move about with relative freedom. Since the particles are bound together, a liquid at a constant temperature has a fixed volume.

If you apply enough energy to a liquid (by heating it), the particles will vibrate so much that they break free of the forces that bind them together. The liquid changes into a gas, a fluid in which the particles can move about independently. This is the boiling process, and the temperature at which it occurs is referred to as a substance's boiling point. Different substances have different boiling points: For example, it takes a greater amount of heat to change water from a liquid into a gas than it does to change alcohol from liquid to gas.

The force of individual moving particles in a gas can add up to considerable pressure. Since the particles aren't bound together, a gas doesn't have a set volume like a liquid: The particles will keep pushing outward. In this way, a gas expands to fill any open space.

As the gas expands, its pressure decreases, since there are fewer particles in any given area to collide with anything. A gas applies much greater pressure when it is compressed into a relatively small space because there are many more particles moving around in a given area.


Why are aerosol cans bad for the environment?

The propellant used to force the aerosol out of the can, was a CFC, which damaged the ozone layer. They now use liquid petroleum gas, which still contributes to global warming, but is less of an issue than CFCs.

Accodring to the Consumer Aerosol Products Council:

American Aerosol Industry Reacts
As a result of Rowland and Molina’s discovery, American aerosol manufacturers took the lead in switching from CFC propellants to suitable alternatives. In fact, by 1978 when the U.S. EPA banned the use of CFC propellants, most of them had already voluntarily stopped using CFCs. An exception was made for some asthma inhalers, but they will also be CFC-free by December 31, 2008. This will complete the phase out of all CFC propellants in consumer aerosol products produced and sold in the U.S. Other ozone-depleting substances that were used in some aerosol formulations for non-propellant purposes also have been phased out according to the legislative timetable.

Award Winning Animation on Global Warming

I especially like the part where they take away the aerosol and replace it with 'green' paint. The only part that upsets me is that the governement puts out messages similar to this one (not pointing at the White House though) but they say things like moving away from aerosol and unplugging cell phone chargers when they are not in use will prevent pollution and save energy. Sure, we will do our part, but what about corporate America that leaves its lights on in 40 percent of the building at night to prevent robbery? What about huge conglomerates that still use smoke pipes to release pressure in the factory? Sure, we will unplug our cell chargers, but you let me know how that will impact the earth compared with edison shutting down the main on a few buildings at night.

Not the Recycle, Reduce, Reuse commercial I grew up with

Gas prices up 80 percent is a disaster

So why are gas prices so high?   

Gas prices jump, but increases could level off.  By JOHN WILEN 

NEW YORK (AP) — Gasoline prices shot up to yet another record at the pump Thursday, while some analysts said the sharp price increases of recent days could soon level off even though gas will continue to rise.

Crude oil prices, meanwhile, stalled in their march toward $120 a barrel, dropping sharply as the dollar gained strength against the euro.

At the pump, the average national price of a gallon of regular gas jumped 2.3 cents overnight to $3.556 a gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices have risen nearly 14 cents in one week.

Gas prices have risen sharply in recent days partly because refiners have been switching over from selling winter grade gasoline to the more expensive but less polluting form of the fuel the government requires them to sell in the summer. That process, which made winter grade fuel more scarce, is nearly complete now, suggesting that price increases could slow.

"That was probably why ... you saw (prices) accelerate so quickly," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. "No, don't get used to these crazy increases."

Retail gas prices have also been following oil futures' record rally, although prices hasn't risen as steeply as oil futures.

"(Gas prices) had a lot of catching up to do," said James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla., trading firms Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com.

Crude prices have jumped about 80 percent in one year, while retail gas prices are only up 24 percent in that time.

But Thursday, light, sweet crude for June delivery fell $2.54 to $115.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday as the dollar rose against the euro. Investors see commodities such as oil as a less effective hedge against inflation when the dollar strengthens, and a stronger greenback makes oil more expensive to investors overseas.

...In the new world order, energy scarcity will dominate our lives -- determining when we drive, if we travel, and what we eat.

By Michael T. Klare

"This new world order will be characterized by fierce international competition for dwindling stocks of oil, natural gas, coal and uranium, as well as by a tidal shift in power and wealth from energy-deficit states like China, Japan and the United States to energy-surplus states like Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. In the process, the lives of everyone will be affected in one way or another -- with poor and middle-class consumers in the energy-deficit states experiencing the harshest effects. That's most of us and our children, in case you hadn't quite taken it in."

Europe Turns to Coal

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: April 23, 2008

CIVITAVECCHIA, Italy — At a time when the world’s top climate experts agree that carbon emissions must be rapidly reduced to hold down global warming, Italy’s major electricity producer, Enel, is converting its massive power plant here from oil to coal, generally the dirtiest fuel on earth.

And Italy is not alone in its return to coal. Driven by rising demand, record high oil and natural gas prices, concerns over energy security and an aversion to nuclear energy, European countries are expected to put into operation about 50 coal-fired plants over the next five years, plants that will be in use for the next five decades.

In the United States, fewer new coal plants are likely to begin operations, in part because it is becoming harder to get regulatory permits and in part because nuclear power remains an alternative. Of 151 proposals in early 2007, more than 60 had been dropped by the year’s end, many blocked by state governments. Dozens of other are stuck in court challenges.


European power plants boosting coal use
United Press International

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High oil and natural gas prices, coupled with increased demand, are driving Europe's return to coal-fired power plants, an industry official says.
Enel's, Italy's largest electricity producer, is converting one of its biggest power plants from oil to coal, despite environmental concerns. The New York Times reported European countries are expected to add 50 coal-fired plants over the next five years.

Gianfilippo Mancini, Enel's chief of generation and energy management, said the power plant in Civitavecchia, Italy, "will be the cleanest coal plant in Europe." Mancini said the company wants to prove coal can be "sustainable and environmentally friendly."

"In order to get over oil, which is getting more and more expensive, our plan is to convert all oil plants to coal using clean-coal technologies," Mancini said.

While power companies say they are doing to their best to make the new coal plants as clean as possible, critics say the term "clean coal" is an oxymoron. "Given our knowledge about what needs to be done to stabilize climate, this plan is like barging into a war without having a plan for how it should be conducted, even though information is available," NASA climatologist James E. Hansen told the Times.

My Deforestation PSA