Page 37 - Fundamentals of Air Pollution

16 1. The History of Air Pollution

but it did indicate the magnitude of the concern and the differences ex-
pressed by the nations of the world.
The other global environmental problem, stratospheric ozone depletion,
was less controversial and more imminent. The U.S. Senate Committee
Report supporting the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 states, "Destruc-
tion of the ozone layer is caused primarily by the release into the atmosphere
of chlorofiuorocarbons (CFCs) and similar manufactured substances—per-
sistent chemicals that rise into the stratosphere where they catalyze the
destruction of stratospheric ozone. A decrease in stratospheric ozone will
allow more ultraviolet (UV) radiation to reach Earth, resulting in increased
rates of disease in humans, including increased incidence of skin cancer,
cataracts, and, potentially, suppression of the immune system. Increased
UV radiation has also been shown to damage crops and marine resources,"
The Montreal Protocol of July 1987 resulted in an international treaty in
which the industrialized nations agreed to halt the production of most
ozone-destroying chlorofiuorocarbons by the year 2000. This deadline was
hastily changed to 1996, in February 1992, after a U.S. National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) satellite and high-altitude sampling air-
craft found levels of chlorine monoxide over North America that were 50%
greater than that measured over Antarctica.

VI. THE FUTURE

The air pollution problems of the future are predicated on the use of
more and more fossil and nuclear fuel as the population of the world
increases. During the lifetime of the students using this book, partial respite
may be offered by solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wind, nonfossile fuel
(hydrogen and biomass), and oceanic (thermal gradient, tidal, and wave)
sources of energy. Still, many of the agonizing environmental decisions of
the next decades will involve a choice between fossil fuel and nuclear power
sources and the depletion of future fuel reserves for present needs. Serious
questions will arise regarding whether to conserve or to use these re-
serves—whether to allow unlimited growth or to curb it.
Other problems concerning transportation systems, waste processing
and recycling systems, national priorities, international economics, employ-
ment versus environmental quality, and personal freedoms will continue
to surface. The choices will have to be made, ideally by educated citizens
and charismatic leaders.

REFERENCES

1, The Smoake of London—Two Prophecies [Selected by James P. Lodge, Jr.]. Maxwell
Reprint, Elmsford, NY, 1969.