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SCIENCE MATTERS by David Suzuki
Most Canadians are used to life moving at break-neck speed. We carry cell phones
so we can be reached instantly. We use email so we can transmit text and photos
in the blink of an eye. We eat at fast food chains so we can get our food immediately.
We drive everywhere to get there faster. Once we’ve made a decision, we
want results - now.
Unfortunately, the rest of life on our planet doesn’t work that way. Things
take time. Processes evolve over hundreds, thousands or millions of years.
As a result, humanity has no problem messing things up quickly, but little patience
when it comes to fixing them.
A perfect example is the ozone layer. Nearly 20 years ago, scientists discovered
a massive "hole" in the ozone layer, the protective layer of ozone gas
high in the atmosphere that helps shield all living things from the sun’s
harsh rays. The hole was growing and began to cause increased skin cancer in humans
and a host of unknown environmental problems.
Over the next few years, scientists determined the cause of the problem - a group
of chemical compounds called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that were used in solvents,
aerosols and as coolants in refrigeration units and air conditioners. When CFCs
find their way up into the stratosphere and react with ultraviolet light, they
create free radical chlorine compounds, which are potent scavengers of ozone.
In an unprecedented move, nations around the world quickly agreed to phase out
CFCs and the Montreal Protocol was born.
It is a well-known and unqualified success. As one researcher points out in a
recent edition of the journal Nature - even schoolchildren today are familiar
with the story. Unfortunately, our instant-fix mentality is so engrained that
many people are still confused when stories about the ozone hole continue to appear
every year. "Didn’t we fix that?" is a common refrain.
In fact, the Montreal Protocol is working. CFC production has dropped to near
zero levels and the ozone layer seems to be gradually repairing itself. But CFCs
can persist in the atmosphere for 50 to 100 years. So some of the CFCs manufactured
40 years ago are still destroying ozone today. It will take decades before the
protective layer fully heals. Until then, the size of the hole will fluctuate
from year to year.
Another class of chemicals that will continue to haunt us for decades, even though
a number of them were banned in 2001, are persistent organic pollutants. These
toxic chemical compounds, which include PCBs and DDT, are easily transported by
air and ocean currents, and have found their way into even the most remote regions
of the planet. They did not exist 75 years ago, but today traces of these compounds
can be found in the bodies of every person on Earth.
As humanity’s influence on the environment and natural systems continues
to grow, we have to remember that it can take far longer to solve our problems
than it does to create them. We cannot just switch a problem off like a remote-control
television. Global warming, for example, will not be solved instantly. The carbon
dioxide we are pumping into the atmosphere today will stay in our air for several
hundred years. Even if we stopped producing heat-trapping gases today, the Earth
will continue to warm, and we will continue to have more extreme weather events
and other climate-related problems for generations.
That’s why it’s so important to get started now. Our planet cannot
be commanded to fix itself. Mother Nature does not have a cell phone. She doesn’t
use email and she’s not too keen on instant messaging either. She takes
her time and we’d better get used to it because like it or not, we’re
on her schedule.
Take the Nature Challenge and learn more
at www.davidsuzuki.org
Our
planet cannot be commanded to fix itself. Mother Nature does not have a cell phone.
She doesn’t use email and she’s not too keen on instant messaging
either.
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