The new refrigerant used in cars, R1234Y, has no impact on the ozone layer but does cost about $100 per pound when your auto AC system needs repair.
Just a heads up so you don't think your mechanic is ripping you off when you take your car for an AC repair.
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Turns out they found the leak was coming from Scott Pruitt's private jet fleet.
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I have done a study of temperature anomalies (NOAA), carbon dioxide (Hawai'i), and ozone depletion (Arosa, Switzerland) over the 24 year period 1975 to 1998, during which temperature rose sharply upward by almost 1 degree C. The study shows that temperature anomalies are much better correlated with ozone depletion (r^2=.92) than with CO2 (r^2=.54) The seasonal peaks in CO2 production occur in May in the northern hemisphere, whereas both temperature anomalies and ozone depletion peak together in March (of all months!), which is when CFCs are photodissociated by early spring sunlight on polar stratospheric clouds. This and other studies suggest that global warming is not caused by CO2, but by chlorine from CFCs. If true, this is all the more reason for us to be vigilant against further CFC production and release.
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The sources should be tracked down and further emissions stopped as soon as possible. The CFCs destroy stratospheric ozone as the article points out - that lets more hard UV radiation down to the surface. Think skin cancers, eye damage to animals, also mutations and damage to plants.
CFCs are also very powerful greenhouse gases, and are completely artificial. We really don't need their contribution - a goal should be zero atmospheric CFC this century.
Here are the concentrations, warming impacts and atmospheric lifetimes of persistent greenhouse gases:
http://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/pns/current_ghg.html
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Each and every year millions more acquire air conditioner units. And due to soaring, record high temperatures happening world wide this will not abate. More people on the planet need to be cooled, so expect our ozone to be diminished rapidly now.
Too bad we lost our planet's largest central A/C unit, the north pole's ice cover. We're doomed one way or another.
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I hope that these scientists do not lose their jobs.
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Prohibition has never worked, and it never will. If there's money to be made producing banned substances...they will be produced. Period.
Anything China says they will do is totally unverifiable. They are being given far too much credit o the international stage. They remain an irresponsible global actor
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Perhaps the fine print in trump's withdrawal from the Paris environmental accord also included the withdrawal from the Montreal Protocol.
R-11 used to be a very inexpensive refrigerant. It is also a more efficient refrigerant than any of the newer more environmentally friendlier refrigerants, especially on older refrigeration systems. It's also easier to produce higher quality higher insulating polyurethane foams for less money.
Currently we are using more exotic refrigerants and blends - many Patented - in an effort to be more environmentally friendly but are extremely expensive. As older more efficient ones are phased out they also go up in price as their availability is reduced.
One of the largest private companies in the USA that distributes refrigerants has been very smart buying train tanker loads of older 'imminently obsolete' refrigerants that is stockpiled for sale after production has ceased under regulations. Existing stocks, however, can still be sold at a handsome profit. That's what lobbyists are for.
Perhaps that is what is going on with R11 - someone is selling off a huge stockpile at higher prices.
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"Existing stocks, however, can still be sold at a handsome profit."
Under the Montreal Protocol, CFC-11 production and consumption was supposed to be ZERO starting in 1996, so you must be talking about something different. Please provide a complete citation supporting what you are saying.
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This finding suggests why Chinese promises of post-2030 stabilization of CO2 emissions should be taken with a grain of salt until verified by independent measurements.
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Could it be, that past civilizations moved underground because of climate change. Why would bipeds move into caves, where if a Sabre Tooth comes sniffing around - they're trapped? Numerous tribal cultures, including Native Americans have legends about their ancient ancestral culture emerging from an underground "world".
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CFC-11 is one of the simplest "building blocks" of the entire family of chlorofluorocarbons.
I wonder if the underlying research has considered the possibility that the uptick in R-11 originates from the natural breakdown of other CFC's, like R-115, R-114, and counterintuitively, R-12.
It's remarkable how we as a society have declared victory on our ozone problem, when in reality, it's not even close to fixed. Did you know that the UV index outside can actually go way above 12, like 45? Nobody measures this, but it happens.
Spending all day at the beach with no sunscreen hasn't always been insane, just since we started our experiment with refrigerants.
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"Did you know that the UV index outside can actually go way above 12, like 45? Nobody measures this, but it happens."
The extremes you seem to be referring to occurred high in the Andes mountains under certain weather conditions. A solar flare was a possible contributing factor:
"Solar particle events have been shown to affect atmospheric chemistry (NOy and HOx) and foster ozone depletion (Woods et al., 2004)."
"Record solar UV irradiance in the tropical Andes", Cabrol et al, Front. Environ. Sci., 08 July 2014.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2014.00019/full
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As science and the environment are of no concern with the powers-that-be in this day and age, the more effective way to address this issue would be to lay out how the manufacture of these banned foreign generated GHGs are costing some rich American business interest, or their Trump Administration lackeys, money.
This assumes, however, that an American business interest does not own or control the foreign manufacturer of these GHGs. In which case nothing would be done as business profits mean much, much more than our Planet and the wellbeing of the common people that live on it in our current political and business landscape.
MB
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I appreciate the work of these tireless researchers, who by sounding the alarm, may help improve compliance to aid in a global problem.
This work may not always be the most "sexy".....but it sure seems important.
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The joke is on us because all refrigerants react the same in the upper atmosphere, the difference being the calibration of the instruments used in testing for concentration levels of the different types of refrigerant. R134 was considered a solution to R12 because it didnt show up in tests the same way as R12 does. Now R134a is the culprit to be substituted with something else that no one tests for. Its a shell game that we will continue to live with unless we all agree to live in caves and under rocks while eating spoiled food.
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Well done. Nice to see you have identified a solution, let’s put that to a vote.
We are gonna need more caves, for sure. But it will be hard to do both—live in caves and live under rocks. How about one or the other?
CFC11 is also used to make foam.
To pin down the source, one could install sensors in various locations in (let's say) China, and test local concentrations in the atmosphere.
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I am glad I am not predicted to live more than about 20 more years.
Man's war on the environment is the most important war we are fighting, and it is the war was are definitely losing.
The consequences for many species, including humans, will be catastrophic.
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@Jay
My sentiments exactly.
The population explosion and all the looming environmental disasters that this drives has gone prompt critical (to borrow a term from nuclear fission). Over-population swamps any and all attempts to maintain a sustainable environment. It really no longer matters what any individual or group believes, or what they do, it is all over. Ozone destroying gas generation is simply one of thousands of activities destroying the environment.
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Someone I looked up to once said that if anything will bring the human race together it will be the environmental crisis. That was decades ago, and the forecasted unity nevermind the required coordinated action, have not been forthcoming. I won't concede defeat, but this civilization if not humanity begins to look like a failed experiment.
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On the contrary, this article shows how decidedly we are winning. There is every reason to believe the unmitigated success in solving the ozone problem will apply to the climate change problem. Truly, we are devoting more resources per capita on the environment than at any point in history of human race. Human life expectancy has increased without break during the "war on the environment". The next phase of history is the challenge, as world population stabilizes and economic prosperity extends to the developing world. But that's always been true and we have always succeeded.
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Let's hope they find the culprit and that Pruitt doesn't sideline the effort. We have only one world and need to protect it. Even against foe's like Pruitt.
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The Trump administration are systematically destroying NASA's ability to monitor the environment and climate on Earth. Mars exploration is a euphemism for defunding Earth monitoring programs.
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Especially against, for that matter.
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Next Scott Pruitt and Trump will issue a commendation for cheating on international environmental agreements.
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Go to China and India and buy the cheapest domestically produced air conditioners and refrigerators. Test the coolant. I bet you find your cheaters.
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Not sure that anyone reviews web comments for investigative content, but thought I might share some history I have with this compound. I'm a Chemical Engineer by profession.
This compound was once used for thin film membrane manufacturing (reverse osmosis membranes) in the USA. It is a strong solvent for Acyl Chlorides which are used in the organic phase of the reaction. It's low boiling point makes it particularly useful for driving off the solvent after the coating has been deposited (low utility cost).
As pure speculation, having supported various production processes in Asia, I would not be shocked if someone dug up old patent literature and started producing C-11 for this use.
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After it was banned, what were the alternatives? Why go back when we've obviously lived without the chemical and are using alternatives? Further discussion as to why on earth someone is desperate enough to start this up again would be welcomed.
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The alternatives were developed on existing processes and are trade secrets (never published in any literature). Copying past processes rather than redeveloping new ones allows you to rapidly bring a product to market.
In my experience if a party's ethics are questionable and greed outweighs fear they will take the path that leads to profits.
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Thank you for your explanation.
I'm all for people profiting fully in socially responsible ways (just meaning paying taxes, not blatantly damaging the environment, and following the rules) off of their ingenuity and hard work. But I wonder if the product is a replacement for a chemical that does such planetary harm that lives are affecred, shouldn't there be a limitation that brings it into public knowledge sooner so that this very thing is avoided? I'm not clear on patent law but I seem to have 70 years in my head (or is that copyright?). That's too long which Ieads to what's happening in East Asia. I'm thinking about the pharmaceutical model where companies have, I think, 20 years to milk the product profits before allowing it to be replicated by generic manufacturers for the greater good.
I realize that means the work of legislation on a global level but it may be time to start getting more creative with ways to ensure global treaties can't be undermined by individual questionable ethics and greed.
"The scientists say that the increase is likely a result of new, unreported production of the gas, known as CFC-11, probably in East Asia."
The linked paper reports an estimate for the absolute increase in CFC-11 production.* That quantity should be converted to an estimated manufacturing plant size.
* Montzka, et al, Abstract: "A simple model analysis of our findings suggests an increase in CFC-11 emissions of 13 ± 5 gigagrams per year (25 ± 13 per cent) since 2012, ..."
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