Halon dumps: a data point

From: Joe <rigdonj_at_intellistar.net>
Date: Thu Sep 14 22:20:21 2000

  The ridiculous thing about the Osaka treaty (banning Freons) is that it
only bans the production and use in the US and other major countries. It
does nothing to prevent it's use on second and third world counties. In
fact, right now the production (and smuggling into the US) of freon is
going full blast in Mexico. My guess is that there is probably just as much
being produced now as there ever was but it has shifted to third world
countries. The "ban" is nothing but feel-good politics and continous to
ignore the problem (if indeed there really is one)!

    Going more and more OT,
    Joe

At 11:23 AM 9/14/00 -0700, you wrote:
>> In the case of ozone it
has
>> been shown that CFCs can catalyze ozone given the right conditions, but
any
>> theory of the ozone layer has to include that umptyzillion terawatt ozone
>> generator known to you and I know as the Sun. The same is happening with
>> the Global Warming crud. If you assume that we've got tolerable climate
>> records for the last 500 years and you assume that it took 15 MILLION
years
>> after the event that wiped out the dinosaurs for the climate to "settle
>> down."
>
>In otherwords, you argue that outside of substantial concrete evidence
>that we are affecting the environment we should do whatever the hell we want
>regardless of whether there is any reason to believe that it will affect
>the environment. Sounds damn short sighted to me. A better course of
>action is to work to minimize our impacts regardless of what they might be.
>We might not know exactly what the effects of pumping vast amounts of CO2
>into the atmosphere will be, but we know there will be effects. Isn't that
>a good enough reason to exercise caution?
>
>I think you also underestimate the quality of the data regrading the effects
>of stratospheric chlorine compounds on the ozone layer. No one claims
>that it is the only thing affecting ozone concentrations, but very few
>would deny that it is having an effect.
>
>> I used to marvel at the stories of Mayan priests sacrificing human
>> lives so that the seasons would come, now I weep at the stories of
>> politicians who, at the behest of modern scientists, are sacrificing
entire
>> generations to try to stop the earth from proceeding through its natural
>> cycles.
>
>I think you're mistaking exactly who it is that is "sacrificing entire
>generations." You also have as little evidence to support your claim
>that recent global temperature changes are part of a natural cycle (perhaps
>less) as those that claim that recent temperature changes are linked to
>rising CO2 levels. You are as guilty of letting your pollitics influence
>your view of reality as they are.
>
>Eric
>
Received on Thu Sep 14 2000 - 22:20:21 BST