company profile | dealer login | links | tell a friend  

"The ozone layer, its hole and the greenhouse effect"

It's ironic that at ground level, ozone is a health hazard - it is a major constituent of photochemical smog. However, in the stratosphere we could not survive without it. Up in the stratosphere it absorbs some of the potentially harmful ultra-violet (UV) radiation from the sun which can cause skin cancer and damage vegetation, among other things. 

Ozone, absorbs only very short wavelengths, mainly in the ultraviolet range, and therefore forms a shield of sorts, absorbing much of the ultraviolet radiation before it can reach the earth. We need this protection!!!

The Ozone Hole often gets confused in the popular press and by the general public with the problem of global warming. Whilst there is a connection because ozone contributes to the greenhouse effect, the Ozone Hole is a separate issue. The Antarctica (and recently over the Arctic), stratospheric ozone has been depleted over the last 15 years at certain times of the year. This is mainly due to the release of manmade chemicals containing chlorine such as CFC's (ChloroFluoroCarbons), but also compounds containing bromine, other related halogen compounds and also nitrogen oxides (NOx). CFC's are a common industrial product, used in refrigeration systems, air conditioners, aerosols, solvents and in the production of some types of packaging. Nitrogen oxides are a by-product of combustion processes, e.g. aircraft emissions. Another stark reminder of the effect of man's activities on the environment.

  Water vapor and carbon dioxide (CO2) absorb the long wavelengths of radiation from the earth especially well, leading to the so-called "greenhouse" effect. (The temperature in real greenhouses rises mainly because the glass prevents the heated air from rising, thereby increasing the temperature inside.) Around half the estimated 6.5 billion tonnes of carbon emitted annually from fossil-fuel burning world-wide is absorbed by natural sinks. The rest is accumulating as CO in the atmosphere, the main factor in the threat of global warming.

What Is Being Done? 
The first global agreement to restrict CFC's came with the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, the latest being the Kyoto Protocol, the first international agreement that would require industrialized countries to cut emissions of greenhouse gases or face penalties. The new evidence of human-caused warming comes as the American / Bush administration is turning its attention away from climate change. They have approached it with skepticism and a determination to choose no remedies that might hinder the use of coal, oil and other fossil fuels. Most notably, in March 2002 the American President Mr. Bush rejected the Kyoto Protocol, the last details were approved by almost every other major country. The above Mr. Bush has a geothermal unit installed in his ranch, but in his case he is probably only interested in the low running costs rather than his ignorance to climate change.

SO PLEASE don't wait to see what everyone else is going to do, the protection of our planet starts at home. Domestic emissions account for 50% of all fossil fuels being consumed in cooking, heating, lights, hot water etc.  Homeowners who install geothermal systems, generate no carbon dioxide, slashing greenhouse gas emissions compared to natural gas and oil heating by about one pound for every hour of operation in a typical residential system. They are not only helping to save the environment but they'll also save up to 60% on monthly bills. Geothermal systems, make every day an Earth Day because of the use of the renewable energy available from the earth to provide heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, without burning any fossil fuel. 

What is being done? The answer to that question is simply not enough!