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Published online 27 August 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.858
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Ozone threat is no laughing matter
Nitrous oxide poses a growing atmospheric problem.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) has become the greatest threat to the ozone layer, a new analysis suggests. The ozone-destroying abilities of the gas have been largely ignored by policy-makers and atmospheric scientists alike, who have focused on the more potent chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) — historically the dominant ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere.
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No joking at all. Who has any idea of the solar radiation nowadays? I'm quite sensitive in my skins. Years before, I could withstand the sun for hours although it's hot. But this year, even I'm inside the house, I feel like being roasted by the sun light from the window. I doubt whether the radiation degree is higher than before because of the Ozone damage?
Hi Sita. To allay your fears, you can't feel UV light. Your increased perception of radiation is most likely due to changes in your body over time. Or are those perhaps even more frightening ideas?
Depletion in ozone is not a new problem but its continuous decay makes it matter of survival of our planet. We are still dealing with CFC or halocarbons and now this nitrous oxide is added up. This is known since long but ignored in comparison to CFC and methane. We are still not sure that if there are some more causes for depletion of ozone. We can't just ignore it because it is going to increase 15-20 per cent by 2100. This report says that there is more to work both in terms of research and policy making.
Rajiv Lochan Gaur
Nature reported last month the ongoing effects of chlorine and, perhaps more alarmingly, bromine as a major cause of ozone loss. The Montreal protocol stipulated elimination of bromine from fertilizers but, due to lobbying by farmers, there has been no change. Now we hear that fertilizer is also the source of N2O, another significant threat to ozone. What future do our children have if this does not change? Perhaps we should be reviewing our western diet, also responsible for so much modern disease.
Henry Rischbieth