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Published online 22 June 2009 |
Nature
| doi:10.1038/4591040a
Corrected online: 7 October 2009
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Climate burden of refrigerants rockets
Environmentalists push for tougher regulation of chemicals meant to help the ozone layer.
Modern refrigerants designed to protect the ozone layer are poised to become a major contributor to global warming because of their future explosive growth in the developing world, scientists report this week.
Hydrofluorocarbon chemicals (HFCs) were developed to phase out ozone-depleting gases, in response to the Montreal Protocol.
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Enviro-whinerism's trinity: expensive, shoddy, deadly. Bring back inexpensive, effective, and safe freons. END THE MADNESS.
Great article. If you interested on the subject there is also some info available on Climate Chages @ http://greenearth-climatechange.blogspot.com/
I am a HVAC Contractor in Washington State and have been in the business for almost 30 years. The old refrigerants displaced air and did not harm you. The new refrigerants cause tumors and enlatged sex organs - they are toxic to people. It is not entirely uncommon for large rooftop units to dump refrigerant into occupied spaces due to failres like cap tube chafing or tubing damage due to belt failure. The new refrigerants put people at risk - but why worry, we're saving the planet. The only need in '89 was to perfect reclaim for repairs and recycling for old refrigerant in order to eliminate release. The old refrigerants were better but who cares when they can create a perpetual crisis that prevents you from saving your hard earned money. They told you it would take decades... maybe hundreds of years to repair the ozone but now it's fixed and global warming is the new priority. Wake up people.
Oops, Recovery is removing refrigerant. Recycling is cleaning it up in the field and reusing it. Reclaim is removal so it can be reprocessed to specs.
Informative and pertinent. It looks like we are jumping from the fire to a hot pan. By reducing the ozone destroying agent, we unwittingly introduce a potentially lethal green house gas. Are we myopic? Humans are always much smarter and wiser in hindsight. Could we not have better foresight? (Tan Boon Tee)