h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am sick and tired of supposed "environmentalists" who lump global warming and ozone depletion into one problem, or say one causes the other, etc.

GLOBAL WARMING is when the temperature of the earth increases. This may be caused by the GREENHOUSE EFFECT, where emmissions such as methane and carbon dioxide trap INFRARED heat rays in the atmosphere, rather than let it bounce off and escape as it otherwise would.

THE OZONE LAYER absorbs ULTRAVIOLET rays which cause SKIN CANCER. ULTRAVIOLET rays do not warm up the earth to any appreciable degree. DEPLETION of the OZONE LAYER will allow in more ULTRAVIOLET rays which will potentially cause more SKIN CANCER and CATARACTS.

The GREENHOUSE EFFECT is caused by emmissions of carbon monoxide and dioxide, methane, and other so-called GREENOUSE GASES.

The OZONE LAYER is made of OZONE, which is molecules made of three oxygen atoms fused together, usually by electrical discharges (i.e. lightning). OZONE DEPLETION is caused by CHLOROFLOUROCARBONS (CFCs) which bond with the OZONE and cause it not to absorb ULTRAVIOLET rays anymore.

GLOBAL WARMING does not (directly) cause OZONE DEPLETION. ULTRAVIOLET light does not cause GLOBAL WARMING. VIOLENCE does not cause GUNS.

GLOBAL WARMING and THE OZONE LAYER are two completely separate phenomenon. Saying one has anything to do with the other is like saying AUTOMOBILE EMMISSIONS cause BOVINE FLATULENCE.

Thank you.

CFCs are greenhouse gasses also.

Anyway 25 years ago we were all going to freeze as the world headed into the next ice age.

Currently in the interglacial period that we're in we have massive fluctuations in the average temperature of the planet (see stuff writen about the paleoenvironment with data taken from ice cores drilled in antarctica and greenland).