Episode 111
[FOCUS] Myth 8: Depleting Ozone Layer Is The Cause Of Climate Change (it's NOT!)
Episode Summary: This short segment is taken from a previous episode that focused on debunking myths about climate change, particularly Myth 8: that the depletion of the ozone layer is causing climate change.
In this extract, Jenn and Leekei engage in a discussion about this common misconception. They clarify that the depletion of the ozone layer is not the principal cause of climate change, thereby busting Myth 8. Tune in to understand why this statement is a myth and not a fact.
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Listen to the full episode: Myth 7 and 8 about Climate Change
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Want to join in the conversation?
Visit thecarbonalmanac.org/podcasts and send us a voice message on this episode or any other climate-related ideas and perspectives.
Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up!
You can find out more on pages 32 and 33 of the Carbon Almanac and on the website you can tap the footnotes link and type in 342.
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Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Jenn Swanson and Inma Lopez
From Langley in British Columbia, Canada, Jenn is a Minister, Coach, Writer and Community Connector, helping people help themselves.
Leekei is a fashion business founder, a business coach, an international development expert and a podcaster from Paris, France.
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The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater.
Transcript
hi, I'm Jen.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Lakey.
Speaker:Lakey.
Speaker:What are we talking about today?
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Today we are going to talk about another.
Speaker:Myth number eight about climate change, which is depleting.
Speaker:Ozone layer is the cause of climate change.
Speaker:Oh wow.
Speaker:that's a big statement.
Speaker:and that's a big myth because we don't talk so much about
Speaker:the ozone layer anymore.
Speaker:No, it was a very big topic in what the 1980s, 1990.
Speaker:Yes, basically.
Speaker:Um, the ozone layer is this thing that protects us against UV rays.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:UV lights.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:UV, right UV lights from the sun.
Speaker:Mm-hmm because without that, without this ozone layer, they wouldn't
Speaker:be no life on the earth because we'll all be burned by the sun.
Speaker:I understand that this was a big discovery back in the seventies.
Speaker:and, um, it took a few years, but there was a hole in the ozone layer.
Speaker:Um, that was discovered on the poles.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:On the pole.
Speaker:On the north pole.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And there was, there was some research done, um, by some chemists, um, uh, out
Speaker:of, uh, university of California, I think.
Speaker:And what they discovered was that, um, those things called CFCs
Speaker:mm-hmm , chloral floral carbon gases.
Speaker:Say that three times fast chloral Ural carbon.
Speaker:They were commonly, uh, found in things like aerosol sprays.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:And, uh, refrigeration coolant.
Speaker:And they would have an effect on the ozone layer.
Speaker:And the idea was that they would go up there and they would break down into
Speaker:substances that included chlorine mm-hmm
Speaker:and the atmosphere had a, a finite ability to absorb chlorine mm-hmm and
Speaker:one atom of chlorine can destroy more than a hundred thousand ozone molecules.
Speaker:This is something that the, uh, United States environmental protection agency
Speaker:had discovered that one atom, which is really small of chlorine destroys
Speaker:a hundred thousand ozone molecules.
Speaker:Very lethal.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, so that they decided to get everybody together and like all the United nation,
Speaker:you know, a hundred and something 190 off countries of the United nations.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think there's a, there was almost 200 anyway, and they made
Speaker:a decision that we have to stop.
Speaker:Depleting this ozone layer by getting rid of some of these products to,
Speaker:to phase them out so that we can stop the hole in the ozone layer.
Speaker:So, um, all countries agree to do that, to implement the policy
Speaker:in the country, respective countries to phase out the CFCs.
Speaker:Yeah, they did.
Speaker:They did.
Speaker:They agreed.
Speaker:And it's made a huge difference.
Speaker:That one decision and, and the phasing out of, uh, CFCs has, um, really stopped
Speaker:or slowed down the ozone depletion.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I think it's a great success story that shows that when all countries
Speaker:work together toward the same goal and all countries are committed.
Speaker:We can solve problems.
Speaker:isn't that so true?
Speaker:we, we can work together even though we're all so different.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:We, we can get together and, and solve a problem if we really think
Speaker:about it and work about work on it.
Speaker:And if it's in the interest of all, all the people, you know, I.
Speaker:They came up with different ways of, uh, producing the chemicals
Speaker:that are in aerosol spray cans.
Speaker:And, uh, they, they managed to, you know, people are so creative, human
Speaker:beings are so when, when they need to be human beings are incredibly.
Speaker:Resourceful and creative.
Speaker:And so there's alternate ways of doing the same thing.
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:So this is very inspiring and it led it.
Speaker:This led me, this made me very hopeful for our common problem.
Speaker:If we continue to work on this as a collective and, and get more and more
Speaker:people involved in, you know, deciding and figuring out, uh, there are so many.
Speaker:Amazing minds and so many caring hearts that come together um, it can happen.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So that's a great way to end out conversation.
Speaker:Thanks leaky.
Speaker:Thank you.
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