A journalist has absolutely crucified a conservative political commentator on social media after he questioned why everyone 'suddenly' stopped caring about the ozone layer.
Matt Walsh took to Twitter to espouse his view on climate change, writing: “Remember when they spent years telling us to panic over the hole in the ozone layer and then suddenly just stopped talking about it and nobody ever mentioned the ozone layer again?”
He added: "This was also back during the time when they scared school children into believing that 'acid rain' was a real and urgent threat."
The tweet copped tens of thousands of likes, retweets and replies.
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One of the people who quote tweeted Walsh was Derek Thompson, a staff writer for The Atlantic.
Thompson was having absolutely none of what the political commentator was saying and chose to drop some truth bombs.
He wrote: “What happened is scientists discovered chlorofluorocarbons were bad for the ozone, countries believed them, the Montreal Protocol was signed, and CFC use fell by 99.7 per cent, leading to the stabilisation of the ozone layer, perhaps the greatest example of global cooperation in history.”
Burn.
The Montreal Protocol was the global agreement to protect the Earth’s ozone layer by phasing out chemicals that deplete it.
As the ozone layer protects us from the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation, rapid thinning of it would cause damage to plants and animals and elicit a massive surge in skin cancer.
According to the United Nation’s website, the landmark agreement was signed in 1987 and implemented two years later.
Parties meet once a year to ensure they are honouring the deal, which has led to adjustments to the Protocol.
So far, the Protocol has been amended six times, with the most recent one being in 2016 with the Kigali Amendment.
That amendment called for the phasing down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), as it was recognised as a harmful substance to the ozone layer.
However, we are not entirely out of the woods, as a new hole has recently been discovered.
Courthouse News reports that Canadian chemical physicist Qing-Bin Lu discovered the new hole over the tropical regions, which is unlike the other two over the North and South poles.
Lu also said it’s seven times larger than previous holes but similar in depth.
“We never thought there was any possibility to see a hole over the tropics,” he said.
He added: “CFCs are undoubtedly main ozone-depleting gases, but cosmic rays play a major triggering role in causing both polar and tropical ozone holes.”
Lu continued: “The hole in the ozone layer will affect climate changes in the stratosphere and on the ground because ozone itself is an effective greenhouse gas.
“The ozone hole can reduce global warming to some degree.”
Ok, I’m calling another Protocol meeting.
Topics: News, Twitter, Environment, Science
Charisa Bossinakis