Whatever Happened to the Ozone Hole? A Story of A/C, Atoms, and CFCs

It might feel like they’re making us cooler, but refrigerators and air conditioning are actually making our world warmer. Yes, they use a huge amount of electricity, but many older cooling methods also released tons of molecules that are still hanging around, shredding our #ozone layer. In this episode of #Untold, a new #YouTubeLearning series from ACS, PBS, and YouTube, we consider how we might keep ourselves and our food cool, without accidentally warming up our world.

The chlorine reaction we showed isn’t the only one--to learn more about bromine reactions that also destroy ozone, check out this link: https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csl/assessments/ozone/2018/downloads/twentyquestions/Q8.pdf

And to learn why the Antarctic is most susceptible to ozone damage, check out the following: https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csl/assessments/ozone/2018/downloads/twentyquestions/Q9.pdf

You might also like:

UNTOLD | Challenger: The Real Story of an Avoidable Disaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI174WMnWl4

UNTOLD | The Terrifying (but Awesome) Science Behind Red Tides
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7t7qrH_dsc

UNTOLD | The Invisible Tsunami That Killed 1,500 People in One Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNKDx3kR3tk

UNTOLD | The Great MOLASSES Flood of 1919
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMPGm3OSvMg

Credits:

Executive Producers:
George Zaidan
Hilary Hudson

Producer/Editor:
Darren Weaver

Writer/Host:
Alex Dainis, PhD

Assistant Editor:
Brett Kuxhausen

Animator:
Shea Lord

Fact Checker:
Bob Hunt

Archive Producer:
Annalea Embree

Coordinating Producer:
Samantha Jones, PhD

Scientific Consultants:
Michelle Boucher, PhD
James Elkins, PhD
Andrew Jordan, PhD
Stephen Montzka, PhD
Brianne Raccor, PhD

Sources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gkvr9l3z38R-vJ6DHVniQsasfqGO0ZaQed-8hwvoYho/edit?usp=sharing

Produced by the American Chemical Society. Join the American Chemical Society! http://bit.ly/Join_acsmembership

Prochain épisode

S07E22 - What Could An Explosion On the Sun Do Here On Earth?