Human Stupidity                                                               

Humans have proven themselves to be very intelligent beings. We started out as cavemen back in the stone age and now, thanks to human intelligence, we enjoy technologies such as driving cars and using smart phones. Throughout the process in which we created our modern society, humans have been pretty stupid about the environment. Deforestation, water pollution, fracking, and global warming are just a few examples of the many forms of human ecological stupidity. Our class had discussions on subjects similar to these. Throughout the discussions I found the issue of ozone depletion to be really interesting. In ozone depletion, ozone depleting substances or ODS are found in the lower atmosphere and they naturally move to the upper atmosphere. As they move up they pull one oxygen from the ozone (o3) and create 02 (dioxide) when this happens the ozone is depleted. Ozone depletion has many harmful effects. Ozone depletion creates an increase in ultraviolet light which is harmful to humans, plants, and animals. Many materials such as wood, plastic, rubber, and fabrics are degraded by the increase in ultraviolet levels. Earth's increase to ultraviolet exposure has also led to the damage of marine life which threatens some species, reducing biodiversity in our oceans and lakes. There are many things we can do to prevent ozone depletion: make sure air conditioners are not leaking, do not use portable fire extinguishers that have halons; and do not refill your refrigerators, freezers, or air conditioners.

 

References: Class prezi, imaginepeacepro (youtube), The Ozone Hole tour.