BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY: How CFCs Changed Our World and Endangered the Ozone Layer
Cagin and Dray ( We Are Not Afraid ) here examine the effect on the earth's atmosphere of chloroflourocarbons. Clarifying the atmospheric science and physical chemistry behind the familiar reports on ozone depletion, the authors artfully explicate scientific background information that the general reader might otherwise set aside through skepticism or lack of understanding. The story traces the success of CFCs from their invention in 1928 as one of the earliest synthetic industrial chemicals, first used in refrigeration , to their widespread use as a propellant in aerosol cans; and from the first cautionary notes raised in the mid-1970s to the political showdown with the chemical lobby in the '80s. The authors hint at the significance of a weakening of our faith in science, but that theme remains mostly a byproduct of the CFC debate in this level-headed record of the arguments in the CFC investigations.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.