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- In the Seventies
- humanity suddenly
- woke up to the
- damage done to the
- earth by the huge
- explosion of new
- technology in the
- twentieth century.
- Rowland and Molina
- were among those
- who helped bring
- about this world-
- wide ecological
- awakening
- #
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- #
- The depletion of
- the ozone layer
- threatened to
- cause an increase
- in skin cancer and
- cataracts, and to
- affect marine life
- and agricultural
- crop yields.
- Governments saw
- the problem, but
- found it hard to
- establish binding
- international
- agreements
- #
- The thinning of the
- ozone layer sets
- alarm bells ringing
- every spring in
- the northern hemi-
- sphere. The extent
- of the problem in
- the southern hemi-
- sphere is even
- more desperate:
- between1975 and
- 1985 half of the
- ozone over the
- vast landmass
- of Antarctica
- disappeared
- #
- The implications
- of both global
- warming and the
- ozone depletion in
- the atmosphere
- were so serious
- that politicians -
- mindful of the
- burgeoning green
- movement - even
- promised to beat
- the deadlines
- which they had
- set themselves
- #
- In both planetary
- hemispheres, the
- possible dangers
- from the loss of
- atmospheric ozone
- are still being
- investigated. The
- consequences of
- ozone depletion are
- now known to be
- more far-reaching
- than anyone had
- suspected when
- the holes were
- first detected
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