Ozone Layer Recovering !!!
A team led by Eun-Su Yang of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, analyzed 25 years of independent ozone observations at different altitudes in Earth’s stratosphere, which lies between six and 31 miles above the surface. The observations were gathered from balloons, ground-based instruments, NASA and NOAA satellites.
The stratosphere is Earth’s second lowest atmospheric layer. It contains approximately 90 percent of all atmospheric ozone. The researchers concluded the Earth’s protective ozone layer outside of the polar regions stopped thinning around 1997. Ozone in these areas declined steadily from 1979 to 1997.
The abundance of human-produced ozone-destroying gases such as chlorofluorocarbons peaked at about the same time (1993 in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, 1997 in the stratosphere). Such substances were phased out after the 1987 international Montreal Protocol was enacted.
To measure ozone at different altitudes in the stratosphere, the team combined data from balloons and independent ground-based observing networks with monthly averaged satellite data. The satellite data came from five independent NASA and NOAA instruments.
Measurements were compared with computer predictions of ozone recovery that considered actual measured variations in human-produced ozone-destroying chemicals. The calculations took into account other factors that can affect ozone levels, such as sunspot cycle behavior, seasonal changes and stratospheric wind patterns.
“These results confirm the Montreal Protocol and its amendments have succeeded in stopping the loss of ozone in the stratosphere,” Yang said. “At the current recovery rate, the atmospheric modeling community’s best estimates predict the global ozone layer could be restored to 1980 levels — the time that scientists first noticed the harmful effects human activities were having on atmospheric ozone — some time in the middle of this century.”
The researchers concluded approximately one half the observed ozone change was in the region of the stratosphere above 11 miles and the rest in the lower stratosphere from six to 11 miles. The researchers attribute the ozone improvement above 11 miles almost entirely to the Montreal Protocol.
“Scientists expected the Montreal Protocol to be working in the middle and upper stratosphere and it is,” said co-author Mike Newchurch of the University of Alabama in Huntsville. “The real surprise of our research was the degree of ozone recovery we found at lower altitudes, below the middle stratosphere. There, ozone is improving faster than we expected, and appears to be due to changes in atmospheric wind patterns, the causes of which are not yet well understood. Until the cause of the recent ozone increase in the lowermost stratosphere is better understood, making high-accuracy predictions of how the entire ozone layer will behave in the future will remain an elusive goal. Continued careful observation and modeling are required to understand how the ozone recovery process will evolve.”
“Our study is unique because it measures changes in the ozone layer at all heights in the atmosphere, then compares the data with models as well as observations from other instruments that measure variations in the total amount of ozone in the atmosphere,” said Ross Salawitch, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Results are published in the latest Journal of Geophysical Research.
NASA decides to move Shuttle Atlantis off Launch Pad.
The decision was made due to Tropical Storm Ernesto’s track. Ernesto is expected to bring high winds as it passes Kennedy.
A new launch date is not yet scheduled for Atlantis’ flight, STS-115, to the International Space Station. NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency continue to discuss the timing of Atlantis’ mission and the Soyuz spacecraft, which will send the next crew to the station in
September. Factors to be considered are the lighting constraints for the shuttle launch and Soyuz landing and the timing for docking and undocking the spacecraft with the station. NASA is also investigating additional launch windows later in the fall.
The STS-115 crew will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston. Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson, and mission specialists Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean will continue training as they await a new target launch date.
During STS-115, Atlantis’ astronauts will deliver and install the 17.5-ton, bus-sized P3/P4 integrated truss segment on the station. The girder-like truss includes a set of giant solar arrays, batteries and associated electronics. The P3/P4 truss segment will provide one-fourth of the total power-generation capability for the completed station.
Free Energy: Open Challange to Scientists !!!
Steorn placed an advertisement in the Economist on August 18th inviting ‘the most qualified and the most cynical’ scientists to step forward. More than 3,000 scientists have now responded and the deadline for any last minute applications has been set for 12 midnight, September 8th.
Steorn’s technology is based on the interaction of magnetic fields and allows the production of clean, free and constant energy. The technology can be applied to virtually all devices requiring energy, from cellular phones to cars.
From all the scientists who accept Steorn’s challenge, 12 will now be invited to take part in a rigorous testing exercise to prove that Steorn’s technology creates free energy. The results will be published worldwide.
Sean McCarthy, CEO of Steorn, commented: “We expected a good response to our advertisement because of its potential and its implications for the scientific world. Our technology goes far beyond scientific curiosity and addresses many urgent global needs including security of energy supply and zero emission energy production. In order for these benefits to be achieved, we need the public validation and endorsement of the scientific community.”
“The next stage is to go through the applications and validate the information that we have been presented with. That will enable us to select a jury of 12 of the world’s best-qualified scientists who are prepared to test the technology and publish their findings to the world, whatever those findings turn out to be.”
Steorn will contact all of the scientists who have applied to investigate its technology so that it can validate their educational background and areas of research.
It anticipates that testing will begin before the New Year. The length of time that the testing will take will be determined by the 12 scientists, as will the location and format of the test process.