You said,
“...we really don’t know if the “ozone hole” was always there...”
Actually, we DO know, it WAS always there.
This is because we know:
(1) that ozone molecules (O3) are created when oxygen molecules (O2) absorb ultraviolet rays.
3 O2 + UV ==> 2 O3
(2) that this process occurs high in our atmosphere where the Sun’s rays first encounter oxygen molecules in our atmosphere.
(3) that the so-called UV-ray absorbing “ozone latyer” is actually found high in our atmosphere.
(4) that ozone molecules are unstable and quickly, and naturally, degrade to oxygen molecules.
2 O3 ==> 3 O2 + heat.
(5) that Freon accelerates the degradation of ozone into oxygen.
(6) that when it’s summer in Antarctica, the Earth’s South Pole is exposed to the Sun’s ultraviolet rays 24/7. The result, increased exposure of oxygen molecules in the atmosphere over the South Pole to ultraviolet rays, increases the amount of ozone produced. When it’s summer in the Antarctic, the “ozone hole” gets smaller.
(4) that when it’s winter in Antarctica, the Earth’s South Pole is NOT exposed to the Sun’s ultaviolet rays. As a result, exposure of oxygen molecules in the atmosphere over the South Pole to UV rays is minimal. Not enough ozone is produced to replace the ozone molecules that normally revert to oxygen molecules. The “ozone hole” gets larger.
(5) that the law of gravity applies to gases as well as to solids. Molecules that are heavy relative to the molecules of nitrogen gas that make up most of our atmosphere, will not easily rise in our atmosphere. Freon molecules are much heavier than nitrogen molecules, so it is unlikely they could rise, or float up, to the altitudes where the Earth’s ozone layer is found.
(6) that if freon could ignore the laws of gravity, it would tend to “rise” where its concentrations are highest and create its “ozone holes” there.
(7) that no ozone holes have been found high above Washington, D.C. or Houston or Phoenix or other large cities where air-conditioning is widely used.
(8) that the “man-made-ozone-hole” theory is just another example of junk science.
I meant we don’t have a historical record, because we only recently discovered it.
Good post...the new satellite models completely debunk the ozone schtick.
Their are no homogenous “layers” of ozone. They constantly vary, more as a result of weather and jet stream patterns than anything.
Something that Carrier doesn’t want you to know...R410a (Carrier’s Puron brand) has a lower ozone depletion factor than R22, but has a higher “global warming factor”. That means they’ll replace R410a with something else in the near future.