Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!wrdis01!gatech!prism!dsm
From: dsm@prism.gatech.EDU (Daniel McGurl)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Ozone and the shuttle
Message-ID: <26301@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Date: 15 Apr 91 05:50:38 GMT
References: <4607@orbit.cts.com>
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
Lines: 56

In article <4607@orbit.cts.com> rambler@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Dan Meyer) writes:

>There is nothing, yes, NOTHING that we can do here on the planet that will
>cause global changes in the earth's climate! 

Wonderful assertion. If only life were so simple...

Don't you think that a full scale nuclear war would cause a rather 
significant environment change?  I somehow think that it would change
the system pretty drasticly.

Or perhaps you never read "Silent Spring" by rachael Carson.  It was a 
pretty chilling example of what the chemical pesticides that used to be
so prevelant were doing to the eco-system.

>For example, the planet belches
>all sorts of pollutants into the atmosphere in far greater quantities than
>man could ever dream of doing. I have had it up to -here- with all of these
>_Chicken Little_ the-sky-is-fal

Do you remember basic chemistry when they put you in a lab and you added 
drops to another liquid until it changed color (the titration expirments)?
I'm not saying that we have to worry that we are putting in that last
drop that will cause a massive shift, but should we take the chance.

>ling types (the media included) who believe >that life as we know it will be 
significantly altered due to man's pilligang >of the planet. 

Well, consider CO2.  I'm not that worried about the greenhouse effect, but
it appears that the tempature is rising.  It might be a local fluctuation,
but it's smart to take precautions.  We are using fossil fuels at a pretty
good clip.  Once used, they return most of their carbon into the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, we are cutting down some of the trees that have serverd as CO2
sinks for millions of years.  

>The only reason life is going to be significantly different is
>that we start to believe that the sky is falling. Chill out people. Start 
>thinking about what the media is saying. Consider that they never get anything
>right. THINK FOR YOURSELF!

It's not just the media.  Any number of professionals have esposed theories
about the greenhouse effect and the ozone layer.  Time may prove those 
theories wrong, but it's best to play it safe as you can anway.

For the record, I think the concern about the Ozone layer damage of the
shuttle is overrated for the number of flights that we see and think that
people who say that that damage is reason to stop the shuttle is a bit
silly, but why not reduce where we can?

>-- Dan

-- 
Danny McGurl                               "How straightforward the game
Office of Information Technology and       when all its rules are respected."
Information and Computer Science Major at:
Georgia Institute of Technology                     ARPA: dsm@prism.gatech.edu