![]() The report, published in Nature, catalyzed public sentiment. Expectedly, the aerosol and halocarbon industries pushed back, calling the theory "science fiction." Further studies bolstered the hypothesis, and in 1985 British scientists discovered an "ozone hole" over Antarctica. ![]() In the 1970s, chemists theorized that CFC molecules could be split apart by solar radiation to produce chlorine atoms, which could, in time, destroy the ozone. The one-two punch it landed on behalf of the environment. So that's what the Montreal Protocol did for humans. Zaelke's answer sounds like hyperbole, but it's in alignment with a 2009 NASA simulation. "You wouldn't have been able to go outside without getting sunburned in ten minutes," says Durwood Zaelke, president, Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, considering current atmospheric conditions had their been no Montreal Protocol. Montreal Protocol Act Could Be Preventing 11 Billion Tons of CO2 from Entering Earth's Atmosphere That's a tally of human suffering the world is avoiding by implementing this treaty, according to the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. In layman's terms, it got rid of a bunch of bad stuff used in everyday life CFCs were found in air conditioning systems, fire control solvents and hair spray canisters.ġ.5 million cases of skin cancer. This, in turn, prevents harmful ultraviolet radiation-invisible rays that are part of the sun's energy-from entering earth's atmosphere. In scientific terms, it phased out ozone-depleting substances, namely chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Signed in 1987, revised seven times, and ratified by 196 nations, the Montreal Protocol-officially known as the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer-has been hailed as "perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date," by Kofi Anan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations. "The future is better funding, more adequate enforcement, and more proactive efforts to get ahead of the curve," says Galvin. Today, the primary threat to the ESA has been there from its inception: pushback from well-funded land development and property rights activists. The Environmental Protection Agency's sister law, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, was signed in 1972, and was the world's first law that mandated an ecosystem approach to marine resource management. Many, but not all, of those protections also are available to threatened species. ![]() Fish and Wildlife Service, all of the act's protections are provided to endangered species. The latter are likely to be at the brink in the near future.Īccording to the U.S. The first are at the brink of extinction now. In simple terms, the act contains two classifications-endangered species and threatened species. Galvin says that the greatest success of the ESA-signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973-is that "no species has gone extinct after being listed." Under this heightened consciousness, Congress acted fast three decades later when another bird, the whooping crane, flew too close to the edge of extinction. Enter Congress, which passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940. America's founding fathers chose a bird of majestic beauty and great strength-and which would be on the precipice of extinction (thank you very much, DDT) a little more than 150 years later. In a sense, the ESA can be traced back to June 20, 1782, when the Continental Congress voted to make the bald eagle the symbol of a nascent country. "It is one of the few laws that expressly values non-human life," says Peter Galvin, conservation director, Center for Biological Diversity. It's a fraction of the hundreds of species whose populations have increased because of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). No, this isn't a character lineup for the next Dreamworks animated movie. Hundreds of Species Saved by Endangered Species Act children with elevated levels of lead in their blood had dropped from 88 percent to 4 percent, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of the major provisions of the 1970 amendment was the phase-out of lead-based gasoline. "The Clean Air Act is still a work in progress, but there is no doubt that it has saved lives." "Climate change aside, it can be documented that the air today is considerably cleaner," says O'Donnell. It got one with the Clean Air Act, the principle law addressing air pollution, including carbon dioxide emissions. doctors found that almost 95 percent had treated the "smog complex"-irritated eyes, cough, nausea, and headaches. Over 2,000 automobile accidents occurred in a single day. There was the entire month of October 1954 in Los Angeles, when the worst in a string of smog attacks blanketed the region.
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