Word: layering
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...more immediate concern is that the chlorine released when CFC molecules break up destroys ozone molecules. The ozone layer, located in the stratosphere, between 10 and 30 miles up, is vital to the well being of plants and animals. Ozone molecules, which consist of three oxygen atoms, absorb most of the ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun. And ultraviolet is extremely dangerous to life on earth...
...Manufacturers switched to such environmentally benign substitutes as butane, the chemical burned in cigarette lighters.) But the rest of the world continued to use CFC-based aerosol cans, and overall CFC production kept growing. The threat became far clearer in 1985, when researchers reported a "hole" in the ozone layer over Antarctica. Although the size of the hole varies with the seasons and weather patterns, at times Antarctic ozone has been depleted by as much as 50% in some spots. As a result of this disturbing development, 24 nations, including the U.S. and the Soviet Union, met in Montreal...
...carbon dioxide, once thought to be exclusively responsible for the greenhouse effect, is now known to cause only half the problem. The rest comes from other gases. Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, are not only destroyers of the stratosphere's ozone layer but powerful greenhouse gases as well. So are nitrogen oxides, which are pollutants spewed out of automobile exhausts and power-plant smokestacks. Another greenhouse gas is methane, the primary component of natural gas. Methane is also generated by bacteria living in the guts of cattle and termites, the muck of rice paddies and the rotting garbage in landfills. Each...
Some scientists have suggested that the depletion of the ozone layer could be counteracted by a variety of Star Wars-like techniques. They include lofting frozen ozone "bullets" into the upper atmosphere and blasting apart ozone-depleting molecules in the air with huge terrestrial laser beams. But such grandiose schemes would be unreliable and could change weather patterns in unpredictable ways. In the end, it may be safer and cheaper, if inconvenient, to cope with ozone depletion by wearing wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses and sunscreen...
...land and water are not in any better shape. The riverbed of the Neva, which meanders beside the magnificent Hermitage in Leningrad, is covered with a thick layer of oil. Ill-advised dam construction and inappropriate irrigation projects have caused the level of the Aral Sea to drop 40 ft. It is possible that this body of water, the world's sixth largest sea, will not exist in 20 years. Siberia, once pristine, is laced with wastes from steel, chemical and coal industries. Worrisome numbers of dead sturgeon are floating atop the polluted Volga River, threatening the Soviets' prestigious caviar...