AIR AND CARIBOU
(Page 2 of 3)
Oranges to the Rescue
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Not Man Apart , the journal of the organization
Friends of the Earth, reports that American Telephone and
Telegraph has found some good news for the atmosphere in an
unlikely form: oranges.
A great and growing concern among atmospheric scientists is
the deterioration of the ozone shield, an invisible band of
gas that envelops the earth and filters cancer-causing rays
of the sun. The ozone layer has been thinning over the past
several decades, and recently a hole in the shield was
discovered over Antarctica.
The cause of the ozone deterioration is not simple
(environmental problems seldom are), but a major factor
contributing to it is chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemicals
that are used in spray cans, refrigerators, many kinds of
polystyrene foam and for various industrial applications.
CFCs were banned as spray propellants in the U.S. several
years ago, but they are still used for that purpose
overseas and in considerable quantities for other purposes
in the U.S.
The AT&T discovery is a solvent known as BIOACT EC-7
that is derived from oranges. It will be used in the
electronics industry, replacing a chlorofluorocarbon known
as CFC-113. BIOACT should cut the U.S. contribution to
ozone depletion by some 7%.
Tragedy on Guam
Guam, in the South Pacific, is the site of one of the most
rapid and tragic wildlife catastrophes on record. Some time
within our past generation, a southeast Asian brown tree
snake (or perhaps a few) appeared on the island, probably
by accident and probably as a stowaway on a boat. The snake
soon multiplied, and its offspring have already extirpated
at least three species of birds found nowhere else in the
world. Brown tree snakes are currently threatening to wipe
out several more birds, as well as a unique species of
fruit bat.
Enter the U.S. Navy. It recently announced plans to build a
mammoth radar installation—rumored to be part of the
Reagan administration's "Star Wars" program—right in
the middle of an area deemed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to be essential to the survival and recovery of the
remaining endangered species.
This move would worsen the problem.
