Big Issue – Climate Change

According to Stephen Leahy’s article “Climate Change: Chemical lobby weakening ozone treaty,” chemicals cause the ozone hole, which is a serious problem, which is harmful for human being’s life. At first, he shows the status about how many people have gotten skin cancer because of too much UV (Ultraviolet radiation) from the ozone hole. There is a large amount of scientific evidence that show how dangerous it is and there is a protocol to improve the ozone layer. Second, he explains what causes such a serious problem of ozone loss. The author states that CFC is the most harmful chemical that causes ozone loss. Finally, he discusses the fact that we have to focus on the environment during this economic crisis. Many countries have decided to make some solutions because of the Montreal Protocol, even though we are in a global economy crisis. It is good for human’s future. At the end, the author states we already have Montreal Protocol to protect ozone. Moreover, “it is an example of ‘decisive multilateral action on environmental threats and challenges can bring wide-ranging health, social and economic benefits.’ “ (Leahy, 2008 para.21)

People have started to pay attention to the ozone problems because of the Australia ozone hole. Millions of people got skin cancer because of the ozone hole. Scientists explain that too much UV will cause skin cancer and the ray is caused by ozone loss. After that, people flowed on the reason for the ozone hole and finally they found the reason- CFC: a “dream” chemical for industry and human life, because it is cheap and useful. However, it is really harmful to ozone. We cannot see the effect of CFC very soon because CFC will take about 15 years to rise to the ozone layer. Therefore, the UN makes a decision: stop-using CFC. Unfortunately, we do not know how many CFCs are still in the ozone layer and it is still a problem for human health. Although it is a hard and long work to do, we still need to find some solutions to solve the problems. In fact, government should draw up particular laws to protect the ozone layer; government should invest more funds to research the ozone layer every year; and people should have responsibility to help government to solve the Ozone layer problem.

First, government should draw up particular laws or policies to protect the ozone layer, such as the Montreal Protocol. However, a global proposal cannot be done very well in some case. Moreover, the UN cannot have enough labor power to commit every country to do well. So that, local government should sign some laws or policies to protect the ozone layer and give people a little bit of pressure that allows them to do right things, such as stop using CFC or other chemical. Basically, the new policy has to focus on education for the importance of the ozone for us; and also government should give people a blueprint that shows what benefits they will get if they follow the new policy. Furthermore, government should do it best at first, because people will look at them first. If officers do well, they will follow the rules. If a new law or policy distributed, it will be easily to protect the ozone layer and human’s health.

Second, government should invest more funds to research the Ozone layer every year. During this economic crisis in 2009, people often think that they should put business in the first place because they think that if there is no money, there is no better life. However, as we know, oxygen and soil are the most important resources in our lives. If we do not care about the ozone layer, both oxygen and soil will disappear, and also, it will be too late to solve the ozone loss problem. So government has to solve the ozone layer problem more quickly than the others and give environmentalist enough funds to create a new way to protect the ozone layer, or create a new chemical to replace CFC. One more thing, it is really important to make sure that the funds is going to a right place, because we have to solve the problem as soon as we can during the business crisis; that is really important.

Third, people should have responsibility to help government to solve the ozone layer problem. All the policies and laws are focus on citizens, so that people should support their own government and follow the rules. That is people’s responsibility for their countries. Furthermore, the earth is not only one person’s earth; it is for all of us. Therefore, we must pay attention for our planet and be in charge of the ozone layer, because it is out life-giver. According to the above, citizens should comply with two things. One is giving the government some recommendations if citizens have any questions. The other is agreeing to government’s new policy or law of ozone layer if you think they are right. There is a serious relationship between government and citizens; government wants to find the best way to earn benefits for citizens. And citizens must support their own countries. If they do well, there are no problems with the ozone.

In conclusion, it seems better about the ozone layer after the UN releases the proposal to stop using CFCs. However, it still has many problem and many things that people cannot solve, such as skin cancer; we cannot cure the people who have already got cancer but we can fix the problem basically. That can solve the problem of the ozone hole. If scientists can reduce the ozone hole, people can live better. Therefore, government and citizens have to work together to figure out what should be done with those serious environmental problems. If government made the right policy and citizens are glad to follow them, the earth, out homeland, should be fine.


Reference:
Leahy, Stephen. (2009. September, 16). Climate Change: Chemical Lobby Weakening Ozone Treaty. Inter Press Service. Retrieved on May 19,2009, from:http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews+43888