Most Canadians are used to life moving at break-neck speed. We carry
cell phones so we can be reached instantly. We use email so we can
transmit text and photos in the blink of an eye. We eat at fast food
chains so we can get our food immediately. We drive everywhere to
get there faster. Once we've made a decision, we want results — now.
Unfortunately, the rest of life on our planet doesn't work that
way. Things take time. Processes evolve over hundreds, thousands,
or millions of years. As a result, humanity has no problem messing
things up quickly but little patience when it comes to fixing them.
A perfect example is the ozone layer. Nearly 20 years ago, scientists
discovered a massive hole in the ozone layer, the protective layer
of ozone gas high in the atmosphere that helps shield all living
things from the Sun's harsh rays. The hole was growing and threatened
to cause increased skin cancer in humans and a host of unknown environmental
problems.
Over the next few years, scientists determined the cause of the
problem: a group of chemical compounds called CFCs that were used
in solvents, aerosols, and as coolants in refrigeration units and
air conditioners. When CFCs find their way up into the stratosphere
and react with ultraviolet light, it creates chlorine free radicals,
which are potent scavengers of ozone. In an unprecedented move,
nations around the world quickly agreed to phase out CFCs and the
Montreal Protocol was born.
It is a well-known and unqualified success. As one researcher points
out in a recent edition of the journal Nature, even schoolchildren
today are familiar with the story. Unfortunately, our instant-fix
mentality is so ingrained that many people are still confused when
stories about the ozone hole continue to appear every year. "Didn't
we fix that?" is a common refrain.
In fact, the Montreal Protocol is working. CFC production has dropped
to near zero levels and the ozone layer seems to be gradually repairing
itself. But CFCs can persist in the atmosphere for 50 to 100 years.
So some of the CFCs manufactured 40 years ago are still destroying
ozone today. It will take decades before the protective layer fully
heals. Until then, the size of the hole will fluctuate from year
to year.
Another class of chemicals that will continue to haunt us for decades,
even though a number of them were banned in 2001, are persistent
organic pollutants. These toxic chemical compounds, which include
PCBs, DDT, and dioxin, are easily transported by air and ocean currents
and have found their way into even the most remote regions of the
planet. They did not exist 75 years ago, but today traces of these
compounds can be found in the bodies of every person on Earth. No
one knows what long-term effect these substances are having on our
health.
As humanity's influence on the environment and natural systems
continues to grow, we have to remember that it can take far longer
to solve our problems than it does to create them. We cannot just
switch a problem off like a remote-control television. Global warming,
for example, will not be solved instantly. The carbon dioxide we
are pumping into the atmosphere today will stay in our air for several
hundred years. Even if we stopped producing heat-trapping gases
today, the Earth will continue to warm, and we will continue to
have more extreme weather events and other climate-related problems
for generations.
That's why it's so important to get started now. Our planet cannot
be commanded to fix itself. Mother Nature does not have a cell phone.
She doesn't use email, and she's not too keen on instant messaging
either. She takes her time, and we'd better get used to it because
like it or not, we're on her schedule.
Take the Nature Challenge and learn more at http://www.davidsuzuki.org/
Source: David Suzuki Foundation
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