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Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center say they have the first conclusive evidence that the Earth's protective ozone layer is being eroded by man-made chemical products, and not by natural events like volcanic eruptions.Data gathered by NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite UARS), they said, have found ozone-destroying chlorine in the stratosphere over Antarctica along with fluorine. It's a coincidence, the scientists say, that can be explained only by the breakdown of chlorofluorocarbons -- the chief suspect in ozone destruction that contains both elements.

High in the Earth's stratosphere, the ozone layer that shields our planet from the sun's harmful rays is in jeopardy. And the statistics are alarming:In Antarctica, the ozone hole is more than twice the size of Europe. It now covers swaths of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and the southern tip of South America.That's the largest it has been since it was discovered in 1985, according to the World Meteorological Organization.In Australia, up to three out of four people are expected to develop skin cancer.

FULLERTON, Calif. -- As with Newton, the apple and gravity, fruit again has played a big role in a scientific discovery: Ray Turner reached into his refrigerator for a lemon and came away with a startling solution to a daunting environmental problem.After a few false starts one evening at his home, the longtime Hughes Aircraft Co. employee cooked up a citrus-based substitute for a widely used industrial chemical blamed for the erosion of Earth's protective ozone layer.Mr. Turner's kitchen coup, backers say, should provide the defense electronics industry with a replacement it has long sought for the chemical, prove a cheap and reliable alternative for other high-tech manufacturers -- and put a healthy dent in the stubborn problem of ozone depletion.

THE CURRENT wild weather through the West and Midwest has again raised the question: Is global warming finally asserting itself?The best answer science can give us now is essentially: "It is the kind of weather we would predict global warming to make more common."Whether we are unnaturally changing the Earth's climate by pumping unprecedented amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is one of the most important issues of our time.Predicted consequences include more extremes of weather, flood and drought, loss of species diversity and a rise in sea level that would devastate coastal regions such as the Chesapeake.

You probably have heard of ozone, the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of chemicals. It is an odd form of oxygen, a gas that normally floats around as O2. Ozone is O3, and it occurs naturally in a gaseous layer in the stratosphere, seven miles above the Earth.This high layer of ozone acts as a selective shield around the Earth. It absorbs intense ultraviolet radiation from the sun that would otherwise make life here difficult, if not downright nasty.Ozone is also found in the lower atmosphere, where it is created when certain byproducts of combustion react with sunlight.

I'm sure you've heard people talk about the destruction of the ozone layer. It's an incredibly important topic; some scientists believe it's the most critical environmental issue we face.Yet not everyone's clear on the concept. Is ozone depletion the same thing as the greenhouse effect? Is there anything we can do about it? What does it mean if the ozone layer gets thinner? In fact, what is the ozone layer?Let's start with the basics:*The ozone layer is a shield of ozone gas located some six to 30 miles above the ground.

IRVINE, Calif. -- Chemicals that are eating a hole in the Earth's protective ozone layer are still being released into the air at a record level despite international agreements to phase out their use, says the scientist who first spotted the phenomenon 17 years ago.F. Sherwood Rowland, a University of California scientist who discovered the link between chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, and the ozone layer, has released the results of tests that show emission of the chemicals reached a record high this year and are growing.

WASHINGTON -- As the deadline approaches for the United States to stop making almost all ozone-destroying refrigerants for domestic use, a private group is estimating that up to 22,000 tons a year, or one-third the amount sold in this country, may be smuggled in.The federal government has no current estimate of the amount )) of the chemicals, mostly chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, entering the country illegally. But last year officials said it was about 10,000 tons.An international agreement, in 1987, aims to limit damage to Earth's protective ozone layer but does not ban use of the chemicals.

For more than a decade scientists have been warning that the release of man-made chemicals into the atmosphere was depleting the protective, high-altitude layer of ozone that blocks the passage of harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Now researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration say they have conclusive evidence that such a process is indeed taking place.The findings vindicate the efforts of environmentalists and others over the years to eliminate production of the kinds of chemicals responsible for the destruction of ozone in the upper atmosphere as well as the multinational effort to reduce ozone depletion by the year 2005.

How many aerosol cans do you have around your home? Five? Ten? If you're an average American, you have about 46, according to sources at the Environmental Protection Agency. Surprised? Well, think of all the aerosol products that are available: shaving cream, bathroom cleaners, rug shampoo, spray paint, hair spray, insect sprays, room deodorizers, automotive products -- the list goes on.Aerosol spray cans were introduced in 1941. According to one industry executive, "The forerunner of today's aerosol was first widely used to protect U.S. servicemen from mosquitoes and malaria during World War II."

THE END OF 1995 marks an end to the production of the ubiquitous chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by industrialized nations, an exceptional global commitment to protect the earth's stratospheric ozone layer, which screens out harmful ultraviolet solar rays.It's a praiseworthy accomplishment, even if full restoration of the protective ozone layer to pre-1970 levels won't be achieved for ,, another 50 years under the current schedule.By then, the ozone-destroying chemicals so widely used for refrigeration, pest control, industrial cleaning and fire suppression will have been replaced by more benign chemicals and processes, under the 1987 Montreal Protocol adopted by most nations of the world.

WASHINGTON -- The latest Nobel Prize in chemistry confirms that 1995 is shaping up as a vintage year on Capitol Hill for the denigration of knowledge.Prior to the Nobel, announced last Wednesday, the legislators killed their own think tank, the Office of Technology Assessment, and also voted to terminate or financially cripple several government agencies that collect information about environment and health. Now still playing out is the latest episode, the ozone follies, starring an improbable legislative foray into the triumph of chemistry that won the big prize this year.

WASHINGTON -- As the deadline approaches for the United States to stop making almost all ozone-destroying refrigerants for domestic use, a private group is estimating that up to 22,000 tons a year, or one-third the amount sold in this country, may be smuggled in.The federal government has no current estimate of the amount )) of the chemicals, mostly chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, entering the country illegally. But last year officials said it was about 10,000 tons.An international agreement, in 1987, aims to limit damage to Earth's protective ozone layer but does not ban use of the chemicals.

For more than a decade scientists have been warning that the release of man-made chemicals into the atmosphere was depleting the protective, high-altitude layer of ozone that blocks the passage of harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Now researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration say they have conclusive evidence that such a process is indeed taking place.The findings vindicate the efforts of environmentalists and others over the years to eliminate production of the kinds of chemicals responsible for the destruction of ozone in the upper atmosphere as well as the multinational effort to reduce ozone depletion by the year 2005.

Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center say they have the first conclusive evidence that the Earth's protective ozone layer is being eroded by man-made chemical products, and not by natural events like volcanic eruptions.Data gathered by NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite UARS), they said, have found ozone-destroying chlorine in the stratosphere over Antarctica along with fluorine. It's a coincidence, the scientists say, that can be explained only by the breakdown of chlorofluorocarbons -- the chief suspect in ozone destruction that contains both elements.

There was no 300-year-old air trapped inside St. Mary's City's lead coffins, after all."I think it's modern air," said Dr. Joel Levine, the atmospheric scientist who led the air analysis by scientists at NASA's Langley Research Center, in Hampton, Va.The coffins, buried beneath the floor of the 17th-century Great Brick Chapel, contained the remains of two adults and a baby thought have been members of Maryland's founding Calvert family. Scientists had also hoped to find pristine, Colonial-era air trapped inside.

Q: I'm a little worried that our older refrigerator may be leaking CFCs. Is there a way to be sure without calling a repairman?A: Yes. Have a columnist call a repair person for you. Here's what my repair person said: The CFCs that are the coolant in your refrigerator are in a sealed, pressurized system. These rarely leak. When they do, however, you know it because your refrigerator stops cooling pretty quickly, and your freezer will defrost.If this has happened, you will have to call a repair person in to fix the system.

New federal requirements on the handling of refrigerants are raising the cost of repairing air-conditioning systems, ranging from central residential systems to those that cool office buildings and grocery freezers.Automobile owners might also find themselves having to pay to convert an old car's air conditioning system to handle environmentally safer coolants.Environmental Protection Agency regulations that took effect July 1 prohibit the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)

New federal requirements on the handling of refrigerants are raising the cost of repairing air-conditioning systems, ranging from central residential systems to those that cool office buildings and grocery freezers.Automobile owners might also find themselves having to pay to convert an old car's air conditioning system to handle environmentally safer coolants.Environmental Protection Agency regulations that took effect July 1 prohibit the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)

You probably have heard of ozone, the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of chemicals. It is an odd form of oxygen, a gas that normally floats around as O2. Ozone is O3, and it occurs naturally in a gaseous layer in the stratosphere, seven miles above the Earth.This high layer of ozone acts as a selective shield around the Earth. It absorbs intense ultraviolet radiation from the sun that would otherwise make life here difficult, if not downright nasty.Ozone is also found in the lower atmosphere, where it is created when certain byproducts of combustion react with sunlight.