Mysterious source of ozone-depleting chemical baffles NASA

[Buster's Uncle]

Mysterious source of ozone-depleting chemical baffles NASA
AFP
23 minutes ago



Birds fly past a NASA logo at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, December 6, 2007 (AFP Photo/Nicholas Kamm)



Washington (AFP) - A chemical used in dry cleaning and fire extinguishers may have been phased out in recent years but NASA said Wednesday that carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is still being spewed into the atmosphere from an unknown source.

The world agreed to stop using CC14 as part of the Vienna Convention on Protection of the Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol, which attained universal ratification in 2009.

"Parties to the Montreal Protocol reported zero new CCl4 emissions between 2007-2012," the US space agency said in a statement.

"However, the new research shows worldwide emissions of CCl4 average 39 kilotons per year, approximately 30 percent of peak emissions prior to the international treaty going into effect."

CC14 levels are not enough to reverse the decreasing trend of ozone-depletion, but experts are still mystified as to where it is coming from.

With no new reported emissions, atmospheric concentrations of the compound should have declined at an expected rate of four percent per year since 2007.

However, observations from the ground showed atmospheric concentrations were only declining one percent per year.

"We are not supposed to be seeing this at all," said Qing Liang, an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"It is now apparent there are either unidentified industrial leakages, large emissions from contaminated sites, or unknown CCl4 sources."

Researchers used NASA's 3-D GEOS Chemistry Climate Model and data from global networks of ground-based observations to establish the first estimate of average global CC14 emissions from 2000 to 2012.

In going through the data, researchers also learned that the chemical stays in the atmosphere were 40 percent longer than previously thought.

"People believe the emissions of ozone-depleting substances have stopped because of the Montreal Protocol," said Paul Newman, chief scientist for atmospheres at NASA.

"Unfortunately, there is still a major source of CCl4 out in the world."

The study was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.


http://news.yahoo.com/mysterious-source-ozone-depleting-chemical-baffles-nasa-212742029.html

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China.

[Geo]

Russia.

[Buster's Uncle]

The Russians would do it openly.

[Buster's Uncle]

NASA discovers a mysterious source is still wrecking the ozone layer
The Week
Meghan DeMaria  12:31pm ET



New research by NASA found that a compound from an unknown source is destroying the ozone layer.

The compound — carbon tetrachloride — has been banned globally, and NASA doesn't know where it's coming from. Carbon tetrachloride used to be found in fire extinguishers and dry-cleaning products, but it was phased out under the Montreal Protocol in 1987.

NASA found that 39 kilotons of carbon tetrachloride were emitted over the last year, which is 30 percent of the peak emissions that occurred before the treaty went into effect. Zero emissions were reported from 2007 to 2012, so the findings are alarming.

"We are not supposed to be seeing this at all," Qing Liang, an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and lead author of the study, said in a statement. "It is now apparent there are either unidentified industrial leakages, large emissions from contaminated sites, or unknown CCl4 sources."

The study also found that carbon tetrachloride can linger in the atmosphere longer than scientists previously thought. NASA's research was published in Monday's issue of Geophysical Research Letters. For more on how carbon tetrachloride is wrecking the ozone, check out the NASA video below.

NASA | Ozone-Depleting Compound Persists

http://theweek.com/article/index/266831/speedreads-nasa-discovers-a-mysterious-source-is-still-wrecking-the-ozone-layer