Leading scientists have long warned that climate change and global warming will have devastating consequences for humanity and the planet. Plenty and cheapness, luxury and convenience are among the contributing factors.
-- Photo by lesha tuman ---
The ozone layer is part of the stratosphere, a layer of the Earth's atmosphere about 30 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Ozone is a colorless gas that surrounds the entire Earth. The ozone layer functions like a giant solar filter, absorbing the harmful ultraviolet (UV-C) part of sunlight. The ozone layer also attenuates the less harmful UV-B radiation. Without this function, severe sunburn, skin cancer, and blindness would result, as well as a huge increase in global warming. Further degradation of the ozone layer must therefore be avoided at all costs. It is assumed that the protective ozone layer formed 600 million years ago. Life on the Earth's surface was not possible before then.
One of the biggest polluters of the ozone layer is chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs for short, a group of chemicals found in propellants, solvents, and refrigerants. CFCs were banned from new products in Germany in 1995. Previously, in 1987, numerous countries had agreed to a future ban on CFCs as part of the Montreal Protocol. Since CFCs have a lifespan of 50-100 years, the damage they cause to the ozone layer is difficult to repair. Since sunlight and oxygen also enable the formation of ozone, there are already weak but noticeable signs of recovery. If all nations adhere to environmental protection plans, which also include the disposal of old goods, there is at least hope for a complete regeneration of the ozone layer.
The importance of environmental protection regulations in this regard is also demonstrated by the greenhouse effect, in which gases (so-called greenhouse gases) hinder the transfer of heat from the Earth's surface and thus continue to heat the planet. One of the main polluters here is carbon dioxide (CO2), which is produced in large quantities through the daily combustion of fuels. This affects not only the millions of private cars worldwide, but also the freight transport that supplies billions of people with goods every day. Therefore, at least here too, it would be the individual's responsibility to decide whether the combustion engine has to run for the short trip to the nearest store or whether they contribute to the cost of transporting a cheap product halfway around the world.
Industrialized countries with high living standards generally leave the largest ecological footprint—the footprint of the area required to provide the energy and resources needed to maintain that standard of living. The United States, Germany, and Russia are among the highest-ranking "stompers" in this regard, as the analytics firm Statista has already noted in an article:
"If the entire world population lived at the US standard of living and resource consumption, it would need a total of five Earths."*
... How much is enough?
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* https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/588224/umfrage/oekologischer-fussabdruck-der-laender-mit-den-hoechsten-werten/ (Stand 18.10.2024)
Magazin Welt der Wunder 6/24 (2024) im Artikel: "7 Fragen an die Ozonschicht", S. 36/37
Bundesministerium für Umwelt im Artikel: "Entsorgung von FCKW-haltigen Kühlgeräten in Deutschland" | "Fluorierte Treibhausgase"
Statista Research Department: "Weltweites Erderwärmungspotenzial von ausgewählten Treibhausgasemissionen im Zeitverlauf" | "Umwelt, die Ozoschicht"