Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 17 May 2018
Emissions of banned ozone-eating chemical somehow are rising

By SETH BORENSTEIN world suggest the emis-
AP Science Writer sions are coming from
WASHINGTON (AP) — somewhere around China,
Something strange is hap- Mongolia and the Koreas,
pening with a now-banned according to the study.
chemical that eats away The chemical can be a by-
at Earth's protective ozone product in other chemical
layer: Scientists say there's manufacturing, but it is sup-
more of it — not less — go- posed to be captured and
ing into the atmosphere recycled.
and they don't know where Either someone's making
it is coming from. the banned compound or
When a hole in the ozone it's sloppy byproducts that
formed over Antarctica, haven't been reported as
countries around the required, Montzka said.
world in 1987 agreed to An outside expert, Ross Sa-
phase out several types of lawitch, an atmospheric
ozone-depleting chemicals scientist at the University of
called chlorofluorocarbons Maryland, is less diplomat-
(CFCs). Production was ic. He calls it "rogue pro-
banned, emissions fell and duction," adding that if it
the hole slowly shrank. continues "the recovery of
But starting in 2013, emis- the ozone layer would be
sions of the second most threatened."
common kind started ris- High in the atmosphere,
ing, according to a study ozone shields Earth from
in Wednesday's journal Na- ultraviolet rays that cause
ture . The chemical, called skin cancer, crop damage
CFC11, was used for mak- and other problems.
ing foam, degreasing stains This undated photo provided by NOAA in May 2018 shows aurora australis near the South Pole Nature removes 2 percent
and for refrigeration. Atmospheric Research Observatory in Antarctica. of the CFC11 out of the
"It's the most surprising and Associated Press air each year, so concen-
unexpected observation trations of the chemical
I've made in my 27 years" tration. of the chemical since 2006 buildings and machines, in the atmosphere are still
of measurements, said "Emissions today are about but the study found about but scientists say what falling, but at a slower rate
study lead author Stephen the same as it was nearly 20 14,300 tons (13,000 metric they're seeing is much because of the new emis-
Montzka, a research chem- years ago," he said. tons) a year has been re- more than that. sions, Montzka said. The
ist at the National Oceanic Countries have reported leased since 2013. Some Measurements from a doz- chemical stays in the air for
and Atmospheric Adminis- close to zero production seeps out of foam and en monitors around the about 50 years.q

Spacewalking astronauts perform pump swap at space station

By MARCIA DUNN while Leaky was moved to "Nice work," Mission Con-
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. a long-term storage plat- trol said as the 6 1/2-hour
(AP) — Spacewalking as- form. spacewalk came to a
tronauts carried out a high- Ammonia coolant is toxic, close. "All right, guys, we
flying, high-tech version of and Mission Control repeat- are ready for you all to start
musical chairs Wednesday, edly warned the space- heading home."
rearranging pumps outside walkers to be careful of any The spacewalkers laughed
the International Space leaks. and shared jokes as they
Station. A brand new spare pump floated back inside. "Any-
Popping out early, NASA arrived at the space station one home? Trick or treat!"
astronauts Drew Feustel last month. This fresh pump one of them jokingly called
and Ricky Arnold quickly is named Motley since it's out. Meanwhile, the sta-
swapped the positions of comprised of a variety of tion's six-man crew is ex-
In this frame from NASA TV, NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold, left, two spare ammonia pumps spare parts. pecting a delivery. Orbital
and NASA astronaut Drew Feustel work on shuffling around a that are part of the space "We've been doing a ton of ATK plans to launch a sup-
couple of space station pumps at the International Space Sta- station's critical cooling sys- work to play musical chairs ply ship Sunday from Wal-
tion on Wednesday, May 16, 2018. tem. with all these (pumps) so we lops Island, Virginia. Weath-
Associated Press
One pump got too cold can have good available er permitting, the pre-dawn
because of a power shut- spares," flight controller flight of the Antares rocket
down 17 years ago and is Alex Apyan said from Hous- should be visible along the
called Frosty; flight con- ton during the spacewalk. East Coast from New Eng-
trollers plan to test it in Each 235-pound pump, the land to South Carolina.
the coming days to see if size of a flat box, is about 3 Feustel and Arnold went
it still works. The other, a feet by 2.5 feet by 1.5 foot. spacewalking at the end
failed unit dubbed Leaky, Feustel and Arnold also in- of March, shortly after ar-
spewed out ammonia five stalled a new camera and riving at the 250-mile-high
years ago. communication device, lab. They have another
Frosty took Leaky's spot on and even accomplished spacewalk lined up for next
a robot-arm mechanism, some extra chores. month.q