Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 12/19/2007 - 18:59
Forums
South Pole Ozone Changes

Hi Ms. Bergholz!

My name is Ana and I am from Marymount. I was reading your journal about the cleanest air on earth and I found it extremely interesting. I am just curious as to why you need to test the air. Does it change the climate or help with your research? Or somthing else? I was also wondering, what is the hardest part about being up there? Please take your time responding and I can't wait! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

-Ana

Thu, 12/20/2007 - 13:48

Elke Bergholz

Hi Ana form Marymount, Thank you for your comment and your  questions. We need to test the air to find out the amount of concentrations in the air of certain gases such as  CFC's and CO2. That is how we know what the amount of the green house gases  like carbon dioxide is in the air. Without this research we would not have found out what the reason for the ozone depletion is (CFC) and what the reason for the warming of the atmosphere is (mainly CO2) . The research of taking air samples does not change the climate , but helps monitoring the changes of gases in the atmosphere. Without this data we would have never found out about what humans have put into the atmosphere. As the result of the research among others, we were able to set legislation for emission control such as the Kyoto protocol ( not signed by the US yet) and the Montreal ptotocol (signed by the US).  Happy Holidays to your as well, E. Bergholz