Human impact on the environment comes in a number of forms. Take for example one’s everyday life. Even just the basic acts of showering, waking up in a climate controlled house, and taking some mode of transportation to work already contributes to global issues such as climate change. One pollutant that comes from fossil fuel powered vehicles as well as industry and manufacturing is Nitrous Oxide. Nitrogen Oxide is a compound that reacts with other gasses in the atmosphere. After this reaction, Nitrous Oxide forms other compounds of Nitrous Oxides in the atmosphere, and these reactions wind up depleting stratospheric ozone. Stratospheric Ozone is a crucial part of life on Earth, considering it protects us from Ultraviolet Radiation (UV Radiation). One particular type of UV Radiation that the ozone layer protects us from is UV-B Radiation. UV-B Radiation, in particular, causes many diseases in humans such as Melanoma (Skin Cancer), cataracts, and sunburns.
As the ozone layer is depleted more, humans as a whole are more likely to get these illnesses. Furthermore, depletion of the Ozone layer can have harmful effects on vegetation. For a long time, there was unmitigated use of ODSs (Ozone Depleting Substances). It was when the depletion of the Ozone layer became too great to ignore that global action was taken to limit depletion in the future. Eventually, all nations came together in agreement that limiting the amount of Nitrous Oxide emitted by humanity was something that they could put off no longer. In order to combat the crisis, they signed the Montreal Protocol into effect. This limited the amount of ODSs that would be used in countries by mandating a move away from NOx creating substances. This has been effective so far, but an issue came up when the Montreal Protocol was signed into effect.
Most cars emit Nitrous Oxide, and they emit it during the process of burning fuel and running their engines. And so, it became obvious that putting the Montreal Protocol into effect would be impractical unless it was possible to prevent cars from emitting Nitrous Oxide. It seemed unrealistic at first, due to how integral the release of Nitrous Oxide is to the process of running a car, but that is where the Catalytic converter comes into play. The catalytic converter is a part that is responsible for filtering out harmful emissions such as Nitrous Oxide, and burning them away instead of emitting them. They also can make one’s car more fuel efficient. The catalytic converter approach as well as the other steps taken against Nitrous Oxide emission have been very effective in preventing Ozone Depletion. In fact, the Ozone layer has begun to repair itself. Across the US, the adoption of catalytic converters has been signed into effect little by little. The adoption of Catalytic Converters was signed into effect in New York in 2020. This was the first of many policies that have now been passed in America in order to minimize human impact on the atmosphere and the environment. While it is good to use policy to limit the destruction of the natural world, many question to what degree it is necessary. This concern comes into play during the discussion of personal freedoms in the context of preventing climate change. For example, many people are scared at the prospect that in the far future, state governments might limit the amount of time (during the day) that people are allowed to drive. However, this has not been introduced on the senate floor, nor will it probably ever be. Currently, it is safe to say that representatives are using the right approach to limiting emissions while respecting the rights of citizens.
Sources:
https://www.unep.org/ozonaction/who-we-are/about-montreal-protocol
https://www.mysynchrony.com/blog/automotive/what-is-a-catalytic-converter-and-why-do-we-need-it.html
https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/atmosphere/ozone-layer
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