World came together to successfully tackle acid rain and CFCs

By: Ryan Oswald, Staff Reporter, The Pawprint

There’s no simple fix to complex problems such as climate change. But there have been times in the past when the world has come together to try and fix the disaster at hand.

Between 1970 and 1990, certain places on the planet suffered acid rain, which accumulated from clouds of sulphuric acid from coal burning power plants. The rain caused leaves to be stripped off trees and turned some lakes so devoid of life and to an eerie translucent blue.

Amendments made by the Clean Air Act in the US saw the development of a cap and trade system, giving companies the incentive to reduce emissions of sulphur and nitrogen.

The ozone hole over Antarctica was alerted by the British Antarctic Survey in the 1980’s. It was caused by chlorofluorocarbons, better known as a greenhouse gas CFC, found in aerosols and refrigerants. 

The hole over Antarctica had been demonishing since 1970, but when word got out that it took up almost all of Antarctica, it triggered a worldwide alert. 

With climate change dominating the news agenda, we hear very little nowadays about the likes of the ozone hole. Yet, there are parallels between these crises and the monumental one that is climate change.