Nitrous Oxide Emissions

It has been known since the 1960s that the emission of nitrous oxides and water vapor in the engine exhaust from supersonic transport planes may be destructive to the ozone layer, the layer which keeps much of the sun=s biologically harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching the Earth=s surface (5). This paper will look at the data which has emerged over the years since then in respect to the effects of aircraft emissions on stratospheric ozone.

In 1995, the Nobel prize in chemistry was awarded to three atmospheric chemists for their research which identified chemicals that destroy stratospheric ozone (5). The discovery paved the way for an international agreement to ban the production of ozone-destroying compounds known as chlorofluorocarbons, beginning on January 1, 1996. Paul Crutzen discovered that a naturally produced compound, nitrous oxide, spawns related chemicals in the atmosphere which destroy individual ozone molecules. F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina demonstrated that industrially produced chlorofluorocarbons also drift up to the stratosphere, where they give rise to ozone-destroying reactions.

In 1971, Crutzen=s theory was used to block the plan for the development of a fleet of high-speed supersonic aircraft (SSTs). It was believed that the nitrogen oxides in the exhaust from these planes would pose a serious threat to the ozone layer. As a result, the U. S. SST plan was abandoned. It is paradoxical that, while the environmental consequences of

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dy, saying that its significance is not yet clear, and that many studies are underway to understand how high-speed aircraft emissions react chemically and affect the stratosphere. NASA itself has conducted studies which show that the sulfur in the Concorde=s exhaust is converted to sulfuric acid at levels 12 to 45 times higher than expected. This is significant because sulfuric acid has been found to act as a catalyst for chemical reactions that destroy ozone. Most sulfur pollution produced at ground level doesn't reach the upper atmosphere, but dissolves in water droplets and falls back to Earth, but supersonic aircraft transport sulfuric acid into the upper atmosphere. NASA and several aircraft companies are exploring the development of high-speed aircraft in recognition of the potential market for speedy transport to the Pacific Rim countries in response to the surge of business interests there (3). The proposed fleet would fly faster, and carry more passengers than, the Concorde. Such plans were grounded 25 years ago because of the uncertainty of their effect on the ozone layer. The troublesome nitrous oxides are common chemicals, and abound in the exhaust from cars and conventional aircraft (3). The problem occu

Category: Medical - N