Fear of the ozone hole in Chile

1993/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ingurumena

We know that in recent years the ozone layer is greatly weakened in the atmosphere of the South Pole during the months of September and October. Therefore, diseases of the eyes, cancers and foces in sheep, conches and cows located in southern Chile spread and the ozone hole psychosis spread.

The closest population nucleus to the South Pole is southern Chile. Therefore, when people saw what was happening in animals, the blame for diseases was attributed to ultraviolet rays coming more strongly. Newspapers, radio and television broadcasted the news on this line, spreading the fear of society.

But recently, a group of researchers at the John Hopkins Institute in Baltimore has claimed that animals became ill from a disease that did not affect men.

The report published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Center notes that no human condition has been detected, but that at the same time they cannot say anything about long-term effects.

According to the researchers, during the days of September and October of last year, when the ozone hole (thinning of the layer) occurs in the South Pole, the population of Punta Arenas in Chile suffered twice as much ultraviolet radiation as normal. Of course, excess ultraviolet radiation can cause skin cancer, cataracts, and other diseases.

Although in some days the amount of ultraviolet rays terrestrial is double the normal, calculating the average in September, the amount of ultraviolet rays falling on the earth only grew by 9% and the average growth throughout the year did not reach 1%.

According to human studies, no relationship was found between the ozone hole and eye diseases. Nor in the case of shepherds or fishermen, although they spend more time away from home than the rest of the population.

Although the shepherds were healthy, the sheep were not. In some hamlets, two-thirds of the sheep analyzed had conjunctivitis and 13% cataracts. However, none of the sheep studied remained blind, so the cataracts studied by the researchers do not cause blindness.

Numerous conjunctivitis and cataracts were detected among cows, hares and rabbits studied in a hamlet, but according to the researchers, a conventional pathogen was the cause of infections.