FOLLOW-UP
In this page, we report on significant developments and new ideas relating to articles which appeared in past issues. What follows concerns Hi ma I´ s coverage in the prototype issue (May 1987) and premiere issue (July 1988)
OZONE HOLE OVER HIMALAYA? (July 1988)
There is now even more evidence to suggest that the decline in atmospheric ozone is larger than had been expected at the beginning of the year, and scientists are now certain that the ozone hole over the Antarctic might be a precursor to similar depletions elsewhere. While no new research has come to light about the impact of ozone depletion in the high mountain regions in the temperate latitudes, there is fear of a significant ozone decline in the Arctic region, where depletion is accelerated by a cloud of ice crystals that develop in the stratosphere during the frigid, months long winter night. The possibility that gaps in the ozone layer may be opening in ihe relatively populous Arctic regions of Canada, Scandinavia and the Soviet Union and perhaps even over temperate regions of the globe, has heightened fears that human beings and wildlife may soon face grave health hazards. While elsewhere scientists are studying chlorofluorocarbons and wind vortexes around the poles, as far as Soviet scientist Nicolai Korovyakov is concerned they are barking up the wrong tree. He proposes in the magazine Sputnik that the ozone hole in the Antarctic is due to the uneven rotation of the Earth. He says there is a "two minute lag" in rotation of the earth in the southern hemisphere with respect to the northern hemisphere, which produces the gap in the ozone layer. His thesis is unique and has not been studied elsewhere.
SWAPPING DEBT FOR NATURE {July 1988)