The Reasonable Person Standard

Ok, I really can't resist making some comment about this one. I was reading through the news feed on Google reader (something we will have to discuss later) and ran across this universe altering gem:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/01/ozone-antarctica

So for the last couple of decades all we hear is that we have to stop air pollution because of the ozone layer. We changed all types of technologies (refrigerators, aerosol cans, etc.) to stop putting CFC's into the air so that we could keep our Ozone. I even remember learning about how horrible the sunburns were in Australia because my grandmother used hairspray! Now scientists have decided that the hole in the ozone layer is the only thing keeping Antarctica afloat and in one piece!! Really?!?! Which is it? Is ozone good or bad? Furthermore, if we do fix the hole in the ozone, the sea will rise by 1.4m?! With this revelation, I am really beginning to wonder why those temperature measurements that served as the foundation to the discovery of global warming were 'thrown away' and if it truly was a 'mistake'.

Given this information how are we, as a global community, going to act? The scientists in the article remind us of the interconnectivity of the worlds systems, and that even though Antarctica is a place most of us will never see, we can still feel the effects of raging ice flows across the southern parts of our oceans. It seems to me that in such a trying and difficult time it will be easy to call upon the world citizenry to save the penguins; just ask Johnson & Johnson to start producing 1970's hairspray and bring back the 'beehive'. As the fine, upstanding, reasonable citizen I am, I look to our leaders for the green light to release noxious gasses in the hope of saving our planet!

On a final note, some of us may not fully appreciate the impact of rising sea levels, but think about our friends at the BBC who published the story, they live on an island!!!

I believe the question we are left with is, would a reasonable person kill of a little Ozone to save pure football and the penguins?