Refrigerants in the Atmosphere

Open Email to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy:

Dear Administrator McCarthy,
    In the June 17 issue of C&E News, Cheryl Hogue reports that Pres. Barack Obama and Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping have agreed to cooperatively phase down production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC's). HFC's are used as refrigerants in air conditioning equipment. There is no indication of what would be used as a replacement, if HFC's were eliminated.

    It is also reported that HFC's have been adjudged to do no harm to stratospheric ozone. Ozone is said to be needed in the upper atmosphere in order to protect citizens from overexposure to ultraviolet at the surface. I will tentatively accept that conclusion.

    However, the main reason for the presidential agreement seems to be a matter of climate change. It is said that HFCs have a global warming potential 1300 times greater than that of CO2. I find that a very questionable assertion, since absorption of such heat by any molecule would be enough to break the bonds of atomic attraction. However, even if we take that at face value, we have to consider the extremely low concentration of such material in the atmosphere. Climate will be controlled by the majority of gases in the atmosphere, which includes nitrogen and oxygen. HFC's will have no significant effect on climate, because of their extremely low concentration.