Vapor-compression refrigeration replaced, such as sulfur dioxide. Haloalkanes are also an order(s) of magnitude more expensive than petroleum derived flammable alkanes of similar or better cooling performance. Unfortunately, chlorine- and fluorine-bearing refrigerants reach the upper atmosphere when they escape. In the stratosphere, CFCs break up due to UV radiation, releasing their chlorine free radicals. These chlorine free radicals act as catalysts in the breakdown of ozone through chain reactions. One CFC molecule can cause thousands of ozone molecules to break down. This causes severe damage to the ozone layer that shields the Earth's surface from the Sun's strong UV radiation, and has
Earth Radiation Budget Satellite was one of three satellites in the ERBE and it carried two instruments as part of that effort. The ERBE scanner was a set of three detectors that studied longwave radiation, shortwave radiation and total energy radiating from the Earth along a line of the satellite's path. The ERBE non-scanner was a set of five detectors that measured the total energy from the Sun, and the shortwave and total energy from the entire Earth disk and the area beneath the satellite. The other two ERBE missions were included on the NOAA-9 satellite when it was launched in January 1985, and