ABSTRACT
Given the wide reporting of environmental concerns today, it is very difficult not to be pessimistic about the future of our planet. From the days of the Industrial Revolution, technology has spurred civilization on to new and staggering heights in very short spans of time. New technologies have made our lives much easier, but past designers did not always stop to consider undesirable side effects. The development of refrigerator compressors suitably illustrates this point: Early compressors used ammonia or sulfur dioxide, both of which are toxic chemicals that sometimes injured and even killed people. Then chlorinated fluorocarbons (CFCs) were developed and were hailed for their safety, low cost, and use in popular applications such as air conditioning. Only later was CFC use connected to phenomena like global warming and ozone layer destruction.
