AP answers your questions on the news, from the ozone layer hole to military VIPs in Congress

Ask AP: Depleted ozone, military VIPs in Congress

What ever happened to the hole in the ozone layer?

A decade or two ago, alarm bells were sounding about this growing environmental worry. But you don’t hear so much about it these days. Is it less of a problem than it used to be? Did it go away entirely?

Curiosity about the ozone layer inspired one of the questions in this edition of “Ask AP,” a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers’ questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you’d like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with “Ask AP” in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

Rep. Joe Sestak was elected to Congress in 2007 after retiring from the Navy as an admiral. There have been several generals who have been elected president, but how many military officers with at least one star — brigadier general or rear admiral — have served in Congress after their military careers were over?

Chad Steenerson

Terre Haute, Ind.

Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., served in the Navy for 31 years and rose to the rank of three-star admiral. He is the only three-star officer to be elected to the House, according to the Office of the House Historian.

It’s unclear how many military officers with at least one star have served in the House. There does not seem to be an authoritative log, and the Office of the House Historian does not have a comprehensive list. Those elected to the House with at least one star include the late Rep. Sonny Montgomery, D-Miss., who was a two-star officer. Andrew Jackson, also a two-star officer, served in both chambers of Congress.

At least 91 senators, including Jackson, have had at least one star, according to the Senate Historical Office. Sens. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., and Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., were among those who were two-star officers.

Ann Sanner

Associated Press Writer

Washington

A number of years ago, the biggest environmental problem was the hole in the ozone layer. Has that hole completely gone away? If so, how was that problem fixed?

Daniel Lippman

Washington

The “hole” is actually a huge area of depleted ozone high in the stratosphere over the South Pole. It forms every year because of airborne man-made chemicals. Ozone shields Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays, so its depletion is hazardous.

In 1987, 193 nations agreed to cut emissions of ozone-eating chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. That began a slow-motion fix of the problem that’s still ongoing. That’s probably why you don’t hear as much about the ozone layer as you used to.

Earlier this year, a NASA study used computer modeling to look at what would have happened if the release of CFCs hadn’t been curtailed. In that scenario, two-thirds of the ozone layer would have vanished by 2065 and the hole in the layer would have covered the Earth, NASA atmospheric scientist Paul Newman said. This would have pushed the world’s temperature up an extra 4 degrees, Newman said.

While cutting CFC emissions helped, the problem hasn’t gone away — the hole still appears every August or so, growing to its maximum size in September or October before breaking up. You can track the latest ozone hole data at ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html

Malcolm Ritter

AP Science Writer

New York

I’m curious if anyone has ever challenged the legal right of a credit bureau to collect and sell private and financial information about a consumer. What gives a company the right to assemble my information and resell it for a profit? It should be up to me to decide what creditors I provide as a credit reference when applying for loans, credit cards and jobs.

Much of the information they collect seems to be incorrect and nearly impossible to rectify.

And who decided that computers should generate a score to determine a person’s creditworthiness?

Sheryl Smith

Madeira Beach, Fla.

There have been numerous suits filed against credit reporting agencies regarding the accuracy of their information, but challenging their right to operate would be futile.

The reason: The Fair Credit Reporting Act, first passed in 1970 and amended several times since, includes a congressional finding that the agencies “have assumed a vital role in assembling and evaluating consumer credit and other information on consumers.” The idea is that the banking system depends on this information to evaluate credit worthiness, and that credit is a vital part of the economy.

This law does, however, require these companies to maintain accurate records and respect consumers’ privacy rights, and it restricts access to medical information. It also spells out a consumer’s right to access his credit reports and dispute inaccurate information.

These agencies use the information they collect to calculate your “credit score,” a number that ranks a person’s credit worthiness. FICO, a company formerly known as Fair Isaac, developed the first and most commonly used scoring system.

The systems are designed to examine factors like payment history and credit usage to predict how likely you are to pay back loans. More recently, some employers have started using credit reports as one way to evaluate potential workers.

Eileen AJ Connelly

AP Personal Finance Writer

New York

Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.