Number 259 (Story #1), February 21, 1996 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein NEW STUDIES CONFIRM THAT CFCs CAUSE OZONE DEPLETION . Because of the "political sensitivity of the ozone- depletion issue," a team of NASA (Langley) and UC Irvine scientists undertook satellite measurements of stratospheric hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride. Their four-year study, the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE), shows that chlorofluorocarbon emissions, and not natural emissions arising, say, from oceans and biomass burning (sources which can now be accounted for), are chiefly to blame for the recent global buildup of stratospheric chlorine and the consequential depletion of ozone. International agreements limiting CFC emissions have already begun to lessen the growth of chlorine in the stratosphere. (James Russell et al., Nature, 8 February 1996.)