title: Trading Places

text: After the closing bell, Valentine and Winthorpe explain to the Dukes that they made a wager on whether they could get rich and make the Dukes poor at the same time, and Valentine collects $1 from Winthorpe. When the Dukes prove unable to supply the $394 million required to satisfy their margin call, the exchange manager orders their seats sold and their corporate and personal assets confiscated, effectively bankrupting them. Randolph collapses holding his chest and Mortimer shouts at the others, demanding the floor be reopened in a futile plea to recoup their losses. The now-wealthy Valentine, Winthorpe, Ophelia, and Coleman vacation on a luxurious tropical beach, while Beeks and the gorilla are loaded onto a ship bound for Africa.


title: Trading Places

text: As well as the main cast, "Trading Places" features Robert Curtis-Brown as Todd, Winthorpe's romantic rival for Penelope; Alfred Drake as the Securities Exchange manager; and Jim Belushi as Harvey, a party-goer on New Year's Eve. The film has numerous cameos, including singer Bo Diddley as a pawnbroker; Curtis' sister Kelly as Penelope's friend Muffy; the Muppets puppeteers Frank Oz and Richard Hunt as, respectively, a police officer and Wilson, the Duke's broker on the trading floor; and Aykroyd's former "Saturday Night Live" colleagues, Tom Davis and Al Franken, as train baggage handlers.


title: Trading Places

text: Other minor roles include Ron Taylor as "Big Black Guy", American football player J. T. Turner as "Even Bigger Black Guy" who only says "Yeah!", and Giancarlo Esposito as a cellmate. "Trading Places" also features the final theatrically released performance of Avon Long who plays the Dukes' butler Ezra. The gorilla is portrayed by mime Don McLeod.


title: Trading Places

text: In the early 1980s, writer Timothy Harris often played tennis against two wealthy, but frugal brothers who regularly engaged in a competitive rivalry and betting. Following one session, Harris returned home exasperated with the pair's conflict and concluded that they were "awful" people. The situation gave him the idea of two brothers betting over nature versus nurture in terms of human ability. Harris shared the idea with his writing partner Herschel Weingrod, who liked the concept. Harris also drew inspiration for the story from his own living situation; he lived in a rundown area near Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. He described the area in grim terms as crime-ridden, where everyone either had a gun pointed at them or had been raped.


title: Trading Places

text: Harris and Weingrod researched the commodities market for the script. They learned of financial market incidents, including Russian attempts to corner the wheat market and the Hunt brothers' efforts to corner the silver market on what became known as Silver Thursday. They thought trading orange juice and pork bellies would be funnier because the public would be unaware such mundane items were traded. Harris consulted with people in the commodities business to understand how the film's finale on the trading floor would work. The pair determined that the commodities market would make for an interesting setting for a film, as long as it was not about the financial market itself. They needed something to draw the audience in. It was decided to set the story in Philadelphia because of its connections to the founding of the United States, the American dream and idealism and the pursuit of happiness. This was tempered by introducing Billy Ray Valentine as a black man begging on the street. The pair knew that the method of Winthorpe's and Valentine's financial victory could be confusing, but hoped that audiences would be too invested in the characters' success to care about the details.


title: Trading Places

text: The script was sold to Paramount Pictures under the title "Black and White". Then-Paramount executive Jeffrey Katzenberg offered the project to director John Landis. Landis disliked the working title, but favorably compared the script to older screwball comedies of the 1930s by directors like Frank Capra, Leo McCarey, and Preston Sturges, which often satirized social constructs and social classes, reflecting the cultural issues of their time. Landis wanted his film to reflect these concepts in the 1980s; he said the main updates were the addition of swearing and nudity. Landis admitted that it took him a while to understand how "Trading Places" finale worked.


title: Trading Places

text: "Trading Places" was developed with the intent to cast comedy duo Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder as Billy Ray Valentine and Louis Winthorpe III respectively. The pair were in high demand following the success of their comedy film "Stir Crazy" (1980). When Pryor was severely injured after setting fire to himself while freebasing cocaine, the decision was made to cast someone else. Paramount Pictures suggested Eddie Murphy. The studio was initially unhappy with Murphy's performance in his first film, the as-then-unreleased action-comedy "48 Hrs." (1982)—a film also conceived as a Pryor project. However, that film was well received by preview test audiences, leading the studio to reverse its opinion. Landis was unaware of Murphy, who had been gaining fame as a performer on "Saturday Night Live". After watching Murphy's audition tapes, Landis was impressed enough to travel to New York City to meet with him. Murphy said that he was paid $350,000 for the role; it was reported that the figure was as high as $1million.


title: Trading Places

text: Landis wanted Dan Aykroyd to serve as Murphy's co-star. He had worked previously with Aykroyd on the musical comedy film "The Blues Brothers" (1980); the experience had been positive. Landis said, "he could easily play [Winthorpe] ... you tell him what you want, and he delivers. And I thought he'd be wonderful." Paramount Pictures was less enamored with Aykroyd; executives believed that he performed better as part of a duo, as he had working with John Belushi. They felt that Aykroyd working alone would be akin to Bud Abbott, half of Abbott and Costello, working without Lou Costello and Aykroyd's recent films had fared poorly at the box office. Aykroyd agreed to take a pay cut for the role.


title: Trading Places

text: The studio also objected to the casting of Jamie Lee Curtis. At the time she was seen as a "scream queen", primarily associated with low-quality B movies. Landis had worked previously with Curtis on the horror documentary "Coming Soon", for which she had served as the host. She wanted to move away from horror films as she was conscious that the association would limit her future career prospects. She had turned down a role in the horror film "Psycho II" (1983) because of this. Her mother, Janet Leigh, had famously starred in "Psycho" (1960). Curtis had performed recently in the slasher film "Halloween II" (1981) as a favor to director John Carpenter and producer Debra Hill; she was paid $1million for that role, but received only $70,000 for "Trading Places". When asked if she had researched her role as a prostitute, Curtis jokingly remarked: "I'd love to say I went out and turned a couple of tricks on 42nd Street, but I didn't." Curtis had long hair when she was cast; costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis suggested cutting her hair shorter for the film.


title: Trading Places

text: For the greedy Duke brothers, Ralph Bellamy was the first choice for Randolph. For Mortimer, Landis wanted to cast an actor famous in the 1930s or 1940s who was not associated with playing a villain. His first choice was Ray Milland, but the actor was unable to pass a physical test to qualify for insurance while filming. As the start date for filming loomed, Landis thought of Don Ameche. The casting director claimed that Ameche was dead. Landis was skeptical of this and contacted the Screen Actors Guild in an attempt to locate him. They confirmed that Ameche had no agent, and his royalty payments were being forwarded to his son in Arizona. Landis accepted this as evidence that Ameche was deceased. However, after hearing of Landis' search, one of the Paramount Studios' secretaries mentioned that they saw Ameche regularly on San Vicente Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. Landis called directory assistance to locate a "D. Ameche" in the area and made contact. Ameche had not featured in a film for over a decade; when asked why, he said that no one had offered him film work. The studio did not want to pay Ameche what Milland had been offered; as Ameche was financially independent and in no need of work, he refused to take the part until he received equal pay. Landis claimed that the studio reduced the film's budget, frustrated at Ameche's casting after a long absence from film work.


title: Trading Places

text: John Gielgud and Ronnie Barker were considered for the role of Winthorpe's butler, Coleman. Barker refused to act if it involved filming more than from his home in the United Kingdom. G. Gordon Liddy, a central figure in the Watergate political scandal of the early 1970s, was offered the role of corrupt official Clarence Beeks. Liddy was interested in the offer until he learned that Beeks becomes the romantic partner of a gorilla. Paul Gleason took the role; his character reads a copy of Liddy's autobiography "Will" while riding the train. Don McLeod portrayed the gorilla; he had already become popular for his performances as a gorilla in American Tourister commercials, which led to film appearances.


title: Trading Places

text: Principal photography began on December13, 1982. The budget was estimated to be $15million. Filming took place on location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York City. Robert Paynter and Malcolm Campbell served, respectively, as the film's cinematographer and editor.


title: Trading Places

text: The script underwent minor changes throughout filming; some improvisation was also encouraged. Changes were normally discussed in advance, but on other occasions, ad-libbed dialogue was considered funny enough to keep. Examples of ad-libs retained in the film include Valentine comparing Randolph to Randy Jackson of The Jackson 5 and demonstrating his "quart of blood" technique in jail. Murphy liked "Trading Places" script; he felt it was unlike "48 Hrs.", which he said had been saved by director Walter Hill. Even so, he changed many of his own lines because he said that a white writer writing for a black person would use stereotypical dialogue like "jive turkey" and "sucker", and he could write his lines to sound authentic. Weingrod said the studio objected to Murphy's line, "Who put their Kools out on my Persian rug?" They believed it was racist because the Kool cigarette brand was targeted mainly at African Americans; Murphy restored the line. Ophelia pretending to be a European exchange student to fool Beeks was also improvised; Curtis used a mix of German attire with a Swedish accent because she could not perform a German accent.


title: Trading Places

text: The first fifteen days of filming were spent in Philadelphia. Landis described the weather as freezing. While filming the scene where Randolph and Mortimer collect Valentine from jail, Landis was positioned in a towing truck that pulled the Rolls-Royce carrying Ameche, Bellamy and Murphy. Landis wore a thick parka to stay warm, and the actors had a space heater in their vehicle; Landis listened to their dialogue via radio. Describing the filming of the scene, Landis recalled a jovial discussion between Ameche, Bellamy, and Murphy: Bellamy said that "Trading Places" was his 99th film; Ameche said it was his 100th. Murphy informed Landis that "between the three of us we've made 201 films!" Filming locations in Philadelphia included townhouses in Center City that served as the Winthorpe home exterior, and the Philadelphia Mint (now the Community College of Philadelphia) which served as the police station's exterior. The exterior and lobby of the Wells Fargo Building serve as the respective exterior and lobby of Duke & Duke.


title: Trading Places

text: The Duke & Duke upstairs offices were filmed inside the upstairs of the Seventh Regiment Armory in New York. Murphy's character, pretending to be crippled, is introduced in Rittenhouse Square. The nearby Curtis Institute of Music, shown as the exterior of the Heritage Club, is seen adjacent to Rittenhouse Park in the film's opening. The interior was filmed at the then-abandoned New York Chamber of Commerce Building. Independence Hall is also featured. During filming in Philadelphia, Murphy was so popular that a police officer had to be stationed outside of his trailer to control the crowds.


title: Trading Places

text: Filming moved to New York City in January 1983; many of the interior scenes were filmed there. In late January, two holding cells on the 12th-floor of the New York Supreme Court building at 100 Centre Street were taken over for filming. Empty lockups in police administration buildings would normally be in use but because of the financial investment the production had made filming in the city, the mayor's office agreed to accommodate Landis' request; the studio paid for any expenses incurred. "The New York Times" reported that for years the Corrections Department had failed to deliver prisoners on time for trials and arraignments; despite this, they moved nearly 300 prisoners through the 12th-floor before 9a.m. on the day of filming.


title: Trading Places

text: The scene where Valentine and Winthorpe enact their plan against the Dukes was filmed at the COMEX commodity exchange located inside 4 World Trade Center. The lack of windows gave the appearance the floor was situated below ground, but it was actually on a high floor. The scene was scripted to take place at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, but the filmmakers were unable to secure permission to film there. The scene was shot over approximately 3–4 hours a day over two days. It was scheduled to take place during a weekday, but Aykroyd's and Murphy's presence on the floor distracted the active traders and over $6billion of trading had to be halted; filming was rescheduled for a weekend. A majority of the people on screen are actual traders, along with some extras. Landis said the traders in the film were less physically rough with each other than they were during normal trading. Landis also performed some guerrilla filmmaking there for additional footage. Ameche was opposed to using foul language and often apologized in advance to his crewmates for what he was scripted to say; he only performed one take of his final scene where he shouts "fuck him" towards Randolph. The final scene shot was of the main characters celebrating on a beach; this was filmed on Saint Croix island in the United States Virgin Islands. Principal photography concluded on March1, 1983, after 78 days.


title: Trading Places

text: Elmer Bernstein composed the score for "Trading Places". He and Landis had collaborated previously on several films including "The Blues Brothers" and the horror-comedy "An American Werewolf in London" (1981). Landis conceived of the idea to use the opera buffa "The Marriage of Figaro" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as the underlying theme for the score. He had used classical music in his previous films to represent the upper classes and felt that it would be fitting for the pompous elites of the financial industry. "The Marriage of Figaro" concerns the story of a servant who is wronged by his wealthy employer, Count Almaviva, and takes his revenge by unraveling the count's own machinations.


title: Trading Places

text: Bernstein created his own arrangements of the music to reflect the differing emotions of each scene. The overture of "Marriage of Figaro" plays over the film's opening. The score also includes arrangements of "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" by Edward Elgar, and Mozart's "Symphony No. 41". "Trading Places" features songs including: "Do You Wanna Funk" by Sylvester and Patrick Cowley, "Jingle Bell Rock" by Brenda Lee, "The Loco-Motion" by Little Eva, and "Get a Job" by the Silhouettes.


title: Trading Places

text: The summer of 1983 (June–September) was predicted to surpass the previous year's record-breaking $1.4billion in theater tickets sold. The season featured expected hits such as the third installment in the "Star Wars" series, "Return of the Jedi", "Superman III", and the latest James Bond film "Octopussy". Over 40 films were scheduled for release over the 16-week period. Studios had to strategize their releases to avoid damaging their own films' performances by pitting them against better-performing competition. Paramount Studios opted to release "Trading Places" at the start of summer, as those films expected to do well would benefit from being in theaters longer during this busy period. Comedy films were considered counterprogramming that attracted audiences who had already seen, or were not interested in, the major film releases that were mainly focused on science-fiction and superheroes. "Trading Places" was released between "Return of the Jedi" in May and "Superman III" in mid-June. While sequels were expected to do well having the advantage of a built-in audience, "Trading Places" was predicted to be successful based on its cast.


title: Trading Places

text: In the United States (U.S.) and Canada, "Trading Places" received a wide release on Wednesday, June 8, 1983, across 1,375 theaters. The film earned $1.7million leading into its opening weekend when it earned a further $7.3million—an average of $5,344 per theater. "Trading Places" finished as the number three film of the weekend behind "Octopussy" ($8.9million), also making its debut that weekend, and "Return of the Jedi" ($12million), which was in its third week of release. The film retained the number three position in its second weekend with a further gross of $7million, behind "Return of the Jedi" ($11.2million), and the debuting "Superman III" ($13.3million). In its third weekend, it fell to fifth place with $5.5million, behind the debuting science-fiction horror "" ($6.6million) and sex comedy "" ($7million), "Superman III" ($9million), and "Return of the Jedi" ($11.1million).


title: Trading Places

text: While the film never claimed the number one box office ranking, it spent seventeen straight weeks among the top ten-highest-grossing films. By September, it was the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year with $80.6million, and by the end of its theatrical run, "Trading Places" earned an approximate box office gross of $90.4million. It finished as the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1983, behind Paramount Studio's surprise hit, the romantic drama "Flashdance" ($90.46million), the comedy-drama "Terms of Endearment" ($108.4million), and "Return of the Jedi" ($309.2million). Estimates by industry experts suggest that as of 1997, the box office returns to the studio—minus the theaters' share—was $40.6million. Outside of the U.S. and Canada, "Trading Places" is estimated to have earned a further $30.2million, bringing its worldwide gross to $120.6million.


title: Trading Places

text: "Trading Places" received generally positive reviews from critics. Reviewers compared it to the socially conscious comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, like "My Man Godfrey" (1936), "Easy Living" (1937), "Christmas in July" (1940), and "Sullivan's Travels" (1941) by directors like Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, and Gregory La Cava. Janet Maslin said that the "likable" film owed a debt to the screwball comedy genre. She continued, "Preston Sturges might have made a movie like "Trading Places" – if he'd had a little less inspiration and a lot more money." Gary Arnold said the film was too inconsistent to be compared to those older films. Vincent Canby said that the screwball style had been updated for the "existential hipness" of the 1980s, but the film lacked the same morality tale the genre often espoused that money is not important. Instead, the characters do not dismantle or expose the corruption of the financial system, they just take revenge on the Dukes, obtaining extreme wealth in the process. Even so, he concluded the film was one of the best American comedies released in a long time. Maslin agreed that the film was too enamored with the wealthy institutions it satirized to provide a true criticism of the system and its failings. She called it the American Dream in film form.


title: Trading Places

text: Dave Kehr said that though the film pays homage to screwball comedies, it stripped the concept of all but the "crudest audience-gratification moments" and avoided exploration of the genre's moral conflicts. In "Variety"s review, the reviewer concluded that the middle segment of the film lacked humor. "People" said that the ending was perfectly presented, but Arnold considered it to be confusing and reliant on the audience's knowledge that the "heroes" were being heroic to compensate for a lack of clarity in their actions. He continued that even as a farcical film, the events were too unbelievable. Roger Ebert said the ending was inventive for not involving a "manic chase". He appreciated that "Trading Places" did not rely on obvious racial plot points or employ sitcom tropes for the social-status swaps of Winthorpe and Valentine. He commended the focus on developing each character so that they were funny because of their individual quirks and personalities. He concluded that this required a deeper script than would normally be developed for a comedy.


title: Trading Places

text: The cast were all generally praised. Maslin called it a strange but well-cast film representing multiple Hollywood generations. Ebert said that what could have been stereotypical characters were elevated by the actors and the writing, adding that Murphy and Aykroyd made a "perfect" team. Canby said that Murphy demonstrated why he was the most successful comedian in the last decade. Several reviewers compared his role to that in "48 Hrs."; Arnold said that "Trading Places" was evidence that Murphy's successes were not a fluke, and that Murphy demonstrated an "exhilarating comic authority". Canby said that "Trading Places" gave Murphy an opportunity to demonstrate the range of his abilities in a "lithe, graceful, uproarious" performance.


title: Trading Places

text: Reviewers agreed that the film featured Aykroyd's best performance to date. "People" said that if audiences had given up on Aykroyd following the failures of "Neighbors" (1981) and "Doctor Detroit" (1983), his career was revitalized by "Trading Places". Canby said that Aykroyd gave a more consistent performance than in his previous roles. He said that Aykroyd had demonstrated that his success was not dependent upon his partnership with John Belushi. Arnold said that Aykroyd worked best when he shared a central role with another star. Rita Kempley said that his relationship with Murphy was just as enjoyable as his one with Belushi.


title: Trading Places

text: "Variety" noted that the supporting cast in Bellamy, Ameche, Elliott and Curtis were essential to the film. Reviewers said that Curtis brought a deft comic ability to the role. Arnold called the role "stale" and "predictable" but felt Curtis offered an "infectious" humor that earns the audience's support. "People" said that she had a significant appeal, and Kempley called her both "curvaceous" and "vivacious". Canby said that in her first major non-horror role, Curtis performed with "marvelous good humor". Kehr criticized Landis for often turning his heroines into "busty bunnies", and said that he had treated Curtis the same way. Ebert called Bellamy and Ameche's casting a "masterstroke". Canby said the pair had well-written roles that were supported by their comic performances. He continued that Ameche was as funny in "Trading Places" as he was always meant to be.


title: Trading Places

text: "People" said that the film works because Landis demonstrated a "remarkable" restraint. Canby said Landis had shown that he could direct a precise comedy as well as special effects-laden fare. Arnold disagreed saying Landis' comedic timing was less precise than in his previous work and that he lacked the skill to handle the source material properly. "People" said that Harris and Weingrod had developed a well-written script, but Arnold said they had failed to update the screwball genre to tackle social contrasts in a similar way.


title: Trading Places

text: At the 41st Golden Globe Awards in 1984, the film received two nominations: Best Musical or Comedy (losing to romantic drama "Yentl") and Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Murphy who lost to Michael Caine's performance in the comedy drama "Educating Rita". At the 56th Academy Awards, Bernstein was nominated for Best Original Score; he lost to Michel Legrand and Alan and Marilyn Bergman, who scored "Yentl".


title: Trading Places

text: The 37th British Academy Film Awards named Elliott and Curtis the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. Harris and Weingrod were nominated for Best Original Screenplay; they lost to Paul D. Zimmerman for the 1982 black comedy "The King of Comedy".


title: Trading Places

text: As predicted, the 1983 summer film season broke the previous year's record with over $1.5billion worth of tickets sold. It was seen as a substantial increase in spite of increased ticket prices. Even so, the year was a mixture of unexpected successes and disappointments. Films like "Superman III" and the action comedies "Smokey and the Bandit Part 3" and "Stroker Ace" had failed at the box office. The science fiction comedy "The Man With Two Brains" featuring an established star in Steve Martin had also underperformed. Conversely, "Flashdance" was an unexpected hit and the third highest-grossing film of the year, despite a negative critical reception. In September, "The New York Times" wrote that "Trading Places" was the only film of the fifteen top-grossing films that could be recommended without reservation. The film was well-received critically and considered a significant commercial success, along with "Flashdance" and "Return of the Jedi". Then-production vice president of MGM/UA studio Peter Bart described it as a "gimmick" film that focused on a "high-concept" over story and characterization. Bart believed its success triggered a negative trend that resulted in him receiving numerous film pitches—often a mix of the high-concept nature of "Trading Places" with a "Flashdance"-inspired breakdancing or gym setting. Harris recalled people asking if the producer Aaron Russo or Katzenberg had created the idea and just paid him to write it. He said he knew it was a success because people were trying to take credit for it.


title: Trading Places

text: "Trading Places" is considered responsible for launching, changing, or re-launching the careers of many of its stars. Murphy's success was significant. He rose from a TV comedian to a superstar with two of the most successful films of the year. Industry experts voted him as the biggest box-office star after Clint Eastwood. No other African-American actor had achieved a comparable level of success before him. It was reported that Murphy earned up to $1million for "Trading Places", but by his third film, "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984), he commanded a $3million salary. This was considered a top-tier salary reserved for the most popular movie stars.


title: Trading Places

text: Shortly after "Trading Places" release, Paramount Pictures signed Murphy to a $25million five-film exclusive contract—one of the biggest deals ever with an actor at the time. The studio also agreed to finance his Eddie Murphy Productions studio. Murphy was among several young stars who emerged that year, including Matthew Broderick, Tom Cruise, and Michael Keaton, who were all in their 20s. This reflected the fact that average audiences were aging and now in their late teens to late 20s, and led to a shift in focus away from making films targeted mainly at children. His rapid rise to fame led to Murphy leaving "Saturday Night Live" the following year; he said he had grown to dislike the job and felt he was resented for his success.


title: Trading Places

text: After a series of failures, "Trading Places" revitalized Aykroyd's career. Throughout the 1980s, he went on to star in the blockbuster phenomenon "Ghostbusters" (1984), "Spies Like Us" (1985) and "Dragnet" (1987). He earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance in the comedy-drama "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989). "Trading Places" is considered Curtis' breakout performance, allowing her to move into films outside the horror genre; actor John Cleese cast Curtis in the 1988 heist comedy "A Fish Called Wanda" specifically because of her performance in "Trading Places". Curtis said Landis had "single-handedly changed the course of my life by giving me that part". After not working in film for more than a decade, Ameche followed "Trading Places" with the 1985 comedy-drama "Cocoon", for which he won his first and only Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.


title: Trading Places

text: Landis continued to work as a director but suffered setbacks following a lawsuit over the accidental deaths of several actors on a segment he directed for "Twilight Zone: The Movie" and a succession of moderately successful films. According to Murphy, he hired Landis to direct his 1988 comedy "Coming to America" to help support Landis' career. The pair had a falling out on the set of that film; even so, they collaborated again on "Beverly Hills Cop III" (1994). Harris and Weingrod were elevated to prominence as writers. They later sued "Trading Places" producer, Aaron Russo, for an agreed upon 0.5% of the producer profits share, estimated to be worth $150,000; the outcome of this lawsuit is unknown.


title: Trading Places

text: In the early 1980s, the VCR home video market was gaining popularity rapidly. In previous years, VHS sales were not a revenue source for studios, but by 1983 they could generate up to 13% of a film's total revenue; the North American cassette rights could generate $500,000 alone. "Trading Places" was released on VHS in May 1984, priced at $39.95. Paramount distributed its own cassettes and priced them significantly lower than the standard $80 price to promote home user VCR adoption. A successful film was expected to earn between $5million and $10million on the home video market. In the rental market, "Trading Places" was one of the more popular releases in May, alongside the action thriller "Sudden Impact". Paramount signed an exclusive deal to show its movies, including "Trading Places", on the Showtime TV network for approximately $500million; this was seen as an attempt by Paramount to damage the network monopoly held by HBO that the studio saw as financially unfavorable.


title: Trading Places

text: "Trading Places" was first released on DVD in October 2002. A Special Collector's Edition (also known as the "Looking Good, Feeling Good" edition) was released in 2007 on DVD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD. This edition included deleted scenes, details on the film's production, including discussions with the cast and crew, 1983 promotional interviews, and interviews with financial experts about the film. The film was also released in a pack that included "Coming to America". To celebrate the film's 35th-anniversary in 2018, a special edition was released containing a Blu-ray and digital version of the film, and behind-the-scenes featurettes. A limited-edition release of Bernstein's score was made available in 2011. Only 2,000 copies were released by La-La Land Records.


title: Trading Places

text: Several publications have attempted to explain exactly how Valentine and Winthorpe make a large sum of money on the commodities market while simultaneously bankrupting the Dukes. The fake crop report created by Valentine and Winthorpe indicates to the Dukes that the orange crop will be poor, making the limited stock more valuable. The Dukes attempt to buy up as many Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice (FCOJ) futures contracts as possible to corner the market—effectively owning a substantial enough number of contracts that they are able to control the price of FCOJ. The other brokers realize what the Dukes are doing and join in buying futures. This demand significantly inflates the price to $1.42 per pound—each future represents several pounds of FCOJ. Winthorpe and Valentine begin selling futures at this inflated price, believing it to be the peak price; the contracts will require them to supply FCOJ in April. Anticipating that the crop report will cause the value of FCOJ to rise far above $1.42, the other brokers purchase heavily from the pair.


title: Trading Places

text: Once the real crop report is published indicating that the orange crop will be normal and there will be no shortage of FCOJ, the value of the futures plummets as the brokers desperately attempt to sell their futures and limit their financial losses. Winthorpe and Valentine then buy back the futures from the brokers—except for the Dukes' broker Wilson—at the lower price of 29 cents a pound. The difference is their profit. Effectively, they have sold FCOJ which they do not have at a high price and bought it back at a lower price, earning them a profit and eliminating the need to fulfill any contracts. Meanwhile, the Dukes have bought a significant number of FCOJ futures, around 100,000 contracts or 1.5million pounds of FCOJ and have been unable to sell any of them. When trading closes, they must meet the margin call—essentially a deposit—for holding the futures contracts. In addition to their basic financial loss from buying futures at up to $1.42 that are now worth only 29 cents, the margin call for holding the futures gives them a total loss of $394million, which they do not have, requiring the sale of all of their assets.


title: Trading Places

text: The central storyline of "Trading Places"—a member of society trading places with another whose socio-economic status stands in direct contrast to his own—has often been compared to the 1881 novel "The Prince and the Pauper" by Mark Twain. The novel follows the lives of a prince and a beggar who use their uncanny resemblance to each other to switch places temporarily; the prince takes on a life of poverty and misery while the pauper enjoys the lavish luxuries of royal life. "The Prince and the Pauper" is seen as a classic tale of American literature; "Trading Places" adds a twist by casting an African-American as the pauper raised up in status, playing on fears of black usurpation and appropriation. The film has also been compared to Twain's 1893 short story "The Million Pound Bank Note", in which two brothers bet on the outcome of giving an impoverished person an unusable million-pound bank-note. The choice to use Mozart's opera buffa "The Marriage of Figaro" also adds meaning. The opera tells the tale of a servant, Figaro, who foils the plans of his wealthy employer to steal his fiancée. When Winthorpe is driven to work during the film's opening, he hums "Se vuol ballare", an aria from "The Marriage of Figaro", in which Figaro declares he will overturn the systems in place. This foreshadows Winthorpe's eventual efforts to do the same to the Dukes.


title: Trading Places

text: The main theme of "Trading Places" is the consequences of wealth or the lack thereof. Both extremes are depicted by those living in opulent luxury and those trapped in a culture of poverty—a concept arguing that poor people adopt certain behaviors that keep them poor. Harris has described the story as a satire of greed and social conventions, but in the end, the good guys win by becoming extremely rich. Economic inequality is demonstrated by the wealthy who live in luxury. They are completely removed from those whose lives are affected by poverty. This is demonstrated by the Dukes' bet, showing their own sense of superiority over, and disregard for, the lives of those beneath them, even Winthorpe. Their only reward for the bet is personal pride. Author Carolyn Anderson noted that films often feature an "introduction" scene for characters elevated above their station, like Valentine, to help them understand the rules of their new world. Conversely, there is rarely a complementary scene for those subjected to downward mobility.


title: Trading Places

text: Vincent Canby said that although the film is an homage to social satire screwball comedies of the early 20th century, "Trading Places" is a symbol of its time. Where the earlier films espoused the benefits of things other than money, "Trading Places" is built around the value of money and those who aspire to have it. The heroes win by making lots of money; the villains are punished by becoming part of the impoverished. The heroes' reward is escaping to a tropical island, completely divorced from the poverty-stricken neighborhoods that had previously been their home. Money is demonstrably a solution to all of the problems raised in the film, and when it is taken away, it is shown that people quickly resort to a basic criminal nature. It can be seen as an example of supply-side economics, alongside films like the comedies "Arthur" (1981) and "Risky Business" (1983). While seemingly supporting left-leaning political concepts by arguing that given an equal platform a street-hustler like Valentine can perform Winthorpe's job equally well, the film promotes right-leaning concepts like Reagan-era policies where the accumulation of wealth is highly valued.


title: Trading Places

text: David Budd said "Trading Places" defies expectations of racial stereotypes. Randolph's attempts to prove nurture wins over nature demonstrates that Valentine, given the same advantages as Winthorpe, is just as capable, and leaves behind the negative aspects of his former, unfair life. Even so, once the Dukes' bet is complete, Mortimer reveals his intent to return Valentine to poverty, saying, "Do you really believe I would have a nigger run our family business?"; Randolph concurs, "Neither would I." Budd concluded the film is a "message loudly asking for a reassessment of prejudice, and for level playing fields". Hernan Vera and Andrew Gordon argue racial stereotypes are enabled with the permission of the only black main character. As part of their revenge against the Dukes, Winthorpe disguises his identity by donning blackface makeup, an act enabled by Valentine who has helped loosen up this strait-laced character. Because Valentine allowed it, it makes the act acceptable. This requires Valentine to accept and support Winthorpe despite having numerous reasons to dislike him, including originally getting Valentine wrongly arrested and then later trying to frame Valentine to reclaim his old job. Even so, Valentine befriends Winthorpe and helps him get revenge on the Dukes, the old establishment characters who demonstrate explicit racism. The film requires Valentine to act "white", performing as is expected of him to survive in the Dukes' world.


title: Trading Places

text: Stephen Schiff argues that because the film identifies money as the most valuable entity, this in turn means that Ophelia is only valuable as a prostitute because she is financially intelligent. Hadley Freeman said Ophelia is an example of the Smurfette principle, a female character in an otherwise male ensemble cast who exists to be pretty and rescued by men. However, it is Ophelia who rescues Winthorpe, helping him to survive his new lowered-state. Neal Karlen said Ophelia becomes a real person after telling Louis: "All I've got going for me in this whole, big, wide world is this body, this face, and what I've got up here [referring to her brain]."


title: Trading Places

text: "Trading Places" also employs several conventions of its Christmas setting to highlight the individual loneliness of the main characters, in particular, Winthorpe. On Christmas Eve he humiliates himself in front of his former bosses, unwittingly losing his opportunity for his swap with Valentine to be undone by having become a criminal. While waiting outside a store, a dog urinates on him. He attempts suicide and only fails because the gun does not fire; then it begins to rain on him. The following day offers a Christmas redemption and a change of fortune as Winthorpe is integrated into the non-traditional family unit of Coleman, Ophelia and Valentine.


title: Trading Places

text: Along with the impact their respective roles had on its stars' careers, "Trading Places" is considered one of the best comedy films ever made and part of the canon of American comedies. In a 1988 interview, Aykroyd said that he considered it among his "A-tier" films, along with "Ghostbusters", "Dragnet", "The Blues Brothers", and "Spies Like Us". Bellamy and Ameche reprised their Duke characters for Murphy's 1988 film "Coming to America". Murphy portrays the affluent Prince Akeem who hands the now-homeless brothers a large sum of cash. Mortimer tells Randolph that it is enough to give them a new start. Of the two films, Murphy has said that while he "loves" "Trading Places", he prefers "Coming to America" because it allowed him to portray multiple characters. The 2021 sequel "Coming 2 America" also references the Dukes, revealing they used Akeem's donation to rebuild their business.


title: Trading Places

text: Harris described one incident where a person told him they had obtained a career in finance because of "Trading Places"; Harris said that this was counter to the film's message. An anonymous seller sold off their portion of the royalties earned from the film for $140,000 in 2019. At the time, the share was generating an average of $10,000 per annum. A musical adaptation of "Trading Places" debuted at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 4, 2022.


title: Trading Places

text: In 2010, nearly 30 years after its release, the film was cited in the testimony of Commodity Futures Trading Commission chief Gary Gensler regarding new regulations on the financial markets. He said:We have recommended banning using misappropriated government information to trade in the commodity markets. In the movie "Trading Places", starring Eddie Murphy, the Duke brothers intended to profit from trades in frozen concentrated orange juice futures contracts using an illicitly obtained and not yet public Department of Agriculture orange crop report. Characters played by Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd intercept the misappropriated report and trade on it to profit and ruin the Duke brothers. The testimony was part of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act designed to prevent insider trading on commodities markets, which had previously not been illegal. Section 746 of the reform act is referred to as the "Eddie Murphy rule".


title: Trading Places

text: "Trading Places" is considered one of the best comedies of the 1980s and one of the best Christmas films. In 2015, the screenplay was listed as the joint thirty-third funniest on the WGA's 101 Funniest Screenplays list, tied with "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986). In 2017, the BBC polled 253 critics (118 female, 135 male) from 52 countries on the funniest film made. "Trading Places" came seventy-fourth, behind "The Nutty Professor" (1963) and "" (1988). Several publications have named it one of the best films of the 1980s, including: number eight by "IFC"; number 17 by MTV; number 37 by "USA Today"; and number 41 by Rotten Tomatoes. It has also been listed as one of the best comedy films ever by publications including: number 16 by "Time Out"; number 26 by Rotten Tomatoes; and number 48 by "Empire".


title: Trading Places

text: Although the film's story takes place over several weeks leading up to and after Christmas, "Trading Places" is regarded as a Christmas film. In 2008, "The Washington Post" called it one of the most underrated Christmas films. "The Atlantic" described it as a less traditional Christmas film, but one whose themes remain relevant, particularly regarding the divide between the wealthy and poor. It has appeared on several lists of the best Christmas films, including: number 5 by "Empire"; number 12 by "Entertainment Weekly"; number 13 by "Thrillist"; number 23 by "Time Out"; number 24 by Rotten Tomatoes (based on overall critical scores); number 45 by "Today"; and unranked by "Country Living" and "The Daily Telegraph". It has been a popular Christmas film on TV in Italy since its release there in 1984.


title: Trading Places

text: Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of , based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's consensus states: "Featuring deft interplay between Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, "Trading Places" is an immensely appealing social satire." Metacritic gave the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 10 critics, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".


title: Trading Places

text: In the years followings its release, some critics have praised the film while highlighting elements that they believe have aged poorly and become seen by some as problematic, including racial language, the use of blackface, and the implied rape of Beeks by a gorilla. The film's use of the word "nigger", said during Mortimer's statement that he will never allow Valentine to run his family business, is sometimes censored in TV broadcasts. Todd Larkins Williams, director of the 2004 documentary "The N-Word", said that it is a critical scene that should not be censored. He considered it dangerous to pretend a word never existed as in turn other negative events could also be ignored. "GQ" argued that its social commentary remained relevant in spite of these elements. In response to the 2020 George Floyd protests about racial inequality, "Trading Places" was one of 16 films that had a disclaimer added by British broadcaster Sky UK. The disclaimer read, "This film has outdated attitudes, language, and cultural depictions which may cause offence today."


title: Dead (musician)

text: Per Yngve "Pelle" Ohlin (16 January 1969 – 8 April 1991), better known by his stage name Dead, was a Swedish metal musician who was best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem from 1988 until his death in 1991. Prior to Mayhem, he also performed as vocalist in the death/thrash band Morbid. Dead was a popular figure of the Norwegian black metal scene, and his legacy persists in the genre to this day. Roadrunner Records ranked him No. 48 out of 50 of "The Greatest Metal Front-Men of All Time".


title: Dead (musician)

text: Dead was known for his morbid personality and obsession with death. He hoarded dead birds, wore shirts with funeral announcements printed on them, and wore corpse paint—being one of the first in black metal to do so. Acquaintances and peers described Ohlin as difficult to befriend or understand. Already intensely introverted and depressed, Dead's personality and demeanor would only become more withdrawn leading up to his death, a progression marked by such patterns as harming himself offstage among friends and isolating himself for long periods in his bedroom.


title: Dead (musician)

text: Dead committed suicide in April 1991 at the age of 22. An image of his dead body was used as the cover of the bootleg live album "The Dawn of the Black Hearts". His death marked a turning point in the history of the Norwegian black metal scene, leading to a wave of erratic behavior by the scene's members.


title: Dead (musician)

text: Per Ohlin (sometimes called "Pelle") was born in 1969 in Västerhaninge, Sweden to parents Anita Forsberg and Lars Ohlin, who divorced soon after his birth. As a young child, he suffered from sleep apnea. At the age of ten, he suffered internal bleeding when his spleen ruptured after what he claimed was an ice skating accident. However, in the Swedish metal book "Blod eld död" (English: ""Blood Fire Death""), his brother Anders Ohlin stated in an exclusive interview that Dead was frequently bullied in school and one day sustained a ruptured spleen as a direct result of a severe beating by bullies. Because of the injury, he had to be rushed to a hospital, where he was, for a time, declared clinically dead. After a few years, the incident resulted in a fascination with death, and later inspired his stage name.


title: Dead (musician)

text: As a teenager, he developed a taste for heavy metal and rock music, citing bands like Black Sabbath, Kiss, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Motörhead, Venom, Metallica, Bathory, Sodom, and Mercyful Fate as his favorites. Despite his love for Bathory, he was very displeased after their change in musical style, and consequently referred to Quorthon as "a wimp".


title: Dead (musician)

text: In early 1986, he founded the Swedish thrash/death metal group Morbid, with which he recorded a demo tape called "December Moon". Disappointed that the band wasn't "going anywhere", he decided to contact members of Mayhem as he was aware the group were in need of a new frontman following vocalist Maniac's departure. According to Mayhem bassist Jørn "Necrobutcher" Stubberud, Dead initially sent the band members a small parcel containing a demo tape, a letter detailing his ideas for the future, and a crucified mouse. Although Necrobutcher lost the package itself, he kept the tape which had Dead's contact details. At that point, Dead moved to Norway in early 1988 and became the new official vocalist for Mayhem.


title: Dead (musician)

text: For concerts, Dead went to great lengths to achieve the image and atmosphere he wished. From the beginning of his career, he wore "corpse paint", which involved covering his face with black and white makeup. According to Necrobutcher, "[i]t wasn't anything to do with the way Kiss and Alice Cooper used makeup. Dead actually wanted to look like a corpse. He didn't do it to look cool". Hellhammer claimed that Dead "was the first black metal musician to use corpse paint", although this statement has been proven to be debatable as Euronymous can be seen wearing corpse paint in live footage as early as 1985. To complete his corpse-like image, Dead would bury his stage clothes and dig them up again to wear on the night of a concert. According to Hellhammer:


title: Dead (musician)

text: Before the shows, Dead used to bury his clothes into the ground so that they could start to rot and get that grave scent. He was a corpse on a stage. Once he even asked us to bury "him" in the ground — he wanted his skin to become pale.


title: Dead (musician)

text: During one tour with Mayhem, he found a dead crow and kept it in a plastic bag. He often carried it about with him and would smell the bird before going onstage, to sing "with the stench of death in his nostrils." He would also collect dead geese, and keep them underneath his bed.


title: Dead (musician)

text: Dead would cut himself while singing onstage. During a gig in Jessheim on February 3, 1990, he slashed his arm with a broken bottle. Faust claims that Dead had to be taken to hospital after the gig, but arrived too late and so "it was no use to give him stitches".


title: Dead (musician)

text: In an interview conducted by Marduk guitarist Morgan Håkansson, and published in the fanzine "Slayer", Dead explained how he and the rest of Mayhem would expel poseurs at their concerts. Reciting the events of one particular show, he claimed "Before we began to play there was a crowd of about 300 in there, but in the second song 'Necrolust' we began to throw around those pig heads. Only 50 were left." He and the other members enjoyed this sort of practice; he concluded with "If someone doesn't like blood and rotten flesh thrown in their face they can FUCK OFF, and that's exactly what they do."


title: Dead (musician)

text: In interviews, fellow musicians often described Dead as odd and introverted. Mayhem drummer Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg described Dead as "a very strange personality […] depressed, melancholic, and dark". Likewise, Mayhem guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth once said, "I honestly think Dead is mentally insane. Which other way can you describe a guy who does not eat, in order to get starving wounds? Or who has a T-shirt with funeral announcements on it?" Former Mayhem drummer Kjetil Manheim later likened Dead's personality to that of Marvin the Paranoid Android. Some authors have speculated that Dead may have had Cotard delusion, a very rare condition that manifests in believing one's body is not that of a living human but instead a corpse; this theory is supported by a variety of statements from Dead on the subject of his blood and body.


title: Dead (musician)

text: Stian "Occultus" Johannsen, who briefly took over as vocalist after Dead's suicide, remarked that Dead did not even possess a normal perception of himself:


title: Dead (musician)

text: He [Dead] didn't see himself as human; he saw himself as a creature from another world. He said he had many visions that his blood has frozen in his veins, that he was dead. That is the reason he took that name. He knew he would die.


title: Dead (musician)

text: According to a longtime pen pal of Ohlin known as "Old Nick", Ohlin disliked technology. He would only ever write letters to himself or others using longhand style, and would never resort to the use of a PC. Old Nick concluded "technology in general made him [feel] uncomfortable. He just rejected it altogether, finding refuge [instead] in a world made of forests and woodlands." He also had an unusual interest with porphyria due to its connection to the mythology of vampirism.


title: Dead (musician)

text: In time, Dead's social situation and his fascination with death caused his mental state to worsen greatly. He would casually cut himself while in the presence of his friends, who would have to subdue him and patch him up. Although this upset many of his friends, Euronymous grew fascinated with Dead's suicidal ideologies because he felt extreme negativity fit Mayhem's image—and according to them, he encouraged Dead to kill himself. Manheim said: "I don't know if Øystein did it out of pure evil or if he was just fooling around."


title: Dead (musician)

text: By 1991, Dead, Euronymous and Hellhammer were living in a house in the woods near Kråkstad, which was used as a place for the band to rehearse. According to Hellhammer, Dead spent much of his time writing letters and drawing. He "just sat in his room and became more and more depressed". Mayhem bassist Necrobutcher said that, after living together for a while, Dead and Euronymous "got on each other's nerves a lot". Hellhammer recalls an anecdote where Dead once retreated outside to sleep in the woods because Euronymous was playing synth music that Dead hated. Euronymous followed and began shooting into the air with a shotgun to further antagonize him. Varg Vikernes of Burzum claims that Dead once stabbed Euronymous with a knife during an altercation. Vikernes also claims to have sent Mayhem ammunition, including shotgun shells, as a Christmas gift, although he claimed those were not the shells Dead used to kill himself, and that he instead saved a "special shell" particularly to be used for his suicide.


title: Dead (musician)

text: On 8 April 1991, while left alone in the house, Dead used a hunting knife to slit his wrists and throat, and afterward, shot himself in the forehead with a shotgun. He left a brief suicide note which started with the line "Excuse the blood...". His body was found by Euronymous, who had to climb through an open window as the doors were locked and there were no other keys to the house. Instead of calling the police immediately, he visited a nearby shop to purchase a disposable camera with which he photographed the body; after re-arranging some items for his pictures, he proceeded to call emergency services. Dead's suicide caused a rift between Euronymous and some of his friends, who were disgusted by his attitude towards Dead before the suicide, and his behavior about Dead's death afterwards. Necrobutcher ended his friendship with Euronymous and left Mayhem. Manheim later speculated that Euronymous had willfully left Dead alone in the house so that he would have a chance to kill himself. Dead's suicide was said to cause "a change in mentality" in the black metal scene and was the first in a string of infamous events carried out by its members.


title: Dead (musician)

text: An obituary in a Swedish newspaper stated that Dead's funeral was held at (Eastern Haninge Church) on Friday 26 April 1991. He was buried at (Eastern Haninge graveyard), located in Stockholm.


title: Dead (musician)

text: Euronymous used Dead's suicide to foster Mayhem's "evil" image and claimed Dead had killed himself because black metal had become "trendy" and commercialized. Necrobutcher speculated that taking the pictures and forcing others to see them was a way for Euronymous to cope with the shock of seeing his friend's body. After Hellhammer developed the photos, Euronymous initially promised to destroy them, but ultimately did not. He stored them in an envelope at his record shop "Helvete" and sent one to the owner of Warmaster Records which resulted in its use as cover art for the bootleg live album "The Dawn of the Black Hearts", which was released in 1995. The cover of Mayhem's "Live in Leipzig" contains part of Dead's suicide note: "Jag är inte en människa. Det här är bara en dröm, och snart vaknar jag." (Roughly translated: "I am not a human being. This is just a dream, and soon I will wake.")


title: Dead (musician)

text: In time, rumors spread that Euronymous had made a stew with bits of Dead's brain and had made necklaces with bits of his skull. The band later denied the former rumor, but confirmed that the latter was true. Moreover, Euronymous claimed to have given these necklaces to musicians he deemed worthy, which was confirmed by several other members of the scene, like Bård "Faust" Eithun, Metalion, and Morgan Håkansson.


title: Dead (musician)

text: Necrobutcher noted that "people became more aware of the black metal scene after Dead had shot himself ... I think it was Dead's suicide that really changed the scene".


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger is a 30 mm hydraulically driven seven-barrel Gatling-style autocannon that is primarily mounted in the United States Air Force's Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. Designed to destroy a wide variety of ground targets, the Avenger delivers very powerful rounds at a high rate of fire. The GAU-8/A is also used in the Goalkeeper CIWS ship weapon system, which provides defense against short-range threats such as highly maneuverable missiles, aircraft, and fast maneuvering surface vessels. The GAU-8/A is currently produced by General Dynamics.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The GAU-8 was created as a parallel program with the "A-X" (or Attack Experimental) competition that produced the A-10. The specification for the cannon was laid out in 1970, with General Electric and Philco-Ford offering competing designs. Both of the A-X prototypes, the YA-10 and the Northrop YA-9, were designed to incorporate the weapon, although it was not available during the initial competition; the M61 Vulcan was used as a temporary replacement. Once completed, the entire GAU-8 assembly (correctly referred to as the A/A 49E-6 Gun System) represents about 16% of the A-10 aircraft's unladen weight. Because the gun plays a significant role in maintaining the A-10's balance and center of gravity, a jack must be installed beneath the airplane's tail whenever the gun is removed for inspection in order to prevent the aircraft from tipping rearwards.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The gun is mounted slightly to the port side with the active firing cannon barrel on the starboard side at the 9 o'clock position and on the aircraft's center line. The front landing gear is positioned to the starboard side. The gun is loaded using Syn-Tech's linked tube carrier GFU-8/E 30 mm Ammunition Loading Assembly cart. This vehicle is unique to the A-10 and the GAU-8.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The A-10 with its GAU-8/A gun entered service in 1977. It was produced by General Electric, though General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has been responsible for production and support since 1997 when the division was sold by Lockheed Martin to General Dynamics.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The GAU-8 itself weighs , but the complete weapon, with feed system and drum, weighs with a maximum ammunition load. It measures from the muzzle to the rearmost point of the ammunition system, and the ammunition drum alone is in diameter and long. Power for operating the gun is provided by twin hydraulic motors pressurized from two independent hydraulic systems. The magazine can hold 1,174 rounds, although 1,150 is the typical load-out. Muzzle velocity when firing armor-piercing incendiary rounds is 1,013 m/s, almost the same as the substantially lighter M61 Vulcan's 20 mm round, giving the gun a muzzle energy of just over 200 kilojoules.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The standard ammunition mixture for anti-armor use is a five-to-one mix of PGU-14/B Armor Piercing Incendiary, with a projectile weight of about 14.0 oz (395 grams or 6,096 grains) and PGU-13/B High Explosive Incendiary (HEI) rounds, with a projectile weight of about 13.3 oz (378 grams or 5,833 grains). The PGU-14/B's projectile incorporates a lightweight aluminum body, cast around a smaller caliber depleted uranium penetrating core. In 1979, the Avenger was tested against M47 Patton tanks and caused "severe damage".


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: An innovation in the design of the GAU-8/A ammunition is the use of aluminum alloy cases in place of the traditional steel or brass. This alone adds 30% to ammunition capacity for a given weight. The projectiles incorporate a plastic driving band to improve barrel life. The cartridges measure in length and weigh or more.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The Avenger's rate of fire was originally selectable, 2,100 rounds per minute (rpm) in the low setting, or 4,200 rpm in the high setting. This rate was later changed to a fixed rate of 3,900 rpm. At this speed it would take 18 seconds of sustained fire to empty the magazine. In practice, the cannon is limited to one and two-second bursts to avoid overheating and conserve ammunition; barrel life is also a factor, since the USAF has specified a minimum life of at least 20,000 rounds for each set of barrels. There is no technical limitation on the duration the gun may be continuously fired, and a pilot could potentially expend the entire ammunition load in a single burst with no damage or ill effects to the weapons system itself. However, this constant rate of fire would shorten the barrel life considerably and require added barrel inspections and result in shorter intervals between replacement.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: Each barrel is a very simple non-automatic design having its own breech and bolt. Like the original Gatling gun, the entire firing cycle is actuated by cams and powered by the rotation of the barrels. The seven-barrel carriage assembly itself is driven by the aircraft's dual hydraulic system.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The GAU-8/A ammunition feed is linkless, reducing weight and avoiding a great deal of potential for jamming. The feed system is double-ended, allowing the spent casings to be returned to the ammunition drum. Additionally, returning empty cases to the drum has less effect on the aircraft's center of gravity than ejecting them. The feed system is based on that developed for later M61 installations, but uses more advanced design techniques and materials throughout, to save weight.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The GAU-8/A is extremely accurate and can fire up to 3,900 rounds per minute without complications. The 30-mm shell has twice the range, half the time to target, and three times the mass of projectiles fired by guns mounted in comparable close air support aircraft.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The muzzle velocity of the GAU-8/A is about the same as that of the M61 Vulcan cannon, but the GAU-8/A uses heavier ammunition and has superior ballistics. The time of flight of its projectile to is 30 percent less than that of an M61 round; the GAU-8/A projectile decelerates much less after leaving the barrel, and it drops a negligible amount, about over the distance. The GAU-8/A accuracy when installed in the A-10 is rated at "5 mil, 80 percent", meaning that 80 percent of rounds fired will hit within a cone with an angle of five milliradians; this equates to a diameter circle at the weapon's design range of . By comparison, the M61 has an 8-milliradian dispersion.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: Because the gun's recoil forces could push the entire plane off target during firing, the weapon is mounted laterally off-center, slightly to the port side of the fuselage centerline, with the active firing barrel lying directly on the aircraft's centerline. The firing barrel also lies just below the aircraft's center of gravity, being bore-sighted along a line 2 degrees below the aircraft's line of flight. This arrangement accurately centers the recoil forces, preventing changes in aircraft pitch or yaw when fired. This configuration also leaves space for the front landing gear, which is mounted slightly off-center on the starboard side of the nose.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The GAU-8/A utilizes recoil adapters. They are the interface between the gun housing and the gun mount. By absorbing (in compression) the recoil forces, they spread the time of the recoil impulse and counter recoil energy transmitted to the supporting structure when the gun is fired.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The A-10 engines were initially susceptible to flameout when subjected to gases generated in the firing of the gun. When the GAU-8 is being fired, the smoke from the gun can make the engines stop, and this did occur during initial flight testing. Gun exhaust is essentially oxygen-free, and is certainly capable of causing flameouts of gas turbines. The A-10 engines now have a self-sustaining combustion section. When the gun is fired, the igniters come on to reduce the possibility of a flameout.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: The average recoil force of the GAU-8/A is 10,000 pounds-force (45 kN), which is slightly more than the output of each of the A-10's two TF34 engines of 9,065 lbf (40.3 kN). While this recoil force is significant, in practice a cannon-fire burst slows the aircraft by only a few miles per hour in level flight.


title: GAU-8 Avenger

text: Some of the GAU-8/A technology has been transferred into the smaller 25 mm GAU-12/U Equalizer, which was developed for the AV-8B Harrier II aircraft. The GAU-12 is about the same size as the 20 mm M61. GE has also developed the GAU-13/A, a four-barreled weapon using GAU-8/A components, which has been tested in podded form as the GPU-5/A. The Avenger also forms the basis for the Dutch-developed Goalkeeper CIWS naval air-defence gun. No current or contemplated aircraft other than the A-10 carries the full-up Avenger system.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone layer) around Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. There are also springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events in addition to these stratospheric events.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The main causes of ozone depletion and the ozone hole are manufactured chemicals, especially manufactured halocarbon refrigerants, solvents, propellants, and foam-blowing agents (chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), HCFCs, halons), referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS). These compounds are transported into the stratosphere by turbulent mixing after being emitted from the surface, mixing much faster than the molecules can settle. Once in the stratosphere, they release atoms from the halogen group through photodissociation, which catalyze the breakdown of ozone (O) into oxygen (O). Both types of ozone depletion were observed to increase as emissions of halocarbons increased.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Ozone depletion and the ozone hole have generated worldwide concern over increased cancer risks and other negative effects. The ozone layer prevents harmful wavelengths of ultraviolet (UVB) light from passing through the Earth's atmosphere. These wavelengths cause skin cancer, sunburn, permanent blindness, and cataracts, which were projected to increase dramatically as a result of thinning ozone, as well as harming plants and animals. These concerns led to the adoption of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which bans the production of CFCs, halons, and other ozone-depleting chemicals. Currently, scientists plan to develop a new refrigerant to replace the old one.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The ban came into effect in 1989. Ozone levels stabilized by the mid-1990s and began to recover in the 2000s, as the shifting of the jet stream in the southern hemisphere towards the south pole has stopped and might even be reversing. Recovery is projected to continue over the next century, and the ozone hole is expected to reach pre-1980 levels by around 2075. In 2019, NASA reported that the ozone hole was the smallest ever since it was first discovered in 1982.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The Montreal Protocol is considered the most successful international environmental agreement to date.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Three forms (or allotropes) of oxygen are involved in the ozone-oxygen cycle: oxygen atoms (O or atomic oxygen), oxygen gas ( or diatomic oxygen), and ozone gas ( or triatomic oxygen). Ozone is formed in the stratosphere when oxygen gas molecules photodissociate after absorbing UVC photons. This converts a single into two atomic oxygen radicals. The atomic oxygen radicals then combine with separate molecules to create two molecules. These ozone molecules absorb UVB light, following which ozone splits into a molecule of and an oxygen atom. The oxygen atom then joins up with an oxygen molecule to regenerate ozone. This is a continuing process that terminates when an oxygen atom recombines with an ozone molecule to make two molecules. It is worth noting that ozone is the only atmospheric gas that absorbs UVB light.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The total amount of ozone in the stratosphere is determined by a balance between photochemical production and recombination.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Ozone can be destroyed by a number of free radical catalysts; the most important are the hydroxyl radical (OH·), nitric oxide radical (NO·), chlorine radical (Cl·) and bromine radical (Br·). The dot is a notation to indicate that each species has an unpaired electron and is thus extremely reactive. All of these have both natural and man-made sources; at present, most of the OH· and NO· in the stratosphere is naturally occurring, but human activity has drastically increased the levels of chlorine and bromine. These elements are found in stable organic compounds, especially chlorofluorocarbons, which can travel to the stratosphere without being destroyed in the troposphere due to their low reactivity. Once in the stratosphere, the Cl and Br atoms are released from the parent compounds by the action of ultraviolet light, e.g.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Ozone is a highly reactive molecule that easily reduces to the more stable oxygen form with the assistance of a catalyst. Cl and Br atoms destroy ozone molecules through a variety of catalytic cycles. In the simplest example of such a cycle, a chlorine atom reacts with an ozone molecule (), taking an oxygen atom to form chlorine monoxide (ClO) and leaving an oxygen molecule (). The ClO can react with a second molecule of ozone, releasing the chlorine atom and yielding two molecules of oxygen. The chemical shorthand for these gas-phase reactions is:


title: Ozone depletion

text: The overall effect is a decrease in the amount of ozone, though the rate of these processes can be decreased by the effects of null cycles. More complicated mechanisms have also been discovered that lead to ozone destruction in the lower stratosphere.


title: Ozone depletion

text: A single chlorine atom would continuously destroy ozone (thus a catalyst) for up to two years (the time scale for transport back down to the troposphere) except for reactions that remove it from this cycle by forming reservoir species such as hydrogen chloride (HCl) and chlorine nitrate (). Bromine is even more efficient than chlorine at destroying ozone on a per-atom basis, but there is much less bromine in the atmosphere at present. Both chlorine and bromine contribute significantly to overall ozone depletion. Laboratory studies have also shown that fluorine and iodine atoms participate in analogous catalytic cycles. However, fluorine atoms react rapidly with water vapour, methane and hydrogen to form strongly bound hydrogen fluoride (HF) in the Earth's stratosphere, while organic molecules containing iodine react so rapidly in the lower atmosphere that they do not reach the stratosphere in significant quantities.


title: Ozone depletion

text: A single chlorine atom is able to react with an average of 100,000 ozone molecules before it is removed from the catalytic cycle. This fact plus the amount of chlorine released into the atmosphere yearly by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) demonstrates the danger of CFCs and HCFCs to the environment.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The ozone hole is usually measured by reduction in the total "column ozone" above a point on the Earth's surface. This is normally expressed in Dobson units; abbreviated as "DU". The most prominent decrease in ozone has been in the lower stratosphere. Marked decreases in column ozone in the Antarctic spring and early summer compared to the early 1970s and before have been observed using instruments such as the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS).


title: Ozone depletion

text: Reductions of up to 70 percent in the ozone column observed in the austral (southern hemispheric) spring over Antarctica and first reported in 1985 (Farman et al.) are continuing. Antarctic total column ozone in September and October have continued to be 40–50 percent lower than pre-ozone-hole values since the 1990s. A gradual trend toward "healing" was reported in 2016. In 2017, NASA announced that the ozone hole was the weakest since 1988 because of warm stratospheric conditions. It is expected to recover around 2070.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The amount lost is more variable year-to-year in the Arctic than in the Antarctic. The greatest Arctic declines are in the winter and spring, reaching up to 30 percent when the stratosphere is coldest.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Reactions that take place on polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) play an important role in enhancing ozone depletion. PSCs form more readily in the extreme cold of the Arctic and Antarctic stratosphere. This is why ozone holes first formed, and are deeper, over Antarctica. Early models failed to take PSCs into account and predicted a gradual global depletion, which is why the sudden Antarctic ozone hole was such a surprise to many scientists.


title: Ozone depletion

text: It is more accurate to speak of ozone depletion in middle latitudes rather than holes. Total column ozone declined below pre-1980 values between 1980 and 1996 for mid-latitudes. In the northern mid-latitudes, it then increased from the minimum value by about two percent from 1996 to 2009 as regulations took effect and the amount of chlorine in the stratosphere decreased. In the Southern Hemisphere's mid-latitudes, total ozone remained constant over that time period. There are no significant trends in the tropics, largely because halogen-containing compounds have not had time to break down and release chlorine and bromine atoms at tropical latitudes.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Large volcanic eruptions have been shown to have substantial albeit uneven ozone-depleting effects, as observed with the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Ozone depletion also explains much of the observed reduction in stratospheric and upper tropospheric temperatures. The source of the warmth of the stratosphere is the absorption of UV radiation by ozone, hence reduced ozone leads to cooling. Some stratospheric cooling is also predicted from increases in greenhouse gases such as and CFCs themselves; however, the ozone-induced cooling appears to be dominant.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Predictions of ozone levels remain difficult, but the precision of models' predictions of observed values and the agreement among different modeling techniques have increased steadily. The World Meteorological Organization Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project—Report No. 44 comes out strongly in favor of the Montreal Protocol, but notes that a UNEP 1994 Assessment overestimated ozone loss for the 1994–1997 period.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halogenated ozone-depleting substances (ODS) are mainly responsible for man-made chemical ozone depletion. The total amount of effective halogens (chlorine and bromine) in the stratosphere can be calculated and are known as the equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine (EESC).


title: Ozone depletion

text: CFCs as refrigerants were invented by Thomas Midgley, Jr. in the 1930s. They were used in air conditioning and cooling units, as aerosol spray propellants prior to the 1970s, and in the cleaning processes of delicate electronic equipment. They also occur as by-products of some chemical processes. No significant natural sources have ever been identified for these compounds—their presence in the atmosphere is due almost entirely to human manufacture. As mentioned above, when such ozone-depleting chemicals reach the stratosphere, they are dissociated by ultraviolet light to release chlorine atoms. The chlorine atoms act as a catalyst, and each can break down tens of thousands of ozone molecules before being removed from the stratosphere. Given the longevity of CFC molecules, recovery times are measured in decades. It is calculated that a CFC molecule takes an average of about five to seven years to go from the ground level up to the upper atmosphere, and it can stay there for about a century, destroying up to one hundred thousand ozone molecules during that time.


title: Ozone depletion

text: 1,1,1-Trichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane, also known as CFC-113a, is one of four man-made chemicals newly discovered in the atmosphere by a team at the University of East Anglia. CFC-113a is the only known CFC whose abundance in the atmosphere is still growing. Its source remains a mystery, but illegal manufacturing is suspected by some. CFC-113a seems to have been accumulating unabated since 1960. Between 2012 and 2017, concentrations of the gas jumped by 40 percent.


title: Ozone depletion

text: A study by an international team of researchers published in "Nature" found that since 2013 emissions that are predominately from north-eastern China have released large quantities of the banned chemical Chlorofluorocarbon-11 (CFC-11) into the atmosphere. Scientists estimate that without action, these CFC-11 emissions will delay the recovery of the planet's ozone hole by a decade.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Scientists have attributed ozone depletion to the increase of man-made (anthropogenic) halogen compounds from CFCs by combining observational data with computer models. These complex chemistry transport models (e.g. SLIMCAT, CLaMS—Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere) work by combining measurements of chemicals and meteorological fields with chemical reaction rate constants. They identify key chemical reactions and transport processes that bring CFC photolysis products into contact with ozone.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The Antarctic ozone hole is an area of the Antarctic stratosphere in which the recent ozone levels have dropped to as low as 33 percent of their pre-1975 values. The ozone hole occurs during the Antarctic spring, from September to early December, as strong westerly winds start to circulate around the continent and create an atmospheric container. Within this polar vortex, over 50 percent of the lower stratospheric ozone is destroyed during the Antarctic spring.


title: Ozone depletion

text: As explained above, the primary cause of ozone depletion is the presence of chlorine-containing source gases (primarily CFCs and related halocarbons). In the presence of UV light, these gases dissociate, releasing chlorine atoms, which then go on to catalyze ozone destruction. The Cl-catalyzed ozone depletion can take place in the gas phase, but it is dramatically enhanced in the presence of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs).


title: Ozone depletion

text: These polar stratospheric clouds form during winter, in the extreme cold. Polar winters are dark, consisting of three months without solar radiation (sunlight). The lack of sunlight contributes to a decrease in temperature and the polar vortex traps and chills the air. Temperatures hover around or below −80 °C. These low temperatures form cloud particles. There are three types of PSC clouds—nitric acid trihydrate clouds, slowly cooling water-ice clouds, and rapid cooling water-ice (nacreous) clouds—provide surfaces for chemical reactions whose products will, in the spring lead to ozone destruction.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The photochemical processes involved are complex but well understood. The key observation is that, ordinarily, most of the chlorine in the stratosphere resides in "reservoir" compounds, primarily chlorine nitrate () as well as stable end products such as HCl. The formation of end products essentially removes Cl from the ozone depletion process. The former sequester Cl, which can be later made available via absorption of light at shorter wavelengths than 400 nm. During the Antarctic winter and spring, however, reactions on the surface of the polar stratospheric cloud particles convert these "reservoir" compounds into reactive free radicals (Cl and ClO). Denitrification is the process by which the clouds remove from the stratosphere by converting it to nitric acid in PSC particles, which then are lost by sedimentation. This prevents newly formed ClO from being converted back into .


title: Ozone depletion

text: The role of sunlight in ozone depletion is the reason why the Antarctic ozone depletion is greatest during spring. During winter, even though PSCs are at their most abundant, there is no light over the pole to drive chemical reactions. During the spring, however, sunlight returns and provides energy to drive photochemical reactions and melt the polar stratospheric clouds, releasing considerable ClO, which drives the hole mechanism. Further warming temperatures near the end of spring break up the vortex around mid-December. As warm, ozone and -rich air flows in from lower latitudes, the PSCs are destroyed, the enhanced ozone depletion process shuts down, and the ozone hole closes.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Most of the ozone that is destroyed is in the lower stratosphere, in contrast to the much smaller ozone depletion through homogeneous gas-phase reactions, which occurs primarily in the upper stratosphere.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Public misconceptions and misunderstandings of complex issues like ozone depletion are common. The limited scientific knowledge of the public led to confusion about global warming or the perception of global warming as a subset of the "ozone hole".


title: Ozone depletion

text: In the beginning, classical green NGOs refrained from using CFC depletion for campaigning, as they assumed the topic was too complicated. They became active much later, e.g. in Greenpeace's support for a CFC-free fridge produced by the former East German company VEB dkk Scharfenstein.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The metaphors used in the CFC discussion (ozone shield, ozone hole) are not "exact" in the scientific sense. The "ozone hole" is more of a "depression", less "a hole in the windshield". The ozone does not disappear through the layer, nor is there a uniform "thinning" of the ozone layer. However, they resonated better with non-scientists and their concerns. The ozone hole was seen as a "hot issue" and imminent risk as laypeople feared severe personal consequences such as skin cancer, cataracts, damage to plants, and reduction of plankton populations in the ocean's photic zone. Not only on the policy level, ozone regulation compared to climate change fared much better in public opinion. Americans voluntarily switched away from aerosol sprays before legislation was enforced, while climate change failed to achieve comparable concern and public action. The sudden identification in 1985 that there was a substantial "hole" was widely reported in the press. The especially rapid ozone depletion in Antarctica had previously been dismissed as a measurement error. Scientific consensus was established after regulation.


title: Ozone depletion

text: While the Antarctic ozone hole has a relatively small effect on global ozone, the hole has generated a great deal of public interest because:


title: Ozone depletion

text: Since the ozone layer absorbs UVB ultraviolet light from the sun, ozone layer depletion increases surface UVB levels (all else equal), which could lead to damage, including an increase in skin cancer. This was the reason for the Montreal Protocol. Although decreases in stratospheric ozone are well-tied to CFCs and increases in surface UVB, there is no direct observational evidence linking ozone depletion to higher incidence of skin cancer and eye damage in human beings. This is partly because UVA, which has also been implicated in some forms of skin cancer, is not absorbed by ozone, and because it is nearly impossible to control statistics for lifestyle changes over time. Ozone depletion may also influence wind patterns.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Ozone, while a minority constituent in Earth's atmosphere, is responsible for most of the absorption of UVB radiation. The amount of UVB radiation that penetrates through the ozone layer decreases exponentially with the slant-path thickness and density of the layer. When stratospheric ozone levels decrease, higher levels of UVB reach the Earth's surface. UV-driven phenolic formation in tree rings has dated the start of ozone depletion in northern latitudes to the late 1700s.


title: Ozone depletion

text: In October 2008, the Ecuadorian Space Agency published a report called HIPERION. The study used ground instruments in Ecuador and the last 28 years' data from 12 satellites of several countries, and found that the UV radiation reaching equatorial latitudes was far greater than expected, with the UV Index climbing as high as 24 in Quito; the WHO considers 11 as an extreme index and a great risk to health. The report concluded that depleted ozone levels around the mid-latitudes of the planet are already endangering large populations in these areas. Later, the CONIDA, the Peruvian Space Agency, published its own study, which yielded almost the same findings as the Ecuadorian study.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The main public concern regarding the ozone hole has been the effects of increased surface UV radiation on human health. So far, ozone depletion in most locations has been typically a few percent and, as noted above, no direct evidence of health damage is available in most latitudes. If the high levels of depletion seen in the ozone hole were to be common across the globe, the effects could be substantially more dramatic. As the ozone hole over Antarctica has in some instances grown so large as to affect parts of Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa, environmentalists have been concerned that the increase in surface UV could be significant.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Ozone depletion would magnify all of the effects of UV on human health, both positive (including production of vitamin D) and negative (including sunburn, skin cancer, and cataracts). In addition, increased surface UV leads to increased tropospheric ozone, which is a health risk to humans.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The most common forms of skin cancer in humans, basal and squamous cell carcinomas, have been strongly linked to UV-B exposure. The mechanism by which UVB induces these cancers is well understood—absorption of UV-B radiation causes the pyrimidine bases in the DNA molecule to form dimers, resulting in transcription errors when the DNA replicates. These cancers are relatively mild and rarely fatal, although the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma sometimes requires extensive reconstructive surgery. By combining epidemiological data with results of animal studies, scientists have estimated that every one percent decrease in long-term stratospheric ozone would increase the incidence of these cancers by 2%.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Another form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma, is much less common but far more dangerous, being lethal in about 15–20 percent of the cases diagnosed. The relationship between malignant melanoma and ultraviolet exposure is not yet fully understood, but it appears that both UV-B and UV-A are involved. Because of this uncertainty, it is difficult to estimate the effect of ozone depletion on melanoma incidence. One study showed that a 10 percent increase in UV-B radiation was associated with a 19 percent increase in melanomas for men and 16 percent for women. A study of people in Punta Arenas, at the southern tip of Chile, showed a 56 percent increase in melanoma and a 46 percent increase in nonmelanoma skin cancer over a period of seven years, along with decreased ozone and increased UVB levels.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Epidemiological studies suggest an association between ocular cortical cataracts and UV-B exposure, using crude approximations of exposure and various cataract assessment techniques. A detailed assessment of ocular exposure to UV-B was carried out in a study on Chesapeake Bay Watermen, where increases in average annual ocular exposure were associated with increasing risk of cortical opacity. In this highly exposed group of predominantly white males, the evidence linking cortical opacities to sunlight exposure was the strongest to date. Based on these results, ozone depletion is predicted to cause hundreds of thousands of additional cataracts by 2050.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Increased surface UV leads to increased tropospheric ozone. Ground-level ozone is generally recognized to be a health risk, as ozone is toxic due to its strong oxidant properties. The risks are particularly high for young children, the elderly, and those with asthma or other respiratory difficulties. At this time, ozone at ground level is produced mainly by the action of UV radiation on combustion gases from vehicle exhausts.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Vitamin D is produced in the skin by ultraviolet light. Thus, higher UVB exposure raises human vitamin D in those deficient in it. Recent research (primarily since the Montreal Protocol) shows that many humans have less than optimal vitamin D levels. In particular, in the U.S. population, the lowest quarter of vitamin D (<17.8 ng/ml) were found using information from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to be associated with an increase in all-cause mortality in the general population. While blood level of vitamin D in excess of 100 ng/ml appear to raise blood calcium excessively and to be associated with higher mortality, the body has mechanisms that prevent sunlight from producing vitamin D in excess of the body's requirements.


title: Ozone depletion

text: A November 2011 report by scientists at the Institute of Zoology in London found that whales off the coast of California have shown a sharp rise in sun damage, and these scientists "fear that the thinning ozone layer is to blame". The study photographed and took skin biopsies from over 150 whales in the Gulf of California and found "widespread evidence of epidermal damage commonly associated with acute and severe sunburn", having cells that form when the DNA is damaged by UV radiation. The findings suggest "rising UV levels as a result of ozone depletion are to blame for the observed skin damage, in the same way that human skin cancer rates have been on the increase in recent decades." Apart from whales many other animals such as dogs, cats, sheep and terrestrial ecosystems also suffer the negative effects of increased UV-B radiations.


title: Ozone depletion

text: An increase of UV radiation would be expected to affect crops. A number of economically important species of plants, such as rice, depend on cyanobacteria residing on their roots for the retention of nitrogen. Cyanobacteria are sensitive to UV radiation and would be affected by its increase. "Despite mechanisms to reduce or repair the effects of increased ultraviolet radiation, plants have a limited ability to adapt to increased levels of UVB, therefore plant growth can be directly affected by UVB radiation."


title: Ozone depletion

text: Over the years, the Arctic ozone layer has depleted severely. As a consequence species that live above the snow cover or in areas where snow has melted abundantly, due to hot temperatures, are negatively impacted due to UV radiation that reaches the ground. Depletion of the ozone layer and allowing excess UVB radiation would initially be assumed to increase damage done to plant DNA. Reports have found that when plants are exposed to UVB radiation similar to stratospheric ozone depletion, there was no significant change in plant height or leaf mass, but showed a response in shoot biomass and leaf area with a small decrease. However, UVB radiation has been shown to decrease quantum yield of photosystem II. UVB damage only occurs under extreme exposure, and most plants also have UVB absorbing flavonoids which allow them to acclimatize to the radiation present. Plants experience different levels of UV radiation throughout the day. It is known that they are able to shift the levels and types of UV sunscreens (i.e. flavonoids), that they contain, throughout the day. This allows them to increase their protection against UV radiation. Plants that have been affected by radiation throughout development are more affected by the inability to intercept light with a larger leaf area than having photosynthetic systems compromised. Damage from UVB radiation is more likely to be significant on species interactions than on plants themselves.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Another significant impact of ozone depletion on plant life is the stress experienced by plants when exposed to UV radiation. This can cause a decrease in plant growth and an increase in oxidative stress, due to the production of nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide. Reduction in plant growth will have important consequences in the long-term. It is projected that the plant productivity would decrease by 6% and there will be a reduction in the amount of carbon, plants would capture/sequester from the environment.


title: Ozone depletion

text: Moreover, if plants are exposed to high levels of UV radiation, it can elicit the production of harmful volatile organic compounds, like isoprenes. The emission of isoprenes into the air, by plants, can severely impact the environment by adding to air pollution and increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, ultimately contributing to climate change.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The full extent of the damage that CFCs have caused to the ozone layer is not known and will not be known for decades; however, marked decreases in column ozone have already been observed. The Montreal and Vienna conventions were installed long before a scientific consensus was established or important uncertainties in the science field were being resolved. The ozone case was understood comparably well by lay persons as e.g. "Ozone shield" or "ozone hole" were useful "easy-to-understand bridging metaphors". Americans voluntarily switched away from aerosol sprays, resulting in a 50 percent sales loss even before legislation was enforced.


title: Ozone depletion

text: After a 1976 report by the United States National Academy of Sciences concluded that credible scientific evidence supported the ozone depletion hypothesis a few countries, including the United States, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, moved to eliminate the use of CFCs in aerosol spray cans. At the time this was widely regarded as a first step towards a more comprehensive regulation policy, but progress in this direction slowed in subsequent years, due to a combination of political factors (continued resistance from the halocarbon industry and a general change in attitude towards environmental regulation during the first two years of the Reagan administration) and scientific developments (subsequent National Academy assessments that indicated that the first estimates of the magnitude of ozone depletion had been overly large).


title: Ozone depletion

text: A critical DuPont manufacturing patent for Freon was set to expire in 1979. The United States banned the use of CFCs in aerosol cans in 1978. The European Community rejected proposals to ban CFCs in aerosol sprays, and in the U.S., CFCs continued to be used as refrigerants and for cleaning circuit boards. Worldwide CFC production fell sharply after the U.S. aerosol ban, but by 1986 had returned nearly to its 1976 level. In 1993, DuPont Canada closed its CFC facility.


title: Ozone depletion

text: The U.S. government's attitude began to change again in 1983, when William Ruckelshaus replaced Anne M. Burford as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Under Ruckelshaus and his successor, Lee Thomas, the EPA pushed for an international approach to halocarbon regulations. In 1985 twenty nations, including most of the major CFC producers, signed the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, which established a framework for negotiating international regulations on ozone-depleting substances. That same year, the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole was announced, causing a revival in public attention to the issue. In 1987, representatives from 43 nations signed the Montreal Protocol. Meanwhile, the halocarbon industry shifted its position and started supporting a protocol to limit CFC production. However, this shift was uneven with DuPont acting more quickly than its European counterparts. DuPont may have feared court action related to increased skin cancer, especially as the EPA had published a study in 1986 claiming that an additional 40 million cases and 800,000 cancer deaths were to be expected in the U.S. in the next 88 years. The EU shifted its position as well after Germany gave up its defence of the CFC industry and started supporting moves towards regulation. Government and industry in France and the UK tried to defend their CFC producing industries even after the Montreal Protocol had been signed.