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Flat-Screen TVs Pose Major Climate Risk

Potent greenhouse gas means popular appliances aren't very Earth-friendly

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 3, 2008 12:03 PM CDT

(Newser) – Soaring demand for flat-screen TVs could accelerate global warming faster than coal-fired power stations, the Guardian reports. A leading environmental scientist warns that a gas used in their manufacture and not controlled in the Kyoto treaty—as other greenhouse gases are—is 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is being made in escalating amounts.

Production of nitrogen trifluoride is "exploding," says Michael Prather, director of the environment institute at the University of California, Irvine, and no one knows how much of it is being released into the atmosphere by the industry.

A man vacuum-cleans the carpet in front of different flat screens before the official opening of the consumer electronics fair 'IFA 2007'  on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007 in Berlin, Germany.
A man vacuum-cleans the carpet in front of different flat screens before the official opening of the consumer electronics fair 'IFA 2007' on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007 in Berlin, Germany.   (AP Photo/Miguel Villagran)
Demand for flat-screen TVs is exploding but a scientist has warned that their manufacture could be an environmental time bomb.
Demand for flat-screen TVs is exploding but a scientist has warned that their manufacture could be an environmental time bomb.   (Getty Images)
A customer shops for flat screen televisions at Best Buy in Guilderland, N.Y., Friday, Jan. 18, 2008.  or save the money.
A customer shops for flat screen televisions at Best Buy in Guilderland, N.Y., Friday, Jan. 18, 2008. or save the money.   (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
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