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Big Hair, Big Impact
How 80s Hair Bands Contributed to Ozone Depletion and Global Warming
The 1980s were a golden era of excess — big music, big personalities, and even bigger hair. Rock and metal bands ruled the charts, with acts like Mötley Crüe, Poison, Def Leppard, and Bon Jovi epitomizing the glitz and rebellious spirit of the decade. But while these bands gave us some of the most iconic anthems of all time, they also unknowingly contributed to one of the most alarming environmental crises in history — ozone depletion and global warming.
This article takes a deep dive into the ways 80s hair bands, through their unrelenting use of hairspray, energy-intensive concerts, and extravagant lifestyles, played a role — however unintentionally — in accelerating climate change.
Aqua Net, CFCs, and the Hole in the Sky
Few things were as essential to an 80s rockstar as a can of hairspray. These bands weren’t just known for their music but for their gravity-defying locks, a look that required industrial-strength styling products. The go-to choice? Aerosol hairsprays packed with chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a group of chemicals later proven to be major culprits in ozone layer depletion.
The Science Behind the Damage
