I'd heard that the new Disney/Pixar movie "Wall-E" was a must see for me since I am so obsessive about recycling. But my 10-year-old daughter became agitated when I asked her whether she wanted to go.

She kept insisting she did not want to see "Wall-E." Finally I asked her why, and she told me that she is afraid of global warming.

Her classmate Joshua had told her that the Earth will break into three pieces because of global warming.

Now, I cannot say with absolute certainty that Joshua is wrong, because I do not have a crystal ball. But I can say that I have not heard that particular prediction from any noted atmospheric scientists.

It occurs to me, however, that many of us are getting our information from our own Joshuas. E-mail and video clips circulated on the Internet, comments from friends and relatives -- there is a lot of noncredible information floating around out there.

Fortunately, you can trust me. As my friends and daughters will tell you, I am not usually wrong. Not because I know everything, but because I don't say things unless I am pretty darn sure they are true. (I am also extremely modest, as you can tell.)

The other day I was watching "I Love the 80s" on VH1, and the comedians were cracking jokes about the reaction of the general population when we were informed about the worsening hole in our atmosphere's ozone layer.

In the late 1980s, I was in my mid-20s. Like most members of my generation, I figured the hole in the ozone layer was not my problem to solve.

In my defense, my position as a systems engineer for AT&T did not empower me to do much about it. And of course, I was busy dealing with all of my 20s angst and adjusting to nonaerosol hair spray.

Now that I am trying in earnest to save the planet, I decided it was time to check in on the status of the ozone layer.

I wondered whether I had any misconceptions about this environmental issue. Turns out, I did. Here is the deal:

* The hole is not actually a hole, but a thinning of the ozone layer over the South Pole. But everyone calls it a hole anyway. This hole did not exist at all in the 1970s.

* During its annual peak, it is about the size of North America.

* The depleted ozone layer and global warming are unrelated environmental situations.

The ozone layer's job is to absorb harmful ultraviolet B rays to protect living things here on Earth. The hole is caused by ozone-depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbons, which escape into the atmosphere from refrigeration and propellant devices and processes.

Each year during spring in the Southern Hemisphere (August to October), chemical reactions involving chlorine and bromine destroy ozone in the southern polar region.

Because international agreements were reached to phase out CFCs, the ozone layer can restore itself over time.

However, since the lifetime of the CFCs already in our atmosphere is 40 to 100 years, the hole has not started shrinking yet. Scientists don't expect to see any significant recovery for 10 more years. They originally thought that the ozone layer would be back to 1980 levels about 2050, but now they are estimating that to be more like 2070.

So in the 2090s, my great-great-great grandchildren will probably learn all about the ozone hole repair by watching "I Love The 2070s" on VH1. Or maybe they will hear all about it on the playground from a kid named Joshua.