Montreal Protocol of 1987 proved decisive.
By Rakesh Agrawal
Thanks to the incessant use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gasses, modern lifestyle produces through air conditioners, refrigeration, aerosols, and insulation foam, we have created a hole in the ‘umbrella’ that covers our earth.
The protective umbrella known as the Ozone layer is situated in the upper atmosphere, between roughly 15 and 35 km (9 and 22 miles) above Earth’s surface. The high concentrations of ozone molecules in this layer protects us from the dangerous ultraviolet rays of the sun.
And, such a ‘hole’ was most prominent in the Arctic, where the ozone concentration had declined up to 30 percent. These holes are also causing a lot of health risks, including skin cancer and in places like Australia, it was especially prominent; resulting in natives and tourists simply giving up their much-beloved sun-bathing in the sprawling beaches of the continent.
But, there is a good news for these sunbathers as prohibiting the CFCs and making air conditioners, refrigeration and sprays CFC free has yielded some positive result as NASA has just announced.
A study published in the journal Science on Thursday found that the ozone hole in the Antarctic is getting smaller, having shrunk by more than 1.5 million square miles (or 4 million square kilometers).
Every year, this ‘hole’ is formed each from September to early December as dark, cold Antarctic winter brings nacreous clouds that support the chlorine and bromine from CFCs and when sunlight returns to Antarctica in the spring, these chemicals are released & damage the ozone layer, forming a gaping hole.
While the ozone is certainly on a path to healing, scientists say the hole won’t completely close until mid-century. Volcanic eruptions, temperatures changes, and wind speed contribute to ozone loss.
The healing ozone layer was treated as a triumph of international cooperation over an anthropogenic environmental problem, resulting in the shrinkage of the ozone layer.
A new study has found that now the ozone hole has shrunk by about 1.7 million square miles (4.5 million square kilometers) in the key month of September 2015 since the year 2000 — a decline of about one-fifth as in September 2015 the hole was around 4 million so km smaller than it was in the year 2000 – an area roughly the size of India, (See BBC News: Healing’ detected in Antarctic ozone hole, http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36674996) .
Thanks to the collective action taken for a global ban on the use of CFCs during the Montreal Protocol of 1987, the situation in Antarctica has been slowly improving.
However, many scientists are cautious as they don’t expect to see a complete recovery until about 2050 or 2060 but they were thrilled to see that in September 2015 the hole was reduced
If only such global action can be taken and implemented in other crucial environmental fields like the issue of climate change and pollution, our earth would be a far safer home!