Ozone to be recovered within decades

Ozone to be recovered within decades
The ozone layer

The Earth's ozone layer is on course to be fully restored within decades as harmful chemicals are phased out worldwide.

 

According to a new UN-backed assessment, approximately 99 percent of the prohibited ozone-depleting compounds have been phased out in a report on the Montreal Protocol's development that is issued every four years. 

 

The Montreal Protocol, a historic multinational environmental agreement that was signed in September 1987, controls the use and production of about 100 synthetic compounds, sometimes known as “ozone-depleting substances” (ODS).

 

The total phase-down has resulted in the upper stratosphere's protective ozone layer recovering noticeably, and human exposure to the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays has lessened.

 

According to the UN, the Montreal Protocol has already aided in attempts to reduce climate change, preventing an estimated 0.5°C of warming. The report confirms the Protocol’s beneficial effects on the environment. The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which was added in 2016, called for a reduction in the production and use of some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent chemicals that drive climate change and global warming without directly reducing ozone.

 

CNN reported that the ozone layer is predicted to return to 1980 levels for the majority of the world by 2040 if global policies are followed. The recovery period for polar regions is longer: 2045 for the Arctic and 2066 for the Antarctic.

 

A vast international panel of experts' most recent assessment of the ozone layer is based on considerable study, analyses, and data collection. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the European Union were among the organizations represented, according to Euro News. 

 

It is worth mentioning that three researchers from the British Antarctic Survey made the initial announcement of the existence of an ozone layer hole in May 1985, the UN reported.

 

Euro News said that the report is the first to look at how solar geoengineering can affect the ozone layer. With the help of a technique called stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), reflective particles would be purposefully sprayed into the sky to deflect sunlight and lessen global warming. 

 

The report, however, issues a warning that SAI's unforeseen effects “could also affect stratospheric temperatures, circulation, and ozone production and destruction rates and transport.”

 


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