By Priyanka Mehta
September 16, 2022
There was great alarm in the 1980s when the British Antarctic Survey published research that confirmed a hole in the ozone layer. The situation was scary.
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The British Antarctic Survey suggested a link between the damage to Earth's ozone layer and the usage of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), most commonly found in aerosols and cooling devices.
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Governments worldwide rallied and took unprecedented steps to protect the Ozone hole with the Montreal Protocol in 1987.
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The Montreal Protocol was so effective that by 2009. About 98% of the chemicals countries had agreed to phase out were gone.
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CFC replacements came in, and some of these turned out to be bad for the climate, restricting the usage of such materials as per the Montreal Protocol.
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Every country on Earth unified and signed the Montreal Protocol, making it the only treaty to be ratified universally. With ozone-like situations around the world, maybe Earth would have become uninhabitable.
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In 2022, the ozone hole over Antarctica will continue to exist, but evidence reveals that it is starting to disappear and that the ozone layer will recover. Scientists believe that our ozone layer should return to its pre-1980s form around the mid 21st century.
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The healing process is, unfortunately, long as ozone-depleting molecules can stay in the atmosphere for up to 150 years before they begin to decay. With volcanic eruptions and nitrous oxide releases, things may get worse.
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The success of the Montreal Protocol is globally recognized. This inspired scientists to call out the importance of regularly monitoring environmental variables. It's critical to remember lessons learned from the ozone hole story and make sure we're constantly aware of what's going on in Earth's stratosphere.
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The success of the Montreal Protocol is a testament to international environmental cooperation, but can its lessons be used to tackle our current problems like climate change?
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