Why you don’t hear about the ozone layer anymore

"1980." The '80s were all about long hair, neon, and MTV. And then came this: "Every October a hole appears in the

ozone

layer

over the South Pole." "...the hole in the

ozone

layer

is the size of the continental United States." "The protective ozone layer is more threatened than ever." "We are all at risk." Scientists warned that humanity was on track to completely destroy the ozone layer by 2050. Without it, ecosystems would collapse, skin cancer rates would skyrocket and life as we knew it would cease to exist. But today the ozone layer is recovering. In an unprecedented act, the world united to prevent an environmental catastrophe.

So how did we do it? And what can we learn from it? The ozone layer is a kind of “belt” around the Earth made up of gaseous molecules. It protects all living beings by absorbing two types of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. It is a powerful shield, but also fragile. In 1985, scientists discovered massive ozone loss here: just above Antarctica. 40% of the layer had dissipated, creating a “hole.” Scientists realized that the hole formed in spring and got worse every year. This was a wake up call. It was not a small or distant future. It was now much bigger than anyone had imagined.

That's Dr. Solomon, an atmospheric chemist. In 1986, he flew to Antarctica along with other scientists to investigate the cause of the ozone hole. “Leading the team is Susan Solomon, a young atmospheric chemist from Boulder, Colorado. "You know that once you get off the plane in Antarctica, if you've never been there before, your main goal is to get out without freezing. "Do you want to do the next one?" But our real goal was to take measurements, not just of the ozone, but also of different chemicals that would help show why it was disappearing. Some scientists launched balloons into the sky to take measurements of ozone, while others took measurements on the ground and they all came to the same conclusion.

The biggest problem was chlorine. a man-made compound called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. In the soil, CFCs are not harmful. Up to the stratosphere, the Sun breaks them down into chlorine. They bind to ozone to produce oxygen and chlorine monoxide. the chlorine atom to destroy more ozone molecules. The long lifespan of chlorofluorocarbons is a big part of the problem. They live between 50 and 150 years in our atmosphere, so... It means that every year you use what you used the. previous year it remains almost entirely there. So it just grows and grows exponentially. And back then we used a lot of CFCs.

The United States had already moved away from CFCs in aerosol cans. But most of the world had not yet done so. And they were still in everything from refrigerators to air conditioners to Styrofoam. The entire world needed to make a big change quickly or we would face... a catastrophe. Catastrophe. Absolute catastrophe. By 1987, ozone levels had decreased by 50 percent. This growing threat led to some of the fastest collective action on climate we have ever seen. So I like to think that there are three Ps that, when met, we do very well in addressing environmental problems. So it was personal.

It was noticeable and the solutions were practical. If you've been sunburned, you know that skin cancer is not a good thing. So everyone understands skin cancer. The personal nature of the threat is enormous. What was perceptible was easy to do with satellite measurements. You can just watch it completely destroy itself and go to zero, where there should have been a lot of ozone. And we have practical solutions. It was easy to find substitutes for chlorofluorocarbons in aerosol cans, something that took less than a year. It was a very simple change and I think the main unifying factor in all of that is the audience.

Scientists like Dr. Solomon held press conferences to inform the public. "I think we will eventually see large-scale depletions of the ozone layer at other latitudes." The ozone hole began to appear in television shows and movies. "It's those damn fluorocarbons, which have been destroying the ozone." "Macaroni, they will burn." “Well, eventually so will the ozone.” And all this public awareness put pressure on leaders around the world to act. "We are here today because we recognize that urgent action is necessary." And the Montreal Protocol made it official. It recognized "that global emissions can significantly deplete the ozone layer and cause adverse effects on human health and the environment." It listed control measures to reduce ozone-depleting substances in a series of steps.

Including help for developing countries that need alternatives Ultimately, all countries signed the protocol, making it the only universal treaty ever ratified. And soon after, the world's largest producer of CFCs began phasing them out. The protocol came into force on January 1, 1989. Consumption of ozone-depleting substances, including CFCs, plummeted. Today, more than thirty years after the signing of the Montreal Protocol, the ozone layer hole has stopped growing and is now shrinking and is expected to do so by 2065. But there is still much to do. After the ban on CFCs, we started using hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs which do not deplete the ozone layer, but are a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

And it is the fastest growing. Then, in 2016, the Montreal Protocol was amended to include HFCs and they are now being phased out as well. But they are only part of a larger problem. "Climate change is already happening, here and now." "Experts say we have until 2030 to avoid a catastrophe." "People are suffering." "People are dying." "Entire ecosystems are collapsing." "Unprecedented and even irreversible changes are taking place on this planet." "It is beyond any doubt that human activity is to blame." Climate change, our most challenging environmental problem, still needs big solutions. So I think people in most of the world now understand and are concerned about the personal impact.

They found it noticeable. And we are finding practical solutions. It is not true that we can no longer do it. We need to be attentive to climate change. And if we do it we will achieve the environment we demand.