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- How humanity fixed the Ozone layer 🌎
How humanity fixed the Ozone layer 🌎
& how the first global climate treaty helped to get it done.
Here at the Daily Concept, we are deeply interested in the ways that our world & climate are changing.
We’ve previously covered disturbing trends like coral reef bleaching and desertification. However, focusing on the problems caused by climate change can result in eco-anxiety — another topic we’ve covered.
It’s also important to consider ways that humans can work together to save our planet.
That’s why we have also focused on climate solutions, like carbon removal, green concrete, and ecosystem restoration.
Today’s newsletter is about the hole in the Ozone Layer and the unprecedented international effort to stop it from growing.
What is the Ozone layer?
Our planet is surrounded by an atmosphere consisting of gases and water vapor. It consists of five layers, including:
Each layer of the atmosphere serves an important function in regulating the Earth’s life-sustaining climate.
The Stratosphere sits about 30 miles above the Earth's surface. It contains the Ozone layer, which is made of Ozone (O3), a reactive gas of gas made up of three oxygen atoms.
Ozone interacts with light through photochemical processes. These processes allow the Ozone layer to shield the Earth from biologically harmful ultraviolet radiation generated by the sun.
Basically, the Ozone layer functions as sunscreen for our planet and humanity itself by preventing the most harmful UV rays from reaching us.
Why does the Ozone layer have a hole?
1928: General Motors engineer Thomas Midgely became the first person to synthesize chemicals called Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
CFCs provided a non-toxic alternative to more dangerous chemicals that were used in refrigerators. During the 1930s, companies began to incorporate CFCs into air conditioners, fire extinguishers, and aerosols.
1974: Scientists discovered that when CFCs interact with UV radiation in the atmosphere, they can deplete Ozone levels.
Low levels of Ozone raise the risk of skin cancer, reduce plant growth, and damage marine ecosystems.
1977: Thirty-two countries agreed to the “World Plan of Action on the Ozone Layer,” leading to more research into the Ozone layer and its role in our climate.
1985: Scientists discovered that Ozone rapidly decreases above Antarctica between September and November.
The area of depleted Ozone covers an area of about 7.7 million square miles (20 million sq km) above Antarctica.
It became known as the “Ozone Hole.”
Researchers confirmed that Ozone was being lost over this region because the spring sunrise in the Antarctic activates atmospheric chlorine.
CFC emissions were making this worse because CFCs increases the amount of chlorine in the atmosphere.
What was done about the problem?
After discovering the hole, scientists and nation-states immediately began work on a treaty intended to reduce CFC use worldwide.
1987: The international community finalized the Montreal Protocol, which aimed to phase out CFCs and nearly other 100 synthetic chemicals that weaken the ozone layer.
It went into effect in 1989 and became the first (and only) global treaty to be ratified by all 197 countries on Earth. As part of the treaty:
participating countries agreed to phase out the production and consumption of the most problematic CFCs
a fund was created to help developing countries implement its requirements.
The best part? The plan worked.
By 2009, 98% of the Ozone depleting chemicals targeted by the protocol had been phased out worldwide.
Later on, amendments were added to the Protocol that banned harmful chemicals used to replace CFCs, like hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs).
More good news: last year, a panel of U.N.-backed experts confirmed that the Earth's Ozone layer is on track to recover in the coming decades.
As environmental physics professor Laura Revell said:
Ozone-depleting CFC emissions were identified and halted just in time.
If nothing had been done, MIT Professor Susan Solomon said that humanity would have faced:
The treaty also had a side benefit. The reduction in emissions that it triggered by the treaty prevented between 9.7 and 12.5 gigatons of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gasses from being released into the atmosphere.
The Montreal Protocol also demonstrated how effective international diplomacy can be in preventing climate catastrophes. When the stakes are high enough, humanity can work together toward a common goal.
ART OF THE DAY
By Canadian painter Tom Thomson. 1916.
