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OUTSIDE THIS WORLD | Earth, space and all that separates them – a daily journey through the weather, space and science with meteorologist / science writer Scott Sutherland
Scott Sutherland
Meteorologist / Scientific Editor
On Tuesday November 6, 2018, 18h56 – Good news! After years of monitoring the ozone layer and ozone hole in Antarctica, a new report confirms not only that they are healing but that they should be completely healed in less than 50 years!
In the late 1970s, we discovered a serious environmental threat. Due to the use of certain chemicals in refrigerators, air conditioners and aerosol cans, we were damaging the Earth's protective ozone layer – the thin layer of the stratosphere that protected life on the surface damage caused by the sun's ultraviolet rays, which are more harmful. [19659006] From the 1990s, thanks to the will of the world to adopt the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, we banned the use of these substances. – called chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs -. The manufacturers stopped producing them and we turned to other similar chemicals, called hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs, in the hope that depletion of the ozone layer would cease and that it returns to its original state.
The hole in the Antarctic ozone layer, October 1, for selected years between 1979 and 2018. Credit: NASA GSVS
We heard some
encouraging news in recent years. NASA scientists, monitoring the Antarctic ozone hole, have
showed that the hole became smaller. There has been no reduction from year to year in size, but the trend is clear. The ban on chemicals that deplete the ozone layer has positive effects and we are seeing real progress.
A new report from the UN –
The scientific badessment of the depletion of the ozone layer: in 2018 – went even further
According to the current recovery rate, we can now s & # 39; expect a significant improvement in the ozone layer, especially in the northern hemisphere, by 2030.
] In addition, the hole in the Antarctic ozone layer could have completely disappeared by 2060.
"This is very good news," said Paul Newman, Earth Sciences Specialist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and co-chair of this report. , to the Associated Press. "If the ozone-depleting substances continued to increase, we would have had tremendous effects – we ended that."
The difference between the world we created by applying the Montreal Protocol and the world we avoided is so marked that NASA produced a simulation to show us exactly what we expected, if we had simply ignored the warnings and continued our activities as usual.
Look below: The world we avoid by protecting the ozone layer
The work here is not over, of course. The Montreal Protocol was an important first step that brought us to this point.
There is still a long way to go before the problem is completely solved. There are still reports of
Certain concentrations of CFCs increase in the atmosphere, so they must be located and eliminated. In addition, hydrofluorocarbons are potent greenhouse gases. They are not as abundant in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, but they make their contribution.
A new amendment to the Montreal Protocol, signed on October 15, 2018, will address the impact of hydrofluorocarbons by ensuring that developed countries begin to reduce their use in 2019.
"I do not think so that we can make a victory turn before 2060, "said Newman at the AP. "It will be up to our grandchildren to do."
Did you know? The ozone in the stratospheric ozone layer and the ozone we hear about on smog days are the same gas, O
3 . Ground-level ozone is considered "bad" because it is at a level in the atmosphere where it can be breathed. Ozone, no matter where it is, absorbs harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun, but if inhaled, it acts as an irritant to the lungs. This can have an impact on people with asthma, heart or lung disease, and can even make those with healthy lungs more sensitive to the effects of inhaling other pollutants, such as as fine particles.
SUCCESSFUL WORLD ACTION
Because we still have 40 or 50 years left until this problem is fully resolved, the signing of the Montreal Protocol was a crucial first step in the resolution of a major global environmental problem.
The success of this action provides us with a C & # 039; is a great example of the good we can do when we come together to solve these big problems, and this comes at a significant time – when we are currently trying to avoid another global disaster by tackling the threat of climate change.
necessary to limit the worst effects of climate change are certainly more formidable, but the need is just as important. If we continue, as usual, to burn fossil fuels, we will face disastrous consequences, just as serious, if not worse than what we would have seen if we had not solved the problem of depletion of the ozone layer.
from now on, do we want to produce another
The world we avoided video, showing how much the weather and climate have improved compared to what could have been, without climate change. Or would we prefer a melancholy fantasy
The world we could have had on video, to show us what could have been, if only we had acted earlier to avoid a disaster?
UN Environment |
AP / PBS |
NASA |
US EPA
WHY DOES THE OZONE HOLE BECOME SMALLER? NASA EXPLANES
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