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The earth’s ozone is set to fully recover within the next four decades, a sign of nature’s resilience and hope in the face of human-wrought destruction. If current policies to phase out use of ozone-damaging chemicals remain in place, the UN reports that by 2040, much of the ozone layer will have recovered. However, the report predicts that the polar regions will take two decades longer to recover.
In a world where we increasingly hear reports of climate change accelerating faster than scientists had previously forecast, it’s just as important to celebrate environmental wins. Repairing the ozone layer demonstrates what is possible when political will and global cooperation come together to achieve a common goal. Efforts to repair the ozone layer may have prevented 0.5 C of warming by 2100, according to the UN report: “The atmospheric abundances of both total tropospheric chlorine and total tropospheric bromine from long-lived ODSs have continued to decline since the 2018 Assessment.
“Actions taken under the Montreal Protocol continued to decrease atmospheric abundances of controlled ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) and advance the recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer.”
The earth is putting its jacket back on after human activity had damaged the protective layer of the stratosphere. The ozone layer acts as a stratospheric shield, it sits about 9 - 18 miles (15 - 30 km) above the earth’s surface and absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Destruction to the ozone layer has led to increased exposure to harmful UVB-type rays which cause skin cancer and cataracts and are harmful to marine ecosystems and plant life.
Exposure to solar UVB radiation has impacted survival rates of phytoplankton – the foundation of the aquatic food chain; scientists have demonstrated a direct reduction in phytoplankton due to increased levels of UVB.
It has taken 30 years of phasing out the use of the chemicals that harm the ozone layer. In the 1970s, scientists first started ringing alarm bells about the impact of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases which were commonly used as coolants in refrigerators and in aerosol sprays. In fact, these gases are so damaging to the ozone that just one atom of chlorine can destroy over 100,000 ozone molecules.
In 1987, 197 UN member countries signed an agreement to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals in the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer.
It’s fair to say that this pact has saved the planet. Without the pact, the world would be at least 25% hotter today, and you’d get sunburnt after spending just 5 minutes outdoors.
The current trajectory is positive, however, danger still lurks for the ozone layer. The report outlines growing concerns about the collective impacts of: “further increases in nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and CO2 concentrations; rapidly expanding ODS and HFC feedstock use and emissions; climate change on TCO in the tropics; extraordinary wildfires and volcanic eruptions; increased frequency of civilian rocket launches and the emissions of a proposed new fleet of supersonic commercial aircraft.”
Global cooperation and political will remain the key ingredients to not only protecting the ozone layer, but ensuring we put an end to all activity that sets us on the path to climate destruction.
