This is how humanity managed to save the Earth’s ozone layer 35 years ago

The world doesn’t just suffer from bad news. Even on the worrisome environmental side, there are good ones as well. And most notable may be the undoubted recovery of the ozone layer of the atmosphere, which was seriously threatened during the 1980s and 1990s. Huge hole caused by CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) gases. Cooling systems and aerosols (like hairspray) were responsible for a mess that took decades to unravel. The surface of the hole continues to shrink in 2022 and is expected to continue to shrink in the future. Therefore, the battle seems (almost) won.

But how was this path to success possible? It all started in the early 70s with the usual protests of a minority of environmentalists and scientists that no one took seriously. Agreeing with these early activists was neither more nor less than two ultra-liberals, the leaders of the United Kingdom and the United States, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, respectively. In 1985 and 1987 they signed the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol, with the signatures of nearly 200 other countries. With them, the planet was literally saved.

thatcher, Iron LadyHe will go down in history for his conservative policies sending thousands of his citizens into unemployment, but some aspects of his rule that have managed to bring hope to the planet are less well known. The prime minister has a doctorate primarily in chemistry, situation that made him immediately realize the seriousness of the problem hanging over the ozone layer. This, and the effect Thatcher had on President Reagan, allowed the deal to be accelerated. However, the main thing was that political leaders gave importance to scientific studies.

counter movements

And yet it was not that easy. The powerful CFC industry wasn’t exactly happy with the ban announcement of these compounds. “These are the gases that feed the engines that produce heat and cold, so they were not just a marginal element but the core of industrial activity. And they were not countries in the South like China, India, Argentina or Brazil. As Luis Ángel Fernández remembers in the book, they were essential for their economic development. They want to lose their capacity to manufacture vital refrigerators or refrigeration systems.” Media medium, vist pel Sud. And within the United States, there was no lack of ultra current making the damage to the ozone layer just a lie, It is a very familiar situation today in terms of the climate crisis.

While the ozone layer issue is rarely associated with current climate change, the truth is that CFCs are greenhouse gases that contribute significantly to the planet’s greenhouse effect. That’s why the measures taken 35 years ago to eliminate CFCs turned out to have a positive impact on the fight against climate change.

2060: endpoint

What is the current state of the hole in the ozone layer? The latest data from September last year from European satellites monitoring this phenomenon (Copernicus-Sentinel) confirms its shutdown. If the result of this improvement is too slow, it is because CFCs have a lifespan of 50 to 100 years., so it will still be decades before it disappears completely. In fact, scientists have set the year 2060 as a goal to truly consider this atmospheric layer problem to be averted, but it’s also possible that it may never go away completely.

In fact, unforeseen complications cannot be ruled out. Before we go any further, in recent years scientists have A hole was opening in the ozone layer above the Arcticadded to what already exists in Antarctica. This is not the first time this has been observed, but this time the dimensions were a little more alarming. Fortunately this second hole was closed a few weeks later at the end of last April. Experts drew attention to a number of meteorological events to explain this situation, moreover, they explain “it has nothing to do with the coronavirus”.

don’t let your guard down

In any case, we must not let our guard down: “There is no reason to be complacent,” said Vincent-Henri Peuch, head of the aforementioned monitoring program. “Recovery of the ozone layer is dependent on climate change, as this can contribute to a long-term cooling of the stratosphere, which can aggravate ozone loss and delay the process.”

Also remember that “There is the possibility of unauthorized emissions of substances that deplete the atmosphere.” In fact, this is what happened in 2018 when unexpected and completely hidden emissions of one type of CFC were detected. It may have originated somewhere in Asia and appropriate precautions have been taken.

What would have happened without this global mobilization in favor of the planet? If the Montreal Protocol had not been signed, NASA said in a report ten years ago. By 2065, two-thirds of the ozone layer would be destroyed and the hole would be permanent without regenerative capacity.. DNA-damaging ultraviolet radiation could increase up to six times. To get an idea, five minutes of exposure to the sun would be enough to get burns. The same report is estimated By 2030, there will be two million more skin cancer cases as a result of this fact. So the reality today would be very different.

Our planet, as scientists remind us, is a delicate organism that functions as a system (ecosystem) where what happens to one of its parts affects the others. And man is one of them.

……..

Environment department contact address:crisclimatica@prensaiberica.es