We always hear that there is a hole in the ozone layer and it is causing harmful radiation to enter the atmosphere. But now, there is good news. The ozone layer has seen improvements, and hope is that the environment can be saved.
Story content: There has been a positive change in the ozone layer, which is also called the Earth’s protective shell. Environmentalists have been worried because of this hole in this layer; however, it is now known that since the year 2000, the ozone layer has been improving. It is expected that by the middle of the century, this layer will be completely rectified. This success has been appreciated in a UN report. According to the report, if this rate continues, the Northern Hemisphere will be completely cured by 2030 and the Southern Hemisphere by 2050. At the same time, it will take up to 2060 to fill the larger hole over Antarctica.
Recently, the 30th meeting of the Ecuadorian Montreal Protocol was held in which consensus was reached on the implementation of decisions related to the environment. This protocol is actually the international treaty created for the protection of the ozone layer. If this were not a global agreement, then the ozone layer would have ended by 2065.
Scientists claim that since 2000, the hole of the ozone layer has been reduced by 40 million square kilometers. In the past, the demand for elements such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has decreased significantly. Till three decades ago, CFCs used to be used in products like fridges and sprays. Under the Montreal Protocol, in most countries CFCs were banned in 1987. It’s good effect is now visible on the ozone layer.
In the 1970s, scientists had warned that the ozone layer present over the Earth has constantly been thin. CFCs are breaking the ozone chemically by turning it into chlorine gas. Three atoms of oxygen make one molecule of ozone. The ozone layer starts at a height of 10 kilometers from the Earth’s surface and extends up to 50 kilometers, protecting the Earth from deadly rays of the Sun. The ozone layer blocks ultraviolet rays of the Sun, which cause cancer in humans.
However, despite the success of recovering the ozone layer, researchers are troubled by a special gas CFC-11. Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said in July that China is responsible for this.
Investigators say that 18 factories of China are still using restricted CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons). According to Paul Newman, co-author of the ‘Ozone Layer Report of the United Nations’, “If CFC-11 emits in the same way, the ozone layer of the Antarctic region will be delayed by seven to 20 years.”
There are also some disadvantages in improving the ozone layer. With the recovery of the ozone layer, the heat will increase in the Antarctic region. Although scientists are still unable to say how much the temperature will increase in the Antarctic region by improving the ozone layer, they know that this area will have an impact, which is already struggling with climate change created by humans.
Environmentalist believes that reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases will reduce global temperatures which would be good for the climate. Climate change and erosion in the ozone layer are different issues, but both are linked in interesting ways.