Scientists report ozone layer recovery

"International action on the ozone layer is a major environmental success story" WMO

Sunbathers of the world, rejoice – the hole in the ozone layer has stopped growing, according to a highly technical report released by the United Nations last Wednesday.

The hole, first noticed in 1970s, covered an area of over than 11 million square miles in 2000. At its largest this September, the hole covered around 8 million square miles — roughly equating to the size of Canada, Mexico and the United States combined — according to NASA.

The ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from the brunt of the ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted by the sun came to the forefront of public consciousness in the 1980s, when chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were found to be causing the layer to dissipate. Up to that point, CFCs were widely used in refrigeration and aerosols.  In the face of objections from industry and accusations of speculative science at the time, world leaders agreed to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which replaced CFCs with “ozone-friendly” substitutes.

Studies have shown that increased UV radiation leads to a rise in skin cancer rates, disrupts the growth of vegetation and damages the aquatic food chain. This week, nearly 30 years after the signing of the Montreal Protocol, a 300-strong panel of scientists have finally reported positive developments.

"International action on the ozone layer is a major environmental success story... This should encourage us to display the same level of urgency and unity to tackle the even greater challenge of tackling climate change," said World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Michel Jarraud.

The report, which also estimates that it will take at least a decade before the hole starts to shrink, comes as a welcome development in the wake of another announcement by the WMO this week, saying that atmospheric greenhouse gases had reached a record high.

Tackling greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which play an important role in the Earth’s ecosystem is, obviously, a challenge of a completely different order to that reducing use of substitutable chemicals, but should not diminish the positive impact of this news.