It can make a difference when world leaders work together to address environmental issues. According to a recent assessment from an expert group supported by the United Nations, current efforts to phase out ozone-depleting compounds will allow the ozone layer hole to completely close within the next 40 years.
Action on ozone creates a precedent for climate change. According to Professor Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, “our success in phased-out ozone-eating chemicals shows us what can and must be done as a matter of urgency to transition away from fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gases, and so limit temperature increase,” in a UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
According to The Washington Post, the ozone layer is crucial because it shields plants and animals from dangerous ultraviolet (UV) rays. Humans are particularly susceptible to cancer and eye damage from UV-B rays, which also hinder plant growth and carbon dioxide storage.
According to The Guardian, scientists began to notice that the ozone layer was weakening in the 1980s as a result of the discharge of ozone-depleting chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were frequently employed as solvents and refrigerants.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was adopted by world leaders in 1987 to address this issue, according to the UNEP. It received the support of every nation on Earth and played a role in the phase-out of 99 percent of these drugs. It should be regarded as the most effective environmental treaty in history, according to scientist David Fahey of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who spoke to The Guardian.
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The new study that supports this opinion was co-authored by Fahey. On Monday, the 103rd meeting of the American Meteorological Society featured the presentation of the quadrennial assessment report of the Scientific Assessment Panel to the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances.
According to its findings, the ozone layer should return to its pre-crisis levels by 2040 for the majority of the world, 2045 for the Arctic, and 2066 for Antarctica.
There is also encouraging news regarding the climate crisis. According to UNEP, numerous businesses started using hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) as a substitute for CFCs. It turns out, though, that these substances are strong greenhouse gases.
Leaders from around the world came to an agreement on the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which calls for the phase-out of 80 to 85 percent of HFCs by the late 2040s. According to the most recent report, this deal will save an additional 0.3 to 0.5 degrees Celsius of global warming by 2100.
It is impossible to overstate the contribution the Montreal Protocol has made to reduce global warming, according to Meg Seki, executive secretary of the UNEP’s Ozone Secretariat. The Protocol has developed into a great environmental champion during the past 35 years. The evaluations and reviews carried out by the Scientific Assessment Panel continue to be an essential part of the Protocol’s work that assists in educating policy and decision-makers.
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The restoration of the ozone layer may still be hampered by a few factors. One is if, in accordance with The Washington Post, international leaders choose to handle the climate catastrophe by releasing solar-reflecting particles into the upper atmosphere.
According to Paul Newman, one of the four co-chairs of the Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol, the Antarctic ozone hole is the “poster child” for ozone depletion. Aerosol injections into the stratosphere will most likely make things slightly worse.
Fahey also noted that the ozone hole was a different scale of the problem from climate change, both because carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for longer and because it is used so much more widely in society, even though the success of the Montreal Protocol and Kigali Amendment does offer some hope for the ability of international cooperation to resolve environmental crises.
He told The Guardian that CO2’s lifespan is soberingly on a different order of magnitude. A totally different problem is convincing everyone on the earth to cease burning fossil fuels.
