Ozone Layer Recovers as Montreal Protocol Turns 25

OZONE LAYER RECOVERS AS MONTREAL PROTOCOL TURNS 25

NEW YORK, New York, September 17, 2012 (ENS) – Earth’s ozone layer is now on track to recover during the next 50 years, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday on the 25th anniversary of the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals such as refrigerants into the atmosphere have caused holes to open annually over both poles.

“A quarter-century ago, one of the greatest challenges facing humanity – the thinning of the ozone layer that protects life on Earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the Sun – led to what is arguably the best example yet of global cooperation on an environmental issue,” said the secretary-general in his message on the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, observed annually on September 16.

NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite measured the chemistry, dynamics, and energy of the ozone layer as it orbited the Earth from 1991 through 2011. (Photo courtesy NASA Goddard Flight Center)

Global observations have verified that atmospheric levels of key ozone depleting substances are going down. Scientists believe that with implementation of the protocol’s provisions the ozone layer should return to pre-1980 levels sometime between 2050 to 2075.

Ban said the Montreal Protocol is “not merely a success in meeting its immediate objectives, it offers substantive lessons and inspiration in addressing other global challenges and turning them into opportunities for common progress.”

“I urge governments and all partners to apply the same spirit to the other great environment and development challenges of our times. Together, we can achieve the future we want,” Ban said.

A hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, first observed in 1979 and confirmed as an annual event in 1984, led to negotiation of the Montreal Protocol.

Environment News Service (http://s.tt/1onCc)