Hole in Earth's Ozone Layer Could Be Closed in 2060s, UN Report Says

At a Glance

• In the 1980s, 24 countries banned the use of chemicals that depleted the protective ozone layer.
• The U.N. says the ban is leading to the recovery of the ozone layer.
• Depleted levels of ozone over the Antarctic are expected to be restored in the 2060s.

It's not often we get good news about efforts to protect the planet, but a new report from the United Nations said actions taken to save the Earth's ozone layer are working.

The ozone hole over the Antarctic is expected to be closed in the 2060s, the report said. Other areas in the atmosphere could recover even earlier if all goes as planned.

Ozone is a naturally occurring gas in the Earth's upper atmosphere, according to NASA. It's important because it protects life on the planet from the sun's ultraviolet radiation.

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So you can imagine how scary it was when, in the early 1980s, scientists discovered chemicals were depleting the ozone. (Holes weren't actually being created. The areas where ozone levels were dramatically reduced were called ozone holes.)

As the Smithsonian magazine wrote, veterinarians talked about sheep being blinded by exposure to UV rays, and South American cattlemen said they suffered burns and eye irritation. The public feared epidemics of skin cancer, cataracts and immune deficiencies.

"It's like AIDS from the sky," activist Bedrich Magas told Newsweek.

This is a false-color view of total ozone over the Antarctic pole on Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. The purple and blue colors are where there is the least ozone, and the yellows and reds are where there is more ozone.

(NASA Ozone Watch)

The fears proved to be overblown, but they helped push 24 nations to agree to the Montreal Protocol, which banned the use of chemicals causing the ozone depletion.

Those chemicals, called chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, were used in items like hairspray cans and the gas that kept air conditioners and refrigerators cold. The protocol also banned other ozone-depleting chemicals.

Now, 30 years later, the new U.N. report says, "The Antarctic ozone hole is expected to gradually close, with springtime total column ozone returning to 1980 values in the 2060s."

Northern Hemisphere ozone levels are expected to return to 1980 abundances in the 2030s, and in the Southern Hemisphere, recovery is expected mid-century, the report said.

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There are a couple of caveats to those dates. As Earther noted, levels of one of the banned chemicals have been rising. Evidence indicates it's coming from rogue factories in China.

Also, global warming caused by greenhouse gases affects ozone levels. Vigilance on reducing those gases will be required to keep the ozone recovery on track.

https://weather.com/news/news/2018-11-07-ozone-hole-healing