ozone hole, Tag

Should the Montreal Protocol be terminated?

An ozone hole, seven times larger than the Antarctic ozone hole, is currently sitting over tropical regions and has been since the 1980s, according to a Canadian researcher.

“This chemistry, once you get past that point, is well-established,” Solomon says. “Once you have less nitrogen dioxide, you have to have more chlorine monoxide, and that will deplete ozone.”

For decades, scientists have closely observed the ozone layer, which protects Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. This year, just in time for World Ozone Day, the European Union's Copernicus Atmosphere...

Nearly 30 years ago, almost every country in the world signed the Montreal Protocol to ban chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in refrigerators, aerosols, and dry cleaning...

Data from NASA shows that this year's hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica remains largely unchanged. On September 9, 2014, it measured 24.1m square km, which is roughly the size of North America; only a little smaller...

Since the famous Montreal Protocol banning CFC's and HCFC's was signed in 1987, the public seems to have largely forgotten about the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica...