For decades, the Earth’s ozone layer, which protects life on our planet from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, has taken a beating from common chemicals used in everything from refrigerants to hairspray. But now the holes in the ozone layer are diminishing, thanks to a decades-long global effort to repair it, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed yesterday.
Scientists first discovered a gaping hole over the Antarctic in 1985. A couple years later, countries around the world adopted the Montreal Protocol, a global effort to phase out “ozone-depleting substances.” And now, thanks to that work, scientists expect the ozone layer to start looking more like its normal, healthy self in the coming decades. That lowers the risk of skin cancer and cataracts in people, as well as sun damage to plants and crops.
By 2066, the WMO thinks the ozone layer will be back to what it was in 1980 over the Antarctic — before there was that gaping hole. Since ozone thinning has been the most severe there, other areas are expected to recover sooner. Up north over the Arctic, the ozone layer should look as it did in 1980, by 2045. For the rest of the world, that recovery is expected by 2040. A United Nations panel of experts presented those findings yesterday during the American Meteorological Society’s annual meeting.
This should also mark the beginning of the end of all the story about Global Warming or Climate Change. It should also mark the end of all forms of challenges that have been reported to stem from the depletion of the ozone layer. Finally, the WEF and all such organisations that have taken the responsibility upon themselves, to save the earth from melting out under the rays of the sun someday can relax, and redirect their attention on something more productive for the earth at large.
