NASA study finds proof chemicals ban helped ozone hole recovery

08, Jan 2018 | CJP Team

NASA said in announcement that measurements indicating that “the decline in chlorine” due to a worldwide ban manmade chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has led to around 20% less ozone depletion “during the Antarctic winter than there was in 2005”. According to NASA, CFCs are “long-lived chemical compounds that eventually rise into the stratosphere,” where they break down due to ultraviolet radiation and release chlorine that destroys ozone molecules. The earth’s ozone layer absorbs “potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancer and cataracts, suppress immune systems and damage plant life,” NASA’s announcement said. According to the agency, after the Antarctic ozone hole was found in 1985, countries signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, “which regulated ozone-depleting compounds. Later amendments to the Montreal Protocol completely phased out production of CFCs.”