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February 14, 2021 03:34 pm

How the Ozone Layer Was 'Rescued' From a Spike in CFC

Thelasko shared this report from the BBC:A steady decline in the levels of ozone-harming CFC chemicals in the atmosphere has resumed, scientists say. This follows a recent, dangerous pause in that downward trajectory, which could have slowed the healing of Earth's protective ozone layer. Atmospheric measurements published in 2018 pointed to illegal CFC production that was occurring in Eastern China. Stopping that production appears to have set the ozone layer's healing process back on track... The conclusions of a chemistry-based detective story, based on work carried out over several years by an international team of researchers, are published in two papers in the journal Nature... Further detective work in China by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) — and by environmental journalists — found that the chemical was being used in the majority of polyurethane insulation foam that was being produced by firms in the region. The scientists stressed that the scale of this illegal production may never be revealed in full. But this combination — of chemistry, investigative journalism and enforcement of the Montreal Protocol, the researchers say, has avoided significant delays to the healing of the ozone layer. Dr. Luke Western, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Bristol, tells the BBC that now "later this century we should see recovery of the ozone layer back to levels that we saw in 1980."

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