-As per the study published in Geophysical Research Letters, a global effort to contain ozone layer depletion has resulted positively.
-Due to decline in ozone depleting chemicals, specifically chlorine, has resulted in 20% less depletion since 2005.
– According to Susan Strahan, lead author and atmospheric scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, chlorine from chlorofluorocarbons is going down in the ozone hole, and that less ozone depletion is occurring because of it. Chlorine levels have declined by 0.8 percent each year between 2005 and 2016.
– Using data since 2005 from the Microwave Limb Sounder on the Aura satellite, scientists gathered information on the amount of hydrochloric acid in the stratosphere, where the ozone layer is located. Hydrochloric acid is a chemical that forms once chlorine has destroyed the ozone itself.
-The chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were once used in aerosol sprays, blowing agents for foams and packing materials, and refrigerants. How Chlorine causes depletion: Chlorine causes ozone depletion as the sun’s ultraviolet radiation breaks down the CFCs into chlorine.
About Ozone Layer Depletion
-The hole in the ozone layer was first discovered in the Antarctic in 1984 by British Antarctic Survey scientists, Joesph Farman , Brian Gardiner, and Jonathan Shanklin.
– The ozone layer resides in the stratosphere (upper atmosphere) where ozone is found in the highest concentrations, and surrounds the entire Earth. Ultraviolet-B radiation from the Sun is partially absorbed in this layer. Human exposure to Ultraviolet-B radiation increases the risk of skin cancer, cataracts, and a suppressed immune system.
-Its exposure can also damage terrestrial plant life, single cell organisms, and aquatic ecosystems. re looking at 2060 or 2080,” Douglass said in a statement. “And even then there might still be a small hole.”
