When The World Came Together To Save The Ozone Layer

Introduction

How do you save the world?

As governments think of how to combat the climate emergency, it may seem that this challenge is too much to handle. But less than fifty years ago, the world had a similarly daunting problem to solve – and scientists, leaders, and citizens all came together to solve it!

Why is the ozone layer important?

More than 100 years ago, two French physicists, Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson, discovered that something in the atmosphere was blocking some of the Sun’s rays from reaching Earth.

Scientists found that this shield was made up of ozone , a gas that is made up of three atoms of oxygen. They started measuring how much ozone was in the atmosphere, and how it was changing over time.

The rays blocked by the ozone layer, called ultraviolet radiation , could cause skin cancer and blindness in humans if they reach the Earth’s surface. They could also harm plants and other animals.

What was destroying the ozone shield?

By the 1970s, scientists were alarmed to find that something was destroying the ozone layer.

Chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs were being released into the air. CFCs were being used in lots of useful things, such as refrigerators, perfumes, and even Styrofoam.

Once the CFCs were released into the air, they reacted with the ozone and removed it from the ozone layer.

Ten years later, scientists found that the CFCs had damaged the ozone layer so much that there was a huge hole over the ice-covered continent of Antarctica!

Half the ozone there had been destroyed in just ten years. If nothing was done, humans and the environment were in grave danger.

What did we do?

The world needed to act quickly.

First, 20 countries signed the Vienna Convention, agreeing to reduce the CFCs that they produced.

Then, in 1987, the 30 countries of the United Nations (UN) passed the Montreal Protocol to completely phase out the chemicals that damage the ozone layer. This happened just 18 months after the ozone hole was found!

The big businesses that were producing a lot of CFCs tried to stop these agreements from taking place, but both the world’s governments and the people were sure that it needed to be done.

Every country in the world has joined the Montreal Protocol.

A speaker for the UN has called this agreement the “greatest planetary repair job ever attempted.”

Did the Montreal Protocol work?

The Montreal Protocol banned many CFCs and stopped them from being produced. This took time to work – CFCs in the atmosphere kept increasing till 1993, but then fell. They were replaced by hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that do not damage the ozone layer.

Soon, the ozone hole began to heal! By 2066, the hole over the Antarctic will be gone. Today, the agreement is called the most successful environmental convention in the world. Every year, on 16^th September, we celebrate World Ozone Day in memory of the signing of the treaty.

However, the work is not yet done. The HFCs that have replaced CFCs might not harm the ozone layer, but they are greenhouse gases , like carbon dioxide, which are increasing the effects of climate change.

That’s why, in 2020, more than 100 countries signed the Kigali Amendment to continue the work of the Montreal Protocol. If it succeeds, it will save us from half a degree of warming in the next 100 years.

What can we learn from this?

The Montreal Protocol has already saved the world from a lot of carbon dioxide emissions.

But burning fossil fuels like coal is emitting lots more greenhouse gases. These gases are trapping heat and making the planet warmer.

Once again, it is time for the world to come together. Governments have already signed the Paris Agreement, but so far, it is not working as well as the Montreal Protocol.

Solving environmental problems means acting quickly. The longer we wait, the harder it gets. But the Montreal Protocol shows us that it can be done, and reminds us of a huge success story.

We need to learn from our past and come together once more. If we did it once, we can do it again!