Scientists said on Tuesday that international efforts to protect the ozone layer had been a “huge success” after they revealed that the harmful gas in the atmosphere is declining faster than previously thought.
The Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987, aims to detect ozone-depleting substances found mainly in refrigerants, air conditioners, and aerosol sprays.
New research has found that atmospheric levels of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), harmful gases that cause holes in the ozone layer, will rise in 2021—five years earlier than predicted.
“This is a big achievement. We can see that things are going in the right direction,” the lead author of the study, Luke Western, from the from the University of Bristol in England, told AFP.
The most harmful CFCs were phased out in 2010 to protect the ozone layer, the shield that protects life on Earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.
The HCFC chemicals they replaced are expected to be phased out by 2040.
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, examined the levels of these pollutants in the atmosphere using data from the Global Atmospheric Gas Experiment and the US National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration.
The West has attributed the decline of HCFCs to the effectiveness of the Montreal Protocol, stricter national regulations, and industry changes in anticipation of the imminent ban on this pollutant.
“From an environmental policy perspective, there is some optimism that these environmental agreements will work if they are adopted and implemented properly,” said West.
CFCs and HCFCs are both powerful greenhouse gases, and reducing them helps reduce global warming.
CFCs can last in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, while HCFCs have a lifespan of about two decades, said Kulon.
Since they are not in production, the use of these products will affect the ozone for years to come.
In 2023, the United Nations Environment Program estimates that it could take four decades for the ozone layer to reach the level before it was first detected in the 1980s.