Was the hole in the ozone layer fixed? Status 40 years after discovery
It's been 40 years since groundbreaking research announced the discovery of a hole in the ozone layer, a revelation that launched a rapid and successful effort to ban chemicals in hairspray, deodorant cans and refrigerators that were imperiling the planet.
The 1985 discovery by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey identified a dramatic thinning of the ozone layer over our southernmost continent, triggering immediate global concern about potential harm to human health and ecosystems worldwide.
Located in the stratosphere, the ozone layer acts like sunscreen, blocking potentially harmful ultraviolet energy from reaching our planet's surface. Without it, humans and animals could experience increased rates of skin cancer, DNA damage, cataracts and other ailments. It also affects the physiological and developmental processes of plants.
"The discovery of the ozone hole stands as one of the most important environmental discoveries of the 20th century and demonstrates how robust science, clear communication and international cooperation can address planetary-scale threats," said Dominic Hodgson, interim director of science at the British Antarctic Survey, in a statement released May 13.
Jon Shanklin, now an emeritus fellow at the British Antarctic Survey, added that "publishing our findings in Nature 40 years ago, we couldn't have anticipated the global response that would follow."
More: Study: Ozone hole over Antarctica beginning to heal
Scientists determined the production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were widely used in refrigeration, aerosols, solvents, and fire extinguishers caused the problem.
When chlorine and bromine atoms from CFCs rise and come into contact with ozone in the stratosphere, they destroy ozone molecules, the Environmental Protection Agency says in an online report. Ozone can be destroyed more quickly than it is naturally created, the EPA said.
A large and deep ozone hole still forms every Antarctic spring, being deepest and largest toward the end of September, Shanklin told USA TODAY in a May 15 e-mail. "There is a very slow recovery, but we'll still have ozone holes for another 50 years or more."
Indeed, though the Antarctic ozone hole shows signs of recovery, the healing process is very slow. CFCs have atmospheric lifetimes of more than 50 years, so even without further emissions, a full recovery might not occur until after 2070, the BAS said.
"The current rate of recovery is a bit slower than might be expected, so there could be feedbacks with climate change taking place," Shanklin told USA TODAY.
More: Ozone hole shrinks to smallest size on record, and it's not related to global warming
The discovery of the ozone hole led directly to the Montreal Protocol just two years later – an agreement that froze the production and use of ozone-depleting substances at 1986 levels and set the groundwork for phasing them out entirely.
Today, the protocol stands as one of the most successful international environmental treaties ever implemented. By preventing harmful UV radiation from reaching the Earth's surface, the agreement has saved thousands of lives, the BAS said.
"The Montreal Protocol is a very successful treaty that all the world's governments have signed. It is working, with the amount of ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere declining as expected," Shanklin said in an e-mail to USA TODAY.
USA TODAY asked Shanklin if there is a regret that we haven't made similar progress in reducing the human-caused greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
"Very much so," Shanklin answered. "The Montreal Protocol shows what can be done, but with most other environmental issues (climate, biodiversity loss, sewage pollution, soil degradation, etc.), there is mostly talk and small-scale action."
"It is largely because the economic model is flawed and perverse – it assumes that resources are infinite and that there is no cost in using them," Shanklin said. "This perversely then creates all the crises that we could be avoiding."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Does the ozone layer still have a hole? What science tells us
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Antarctic seal numbers falling drastically due to melting sea ice, research shows
Antarctic seal populations are drastically declining as the sea ice melts around them, new research has shown. Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have been monitoring the seal population in the sub-Antarctic since the 1970s, looking in particular at three different seal species in the sub-Antarctic on Signy Island: Weddell seals, Antarctic fur seals and southern elephant seals. Using satellite records from as far back as 1982, the research team compared annual changes in sea ice concentration with seal population counts conducted since 1977. With five decades worth of data spanning a period of long-term warming and temporary cooling between 1998 and 2014, they were able to draw a comprehensive picture of how seal populations react to changing ice conditions, something shorter-term studies would not be able to achieve. The study, published in the scientific journal Global Change Biology, found Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii), which rely on stable sea ice to rest, breed and feed, had declined by 54% since 1977. Similarly, Antarctic fur seals (arctocephalus gazella), which breed on land but are affected by food chain shifts, have declined by 47%. The findings challenge previous assumptions that the population in the South Orkneys had stabilised. Southern elephant seals (mirounga leonina), despite sharing similar population trends, presented 'no significant overall long-term decline'. The study serves to emphasise the 'vital importance of long-term ecological monitoring' as well as the interconnectedness between the three species of seal and sea ice conditions. Michael Dunn, lead author of the study, said: 'For once, we're not just predicting how wildlife might respond to shrinking sea ice and environmental shifts, we've had the rare opportunity to confirm it, using solid, long-term data. The emerging picture is deeply concerning.' In light of the BAS's findings, researchers have also raised concerns about how climate breakdown is affecting the Antarctic food web, relied on by all three species.
USA Today
11 hours ago
- USA Today
Spoilers! Who is that mystery man at the end of '28 Years Later'?
Spoiler alert! We're discussing important plot points and the ending of '28 Years Later' (in theaters now), so beware if you haven't seen it yet. The horror sequel '28 Years Later' introduces several new characters into the post-apocalyptic world director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland envisioned in 2002's '28 Days Later.' And the most fascinating personality is the first person we meet in the new movie who we don't get to see again until the very end. '28 Years' centers on a quarantined U.K. three decades after a rage virus broke out and infected habitants, turning them into zombie-like people. In an isolated survivor community on Holy Island, 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams) is taken to the mainland for the first time by his dad Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to kill an infected. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox Spike learns of a mysterious doctor named Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) so, with his mother Isla (Jodie Comer) ailing from an unknown disease, he returns to the mainland to find him. There, Spike runs afoul of the muscular infected Alpha known as Samson and witnesses his mom help an infected woman give birth. (The baby, shockingly, seems healthy, though its mom dies.) They then are saved by the odd but compassionate Kelson, from whom Spike gets an important lesson on life and remembering death. Let's dig into the biggest spoilers and lingering questions, including who that bad guy is in the film's final moments and what fans should expect in the next installment, '28 Years Later: The Bone Temple' (out Jan. 16): What happens in the ending of '28 Years Later'? Kelson examines Isla and discovers she has breast cancer − it's spread to other parts of her body and is terminal. He helps to end her life, burns the body and returns the skull to Spike so he can place it atop Kelson's extremely tall Bone Temple, which memorializes the dead. Kelson helps Spike and the baby to escape another attack but Samson follows Spike to the island, where the Alpha is killed. But instead of staying, Spike leaves the baby with his dad to be raised on the island while he decides to live his life on the mainland. In the final scene, Spike is attacked on a road by a bunch of infected but is saved by a group of blond-haired strangers, and that's where the unnerving Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) introduces himself. In the movie's opening, Jimmy is seen as a child at the outbreak of the virus, watching 'Teletubbies' before infected family members attack each other. His preacher father is scarily happy to see God's Day of Judgment come, and he gives his son a cross, which as an adult Jimmy wears upside down on a necklace. Jimmy and his cult – with names like Jimmima and Jimmy Ink, and a violently amusing air a la Alex and the Droogs from 'A Clockwork Orange' – feature "very heavily" in 'Bone Temple,' Boyle promises. 'The first film is about grief and the nature of family. And these Jimmies are one of the families that it sort of looks at. But the second film is about the nature of evil.' Garland adds that Jimmy is "someone genuinely frightening, but we understand how he got to be how he is. And the most interesting interaction for me is what happens when Kelson meets Jimmy.' What is the secret website in '28 Years Later'? If you visit the fictional 'dark web' page it fills in the blanks about what's happened in the U.K. since the rage virus broke out, maps that show the geography of this part of Europe after three decades, and other interesting world-building elements. (Need the password? It's "mementomori" – Kelson's favorite phrase.) What is Cillian Murphy's role in '28 Years Later'? Murphy, who won a best actor for 'Oppenheimer,' was the main star of '28 Days Later' playing bicycle courier Jim, who wakes up in a hospital after a traffic accident to find an empty London and an infected England. His main role in '28 Years Later' is actually as an executive producer: He doesn't appear on camera but Boyle has said that Murphy will appear at the end of 'Bone Temple' and play a central part in a planned third movie. Wonder if Jim will have something to do with Jimmy and the Jimmies? Does '28 Years Later' have a post-credits scene? It does not, but the ending hints at where things might go and who they'll involve, from Kelson to that little baby. And 'plenty of challenges' await Spike in 'Bone Temple,' Boyle teases. (Garland wrote the next movie but Nia DaCosta will be in the director's chair.) 'It's not going to be easy what he will have to overcome in the second film.' Boyle believes 'Bone Temple' is 'the most original piece of screenwriting since 'A Clockwork Orange.' There were lots of people saying, 'Oh, we should change this, we should cut this. It's too disturbing.' And it is disturbing and it is risky. 'The first film stands alone and the second film will stand alone,' he says, 'but they are umbilically connected in a way that will enrich the experience eventually.'
USA Today
11 hours ago
- USA Today
When is the next SpaceX rocket launch? Date, where to watch
SpaceX is set to have a launch once again in summer 2025, which comes after a recent incident: a Starship exploded while going through engine testing in Texas earlier in the week. "The spacecraft, standing nearly 400 feet tall when fully stacked, did not injure or endanger anyone when it exploded in a fireball that could be seen for miles, SpaceX said," per USA TODAY. But as usual with SpaceX, the company's next mission will go on. If you're wondering what that's all about? You've come to the right place. Here's what we know about that next mission that's set to launch this weekend: When is the next SpaceX launch? It's on Sunday, June 22. What time is the SpaceX launch? It's scheduled for 1:47 a.m. ET. What's happening in the next SpaceX launch? Per SpaceFlight Now: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. The rocket will take a north-easterly trajectory once it leaves the pad at Space Launch Complex 40. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster, tail number B1069, flying for a 25th time, will target a landing on the droneship, 'A Shortfall of Gravitas,' positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. Where is the SpaceX craft launching from? That would be Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. How can I watch the SpaceX launch live? Check SpaceX's website to see if there's a livestream.
