Monday 24 September 2012

Ozone on the slow road to recovery

Agreement on the Protection of the Ozone Layer, 25 years old prevented the disaster, scientists say the United Nations. In the Arctic zone record damaged reported in 2011, but the situation is more stable this year ...

The Montreal Protocol was signed on 16 September 1987. and decisively contributed to the preservation of the ozone layer. This layer of Earth's atmosphere filters out harmful ultra-violet rays, which contribute to global warming, causing skin cancer and damage vegetation.

The agreement was 25 years ago banned the use of substances such as chlorofluorocarbons, halons, carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform. Some of them were, at the time of signing the protocol, were a standard part of the refrigerator. "The agreement has prevented a huge disaster," says Gael Bråten, a scientist from the World Meteorological Organization.

Recovery for decades

According to the data of the institution, the emission of gases that damage the ozone layer suffered a culmination of the 2000th year - since then the situation has normalized, but the pollution is still there. "Even in this time of the ozone layer slowly disappearing," said Bråten (pictured ozone hole over Antarctica).

Forecasts say that at this rate the ozone layer could recover in mid-century - then again, the quality was the level before 1980. year. However, recover layer over Antarctica is much longer. "The gases that harm the ozone remains in the atmosphere for a long time - because the fill layer will take decades," he added Bråten.

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