A new sturdy has recently found that the life-saving ozone layer is slowly recovering and may be nearly restored to a healthy level by the mid XXI century however, it may never go back to what it used to look like, the scientists say.
Ozone is an incredibly important gas that protects the earth and all form of life (including humans, animals, plants and various ecosystems) from the blistering effects of the UV rays by absorbing most of them in the stratospheric zone surrounding the planet. However, the last decades have had a terrible effect on the ozone, destroying its layer to ‘barely there’ levels.
Luckily, drastic measures, which started with a worldwide ban (called Montreal Protocol) of the use of chemicals mostly hazardous to ozone—namely chlorofluocarbons (CFCs) found in aerosols and refrigerants, are beginning to pay off. Various studies performed over the past 25 years have shown that the ozone in the polar region stopped depleting around 1997 and have stabilized or even increased in the last decade.
However, full recovery (that is to the levels form the early 1980s) is still decades away due to numerous reasons, which include changing temperatures and atmospheric dynamics. According to the scientists, greenhouse gasses are the biggest culprits for the thwarting the ozone layer recovery. Some experts state that in some areas the ozone will be thicker than before the ban on ozone-depleting chemicals while other areas may remain insufficient.
Still, hope remains… For us, the planet and the protective ozone layer.
