NASA shows how the Montreal Protocol helped save the atmosphere

Sep 18, 2012 12:54 GMT  ·  By
The evolution of the Antarctic ozone layer hole, between 1979 and 2011 [click for full resolution]
   The evolution of the Antarctic ozone layer hole, between 1979 and 2011 [click for full resolution]

The 1987 Montreal Protocol is a piece of legislation that not many are familiar with, but one that will have far-reaching implications for our well-being, and for the health of the planet. Above is an image showing how the hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica evolved over the years.

What the 1987 agreement did was curb the production and use of chlorofluorocarbons in personal care products, refrigerators and other devices. These chemicals destroy ozone, the atmospheric chemical that blocks out ultraviolet radiations from the Sun.

The first image shows the hole as it was forming, in 1979, and then again in 1987, the year when the Protocol was signed. By 2006, the breach had grown, on account of massive volumes of CFC still in the air. By 2011, a diminishing trend became apparent.

“The Antarctic hole is stabilizing and may be slowly recovering. Our focus now is to make sure that it is healing as expected,” NASA scientist Pawan Bhartia says. The expert adds that the concentration of ozone-damaging chemicals in the air is very slowly decreasing as well.