CFC ban is shrinking hole in ozone layer, says NASA

The hole in the ozone layer has shrunk thanks to low levels of chlorine in the stratosphere – a drop brought about by the ban on CFCs, according to the latest NASA research.

Scientists from the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California used the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) aboard the Aura satellite to measure the amount of chlorine in the stratosphere. The resultant study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that there has been around 20 percent less ozone depletion during the Antarctic winter than there had been when the Aura was launched in 2005.

NASA credits the decline to the worldwide ban on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) enacted in 1987. "We see very clearly that chlorine from CFCs is going down in the ozone hole, and that less ozone depletion is occurring because of it," Susan Strahan, an atmospheric scientist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in a statement.

The ozone layer acts as a protective shield around the Earth, absorbing the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation which can cause cancers, suppress the immune system in humans and damage plant life. CFCs are man-made chemical compounds that, when exposed to ultraviolet radiation in the stratosphere, break up and release chlorine atoms that destroy ozone molecules.....https://on.rt.com/8wa8
 (RT)
-
 Related:

• WMO plays down fears over ozone hole
• 2015 Antarctic ozone hole approaches annual max
• Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases: Almost 200 nations agree 'monumental' deal to cut greenhouse gases
• Cooling without climate warming: Parliament backs F-gas ban