Ozone hole over Antarctica could fully heal by 2066: UN

A report that is published every four years confirms that the ozone layer over Antarctica will be completely healed in the next four decades, i.e., by 2066.

Hyderabad: We have all learned about holes in the ozone layer that are causing global warming and climatic changes. In a blog they published on their website, the UN Environment Program said that the ozone layer is “on track to recover”.

It said that the global phase-out of ozone-depleting chemicals is already benefiting the efforts being made to handle climate change. The report on the same was released at the American Meteorological Society’s 103rd annual meeting.

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A report that is published every four years confirms that the ozone layer over Antarctica will be completely healed in the next four decades, i.e., by 2066.

The credit, however, goes to the phase-out of nearly 99% of banned ozone-depleting substances, the Montreal Protocol agreement which was made 35 years ago where every nation in the world agreed to stop producing chemicals that chomp on the layer of ozone in Earth’s atmosphere. Some of the banned chemicals were chlorofluorocarbon-11 and hydrofluorocarbons.

“The Montreal Protocol has thus succeeded in safeguarding the ozone layer, leading to the notable recovery of the ozone layer in the upper stratosphere and decreased human exposure to harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the Sun,” it read. Although a similar healing pattern was observed four years back, experts say that the numbers have now solidified.

The healing of the ozone layer is being looked at as a positive sign to mitigate climate change.