It might be a long time coming, but some good news is better than no news when it comes to the ozone layer – which is finally shrinking. After so many decades, news reports declare that it’s at its smallest size back in 1988. It’s taken a little over three decades to have this kind of development, but hopefully it’ll get smaller slowly but steadily as the years pass by and more initiative is taken by all nations.
Speaking of initiative, much of the development in this arena has largely to do with the positive response to tighter regulations on CFCs and other emissions. The 1987 Montreal Protocol in particular can be accorded this triumph, with impressive cooperation from the international community. This aimed to phase out the use of industrial CFC, which was the biggest contributor in how the ozone layer got bigger throughout the years. The Montreal Protocol also had the goal of stabilizing the ozone layer, despite it being at a seriously depleted level.
There is still much work to be done, but the positive results deliver nothing but hope and proof that when we put our minds to it, we can bring forth the necessary change to turn things around. It took three decades to finally report on the ozone layer shrinkage, but the impact of this kind of news will be felt not just by this generation but by several others down the line. Now, the challenge is not just to sustain these efforts but to continue to find other means to speed things up and work to beat the environmental clock.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/antarctic-ozone-hole-healing-fingerprints/
http://www.ozone.unep.org/en/treaties-and-decisions/montreal-protocol-substances-deplete-ozone-layer