Ozone hole showing ‘first fingerprints of healing’

“We can now be confident that the things we’ve done have put the planet on a path to heal”, says lead author Susan Solomon, the Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Science at MIT, in a press release. From the assessment, the researchers came to know that the size of the ozone hole declined by more than 1.5 million square miles.

Recovery of the hole has varied from year to year, partly because of the effects of volcanic eruptions.

The new study just published in the journal Science found evidence the ozone hole or the “ozone depletion area” that increases the likelihood of skin cancer is healing and is no longer as deep as it once was.

Chlorine originating from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) triggers chemical reactions that lead to the destruction of the ozone layer. So, 1n 1987, an global treaty was signed, called the Montreal Protocol, to end the use of production of some chemicals that were causing the issue, notably chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), commonly used in refrigerants and propellants.

The hole in the ozone layer was first discovered in 1985 by scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, who described how ozone levels above the Antarctic were steadily dropping compared to the previous decade.

So the steps agreed upon first at the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987, and then enacted in 1989, can be seen as quite pivotal to life on Earth today.

The infamous “hole in the ozone layer” may be en route to recovery.

In addition, and throwing doubts in the theory of healing, there is an observed peak in the size of the ozone hole in 2015. As she told Gizmodo, “This is a reminder that when the world gets together, we really can solve environmental problems”.

Solomon adds, “It’s wonderful to see that this most untouched part of our planet that we actually did touch in a very unusual way by creating the ozone hole is going back to its original state”.

Now, a new modelling system by the researchers has shown that the latest spikes in ozone depletion were actually the result of volcanic eruptions rather than atmospheric chlorine, and that the ozone layer is actually shrinking. Because of the Montreal Protocol, companies have developed new chemicals that weren’t harmful to the ozone layer.

Co-author Ryan Neely, a lecturer in observational atmospheric science at Leeds, said the scope of the study allowed the team to “quantify the separate impacts of man-made pollutants, changes in temperature and winds, and volcanoes, on the size and magnitude of the Antarctic ozone hole”.

The protective umbrella known as the Ozone layer is situated in the upper atmosphere, between roughly 15 and 35 km (9 and 22 miles) above Earth’s surface.

This got the researchers thinking that September may be the best month for teasing out subtle signs of ozone recovery.

If chlorine levels continue to dissipate from the atmosphere at the current rate, Solomon believes, barring future volcanic eruptions, that the ozone hole should shrink and eventually close permanently by mid-century. “It was a shock to the scientific community”.