Ozone Layer Closing up, Thanks to Less Harmful Chemicals in the Air

Following a universally ratified treaty to halt the release of harmful chemicals in the atmosphere, the ozone layer is slowly but surely closing, and scientists expect the hole over Antarctica to seal itself up in 50 years.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US at the beginning of 2022, the concentrations of harmful chemicals had declined by 50% in the mid-level of the atmosphere compared to the 1980s, and the hole over Antarctica should eventually recover “sometime around 2070”.

The Montreal Protocol – adopted unanimously by all 197 countries in the world in 1987 – is an international treaty that was signed to phase out the dangerous chemicals found in refrigerators, air conditioners, hair spray, and industrial cleaning products in order to prevent the ozone layer from completely disappearing. The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica particularly takes time to close up, and as the size of the hole fluctuates throughout the year, it requires more monitoring, hence the use of the three-dimensional modeling Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, European Union’s Earth Observation Programme.