Status: 09.01.2023 8:19 p.m
UN experts believe the ozone layer is on track to recover by 2066. At the same time, the researchers warned against direct intervention in the Earth’s climate system.
The ozone hole continues to shrink and researchers estimate it could close in four decades.
By 2066, experts expect a complete regeneration of the ozone layer, i.e. also over the Antarctic, such as the World Weather Organization (WMO), the UN environmental program Unep and government agencies in the USA and the EU informed.
Because of the ozone hole, more UV light reaches the earth’s surface, which has negative effects on people and the environment. If it continues to close, that should also mitigate global warming.
According to the latest report, the ozone layer over the Arctic will have recovered by 2045, and then over Antarctica around 20 years later. The rest of the world is expected to recover by 2040. Researchers first detected the ozone hole in the 1980s.
Direct intervention warning
However, the researchers warned against so-called geoengineering, i.e. direct intervention in the earth’s climate system. This means, among other things, the often discussed introduction of aerosols such as sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. That could dampen global warming, but according to the scientists, have incalculable consequences.
For example, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fears consequences for the rainy season in Africa and Asia, which in turn will affect the food supply for hundreds of millions of people.
Montreal Protocol works
The recovery of the ozone layer has to do with the decline of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These substances damage the ozone layer, which lies between 10 and 50 kilometers above the earth and blocks the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
In the past, CFCs were often used in hairsprays, air conditioners or refrigerators. The 1987 Montreal Protocol to Protect the Ozone Layer banned chlorofluorocarbons.