Heal The World

The ozone hole over Antarctica is expected to heal completely by 2050 due to the "amazing" worldwide effort, scientists have revealed.

17:19 01 July 2016

The ozone layer, a deep layer in the stratosphere that provides protection against cancer-causing ultraviolent rays, has been thinning since the 1970s. In 1985, scientists were shocked to discover the Antarctic hole. Responding to the problem, worldwide effort was exerted and in 1989 carbon, hydrogen, chlorine and fluoride compounds in aerosols, fridges and cleaning products were banned.

 

US researcher Prof Susan Solomon, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: “The things we’ve done have put the planet on a path to heal, which is pretty good for us, isn’t it?

 

“Aren’t we amazing hum­­­­ans that we decided collectively as a world ‘Let’s get rid of these molecules’?

 

“We got rid of them and now we’re seeing the planet respond.”

 

She added: “This brings so much of my own work over 30 years full circle. Now we’ve actually seen the planet starting to get better. It’s a wonderful thing.”