The earth’s ozone layer is continuing to heal, according to experts, with a new study finding that its recovery is still in progress
According to experts in climate science, Earth’s ozone layer is continuing to heal, following previous damage, that risks not only environmental damage to the planet, but also damage to people, as the ozone layer absorbs the harmful UV rays from the sun.
The ozone layer is a protective shield that exists in a layer of the earth’s stratosphere.
This confirmation of the ozone layer continuing to heal is excellent news, not just because it means the planet and ourselves are safer from the harmful UV rays of the sun, but also because its proof that we can, to a certain extent, reverse damage that has largely been caused by humans.
Lead author of the recent study, Antara Banerjee, a CIRES Visiting Fellow at the University of Colorado Boulder who works in the Chemical Sciences Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said:
“This study adds to growing evidence showing the profound effectiveness of the Montreal Protocol. Not only has the treaty spurred healing of the ozone layer, it’s also driving recent changes in Southern Hemisphere air circulation patterns.”
John Fyfe, a scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada and one of the paper’s co-authors, said: “Identifying the ozone-driven pause in circulation trends in real-world observations confirms, for the first time, what the scientific ozone community has long predicted from theory.”
Despite the fact that these positive effects on the ozone layer are excellent, climate scientists remain adement that carbon dioxide emissions caused by people and climate change could well undo all the good work so far.
Although there is lower pollution, particularly air pollution, over countries during the coronavirus lockdowns, in places such as China and parts of Europe, we are still yet to see what effects the COVID-19 pandemic will show for the environment.
