"Earth's ozone layer is finally healing, UN says" NBC News, Nov. 5th, 2018
Article Summary by Milana Baldizzi
The ozone layer is a protective layer high in the atmosphere that protects the Earth and its inhabitants from destructive ultra violet rays. These rays cause a number of problems, including skin cancer and crop damage. This layer, however, had been thinning since the late 1970's. Scientists were quick to action, and ozone-damaging chemicals, released in aerosol sprays and coolants, were phased out worldwide from usage. Thanks to this, the upper ozone layer in the Northern Hemisphere region is expected to be repaired by 2030's, and the much larger gap in the ozone layer above Antarctica is expected to be repaired in the 2060's. While this is extremely good news, it also comes with its drawbacks. A recently developed technology has been used to find an increase in emissions in the banned CFC, or chlorofluorocarbon, in East Asia. CFC is "long-lived in the upper atmosphere, where it catalyzes the conversion of ozone into O2." This conversion leads to the depletion of the ozone layer, which allows those UV rays to come down to the Earth and cause damage. Despite the ozone healing in the Northern Hemisphere and Antarctica, these emissions of CFC in East Asia must be halted in order to expect a full recovery of the ozone layer. Report co-chairman Paul Newman, chief Earth scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, says that "[he doesn't] think we can do a victory lap until 2060.”