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Don’t be an ozone layer slayer, turn off the gas
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What are the greatest threats to the stratospheric ozone and where will they come from in the future?
Over past decades, the stratospheric ozone has depleted due to the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), largely caused by industrial emissions. Consequently, this has resulted in a disruption of the equilibrium between ozone formation and ozone depletion rates, which has even led to the ozone hole in Antarctica. The reduction in the ozone column is harmful to living organisms because ultraviolet radiation is no longer absorbed by the ozone.
Since 2000, the Montreal Protocol has mandated a gradual industrial replacement of CFCs, and a recovery of the ozone layer has been observed. Nevertheless, some hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), a less damaging substitute for CFCs, is still in use. These chemicals are still harmful to the ozone layer, and developing countries are in need of funding to eliminate the use of HCFCs, namely the refrigerant R-22, that is used in air-conditioning systems.
All over the world there are some companies who have disregarded the Montreal Protocol. The protocol makes exceptions to the emissions of CFCs when they result as a by-product, or are used to form other products — this evidently explains why some CFCs are still accumulating in the atmosphere. For instance there are reports that CF4, carbon tetrafluoride, has been used as a feedstock for other chemicals. Observations to the composition of the atmosphere presents that the amount of this chemical is still rising.
From 2012 to 2018, US companies were still releasing 1.3 million pounds of carbon tetrafluoride into the atmosphere, which continues to threaten the stratospheric ozone. Similarly, the CFCs and methyl chloride continue to be released. The release of these ozone-depleting chemicals are accountable for much of the delay in the recovery of the ozone layer. If policies are not adapted in the coming decades, this threat to the ozone layer will persist.
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