The Earth's protective ozone layer may fully recover in the next few
decades thanks to harmonized international action against ozone
depleting substances, a new assessment by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reads.
"There are positive indications that the ozone layer is on track to
recovery towards the middle of the century. The Montreal Protocol - one
of the world's most successful environmental treaties - has protected
the stratospheric ozone layer and avoided enhanced UV radiation reaching
the earth's surface," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner in a press-statement Wednesday.
WASHINGTON: A chemical used in dry cleaning and fire
extinguishers may have been phased out in recent years but NASA said
Wednesday (Aug 20) that carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is still being
spewed into the atmosphere from an unknown source. The world agreed to
stop using CC14 as part of the Vienna Convention on Protection of the
Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol, which attained universal
ratification in 2009.
"Parties to the Montreal Protocol reported
zero new CCl4 emissions between 2007-2012," the US space agency said in a
statement. "However, the new research shows worldwide emissions of CCl4
average 39 kilotons per year, approximately 30 per cent of peak
emissions prior to the international treaty going into effect."
