Ozone Layer on Track to Fully Recover within 4 Decades

By Staff, Agencies

In good news for the environment, a UN report confirmed that the hole in the ozone layer that had been threatening Earth since the 1980s is shrinking.

The discovery of a large hole in the gaseous shield that protects life on Earth from ultraviolet radiation triggered global alarm and action, thought to be one of the most perilous environmental threats.

However, a 1987 international treaty banning chemicals that destroyed this naturally occurring layer of molecules - especially over the polar regions - is working as intended, more than 200 authors and reviewers from US, European and UN agencies found. 

According to the report, “Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2022,” the loss is on track to be completely recovered to 1980 values by 2040, except in the polar regions where it will reappear by 2045 over the Arctic and 2066 over the Antarctic.

“That ozone recovery is on track according to the latest quadrennial report is fantastic news,” said Meg Seki, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Environment Program’s Ozone Secretariat. “The impact the Montreal Protocol has had on climate change mitigation cannot be overstressed. Over the last 35 years, the Protocol has become a true champion for the environment.”