Scientists Haven’t ‘Saved’ the Ozone Layer
Another year has passed, and that stubborn ‘Ozone Hole’ over Antarctica refuses to go away
Data from NASA shows that the area of the ‘Ozone Hole’ remains about the same as it has been over the last 30 years.
But will scientists admit that they didn’t save the ozone layer?
Background
Ozone is a gas made up of three oxygen atoms (O3). Ninety percent of the ozone in the atmosphere is found in the stratosphere, a layer of atmosphere between about 10 and 50 kilometers in altitude.
The amount of ozone in the atmosphere varies with time of year.
Dr. Mario Molina and Dr. Sherwood Rowland of the University of California published a paper in 1974 warning that industrial chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) pollution was destroying the ozone layer in Earth’s stratosphere.
CFCs were gases used in hair spray, refrigerators, and insulating foams.
The theory of Molina and Rowland postulated that CFCs from human industry move upward through the atmosphere to the stratosphere, where ultraviolet radiation breaks down CFC molecules, releasing chlorine atoms.
Chlorine then acts as a catalyst to break down ozone molecules into oxygen, reducing the ozone concentration. According to the theory, the more CFCs consumed, the greater the destruction of the ozone layer.
In 1983, researchers from the British Antarctic Survey discovered a thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica which occurred during August, September, and October.
This became known as the ‘Ozone Hole’, and appeared to confirm the theory of Molina and Rowland, who were awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1995 for their work.
Montreal Protocol (1987)
The ozone layer blocks ultraviolet rays, shielding the surface of the Earth from high-energy radiation. According to scientists, degradation of the layer would increase rates of skin cancer and cataracts and cause immune system problems in humans.
In Earth in the Balance (1992), Al Gore claimed that hunters reported finding blind rabbits in Patagonia and that fishermen were catching blind fish due to human destruction of the ozone layer, but this was not confirmed.
In 1987, 29 nations and the European Community signed the “Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer”. Over the next decade, signers of the treaty rose to over 180 nations, all agreeing to ban the use of CFCs.
Because of the Montreal Protocol ban, world consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS), or chlorofluorocarbons, began falling in 1990. By 2005, ODS consumption was down 90 percent and is now down more than 99 percent, according to the European Environment Agency.
The result?
The Montreal Protocol was hailed as an example of international success of how nations could unite to resolve a major environmental issue.
But despite the elimination of CFCs, the ‘Ozone Hole’ remains as large as ever.
NASA reported this fall that the mean ‘ozone hole’ area for September 7 to October 13 again reached 23 million square kilometers, roughly the same level as in the last three decades stretching back to 1994–1995.
The hole remains large, despite that fact that world ODS consumption has almost been eliminated.
In 2015, scientists at NASA predicted that the ‘Ozone Hole’ would be half closed by 2020. That hasn’t happened
Other scientists have forecasted that the ‘hole’ will not begin to disappear until 2040 or later.
But the longer the ‘hole’ persists, the greater the likelihood that the ozone layer is dominated by natural factors, not human CFC emissions.
See more here masterresource.org
Bold and italic emphasis added
Editor’s note: Antarctic ozone was first measured in the International Geophysical Year of 1957, and there never has been a ‘hole’ in the ozone layer. There is a natural thinning over the poles that waxes and wanes, as seen in the image above. It there was an area with zero ozone over Antarctica, no-one would be able to live and work there.
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Herb Rose
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The ozone scam was created by DuPont because their Freon patents were expiring and they had patents on the replacement. Perhaps this was the inspiration for Gore to create the Green House Gas scam. There is no science behind either scam, just corrupted “scientists” using gobbledegook to fool the public so politicians can steal money.
Ozone does nor block uv. It is created when uv is absorbed by O2 molecules and splits into oxygen atoms. During winter (night) the sun does not produce enough uv to maintain the ozone and its decay producing the “hole”. The change from 2 O3 molecules to 3 O2 molecules actually increases the shielding of uv by the atmosphere.
The whole scam was stupid. Argon is confined to the troposphere because its molecular weight (40) does not it allow it to get into the stratosphere yet CFCs with higher molecular weights could? The molecules are practically indestructible because of their chlorine and fluorine atoms but somehow not only do they rise in the atmosphere but they become vulnerable to decay. It is amazing how gullible “scientists” become when there is grant money involved.
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MattH
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Ultra violet light creates atomic dissociation allowing ozone forming.
During the peak of the solar cycle, as appears to have recently occurred, the solar flares release more ultraviolet light intensity which destroys ozone through atomic dissociation of other atmospheric molecules which allegedly then break down the ozone.
I have not researched on whether the increase in solar wind associated with solar flares has any direct influence on this process.
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