World Ozone Day: How is the Earth's ozone layer doing, 28 years on?

Each year, September 16 is observed as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer; first created in 1994 by the United Nations, the occasion aims to raise awareness about the importance of the protective layer around the earth.

The ozone layer protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation emitted from the sun, but has been depleting over the past few decades thanks to human activity.

Earth's ozone layer is designed in such a way that most of the harmful radiation from our solar system's central star is dissipated, but in the late 70s, scientists discovered that there was a hole in the layer, due to hydrofluorocarbons - which are used in cooling appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators - greenhouse gases, methyl bromide, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, and chemical families of chlorofluorocarbons.


Preventing the hole in the ozone layer was mission number one for scientists, leading to the creation of this day.

Has it helped?
While a full scale crisis has been averted, there is still damage in the layer, enough to be extremely harmful for us.

In a study, published last year, Lancaster University researchers described how dire things would have been in the absence of ozone protection.

There is likely to be a 0.5°C temperature increase by the end of this century, a number that is highly likely to increase to 1°C. If the ozone layer depletion is not preserved, climate change will have the advantage it needs to end all life on Earth.

Left unprotected from ultraviolet radiation, plants will struggle to carbon dioxide, significantly raising the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and heating up the earth faster.

If there is no improvement, the ozone layer might vanish by 2040, and even faster without the Montreal Protocol. But as efforts are being currently, the layer is likely to reach pre-1980 levels by the middle of this century.