World United To Fix Ozone Layer 32 Years Ago, We Need Similar Action To Fix Global Warming Now

Since our early school days, we've been taught about the importance of the earth's ozone layer not only for humans but all other living creatures, and how pollution and harmful CFC gases are depleting it little by little every day.

Ever since a gaping hole was discovered in the ozone layer, the world came together to fix years of damage and care for the ozone layer. And evidence shows it's getting better.

NASA

Today, 32 years ago, the Montreal Protocol came into effect in 1987, where the world pledged to cease the harm it was causing to the ozone layer. And surprisingly, the ozone layer is mending itself and getting in better shape than it was just a few years back.

Every year, when the southern hemisphere's spring period (usually begins in September), a hole appears in the ozone layer right over Antarctica. This happens because of the extremely cold temperatures in the winter stratosphere that transforms CFC and other ozone-harming gases when the sunlight reappears during spring.

NASA

While the Antarctic ozone hole still appears every spring (and the gases still pass through it like they used to), the hole is a lot smaller than it used to be, according to a report by The Conversation.

The reason the hole keeps coming back, every year, is because the level for ozone-destroying halocarbon gases is still higher than the safe numbers. However, recent reports reveal that they've dropped down considerably by 14% since their peak in the year 2000.

As per a report by UNDP, India has completely phased out production and consumption of Chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride and halons, man-made chemicals responsible for the depletion of the Ozone Layer. This remarkable milestone was achieved two years ahead of schedule (it got completed in August 2008 whereas the deadline was January 2010).

Similarly, in the US, CFCs were banned in 1996, and the country introduced the 'SNAP' initiative or Significant New Alternatives Policy Program that introduced replacements for harmful CFC emitting substances that have considerably aided the elimination of CFCs from the environment. The European Environment Agency has also banned harmful CFC in 1992, witnessing a huge drop in the consumption of ozone-depleting substances over the past decade that now it is dwindling in negative numbers, with a steady downward trend.

It usually takes a few decades for these gases to completely release from the atmosphere. As per an official report in 2014, it will take about 30-40 years for the Antarctic ozone hole to lower in size, to the size it was in 1980.

Just Like We're Fixing Ozone Layer, We Must Fix Global Warming

While the ozone layer is still far from being completely fine, we are on the right trajectory of healing it and full repair, and it is the few examples of ecological change on a global level that has truly united the world. We should take inspiration from our fight to conserve the ozone layer and take on bigger existential challenges that pose a threat to life on our planet.

Our next big challenge to saving mother earth is through eliminating global warming, better waste and resources management, among others. We all need to adopt sustainable living practices, develop new technologies that don't impact the earth negatively, and pass legislation that enforces a minimum standard of sustainable living. It's the need of the hour.

Reuters

This year's Earth Overshoot Day -- the day that signifies the exhaustion of the quota for the year's resources -- arrived in July, something that should have arrived sometime during the year-end. Similarly, with the accumulation of single-use plastic is making it difficult for the management of waste and causing irreversible damage to mother nature.

However, just like saving the ozone layer, challenges of global warming and plastic pollution can be overcome only if the entire world joins in the effort, by developing the right habits and technology we can still save the world from destruction and restore it to its former glory.

Eco-sensitive habits start from home, and kids need to know the importance of safeguarding the environment -- these values need to be instilled at home and in school. And not just preached but also practiced by responsible adults. Because we only have one earth and replenishing the ozone layer is just one problem. We need to do everything to keep our earth safe and sustainable for generations to come.