Metro.co.uk: It seems that some unidentified country, located somewhere in East Asia, violated the rules prohibiting the use of chlorofluorocarbons, as a result of which they enter the atmosphere in the Earth's ozone layer. The rate at which ozone is recovering has now significantly slowed down, indicating a serious violation of the treaty signed by 196 countries.
The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii reports that all the evidence points to the culprit in East Asia:
“We observe that the level of decrease in chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere was constant from 2002 to 2012, after which it began to increase, increasing after 2012 by about 50%. These data clearly indicate an increase in emissions of chlorofluorocarbons from East Asia, which began there after 2012."
The ozone layer in the stratosphere, 25 miles from the Earth's surface, protects life on the planet from lethal ultraviolet radiation. The 1987 Montreal Protocol strictly banned industrial aerosols such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which chemically dissolve ozone, especially over Antarctica.
Widely used in the 1970s and 1980s as a propellant in aerosol aerosols and in refrigeration and air conditioning systems, CFCs do not exist in nature. Two decades ago, CFCs, more dangerous than greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide or methane, contributed significantly to global warming caused by industrial activity.
During the most dangerous period, around the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, the ozone layer decreased by about five percent. Today, however, the "ozone hole" over the South Pole is showing clear signs of decreasing.
However, CFCs still provide about a quarter of all chlorine present in the atmosphere and the main chemical that causes ozone destruction. Researchers believe that a more or less rapid, but definitely constant reduction in CFCs will help ozone return to normal levels at some point. However, the new data from the Mauna Loa Observatory is disappointing and alarming.
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A study earlier this year showed that the ozone layer suddenly began to decline in the lower stratosphere, that is, 10-24 kilometers above sea level. This was observed mainly in densely populated tropical and mid-latitudes.
Typically, CFCs and similar other molecules deplete ozone mainly in the upper stratosphere and above the poles, so a new ozone leak was unclear.
In a volume of research titled "Chemistry and Physics of the Atmosphere" and published in the scientific journal Nature, two possible culprits were identified.
The first suspect among environmentalists was industrial chemicals not covered by the Montreal Protocol, the so-called "very short-lived substances" (VSLS).
The second suspect was a general change in solar activity in general and climate in particular - that is, global problems that are difficult, if not impossible, to solve.
However, as it turns out now, some developed industrial country in Asia is the culprit.
Commentary: It seems rather funny that the Mauna Loa observatory, that is, located a few kilometers from the volcano, which for the current month gave out the annual release of toxic gases on the planet, took up the environmental struggle. However, in general, there is little amusing in the material and the ozone layer, by and large, has nothing to do with it.
Although the country, as it were, responsible for the toxic emissions is never directly named anywhere, everyone should understand that this is about China. Thus, the trade war between China and the United States is also developing into an environmental war, during which they will now try to put pressure on China in this plane. This may end with a situation when, in a cold nuclear winter, the former ecologists who are warming themselves by burning tires will have absolutely no time for ozone.
We follow the development of events.