Scientists say the ozone layer is recovering
Source: AP-EXCITE
By SETH BORENSTEIN
WASHINGTON (AP) Earth's protective but fragile ozone layer is beginning to recover, largely because of the phase-out since the 1980s of certain chemicals used in refrigerants and aerosol cans, a U.N. scientific panel reported Wednesday in a rare piece of good news about the health of the planet.
Scientists said the development demonstrates that when the world comes together, it can counteract a brewing ecological crisis.
For the first time in 35 years, scientists were able to confirm a statistically significant and sustained increase in stratospheric ozone, which shields us from solar radiation that causes skin cancer, crop damage and other problems.
From 2000 to 2013, ozone levels went up 4 percent in the key mid-northern latitudes at about 30 miles high, said NASA scientist Paul A. Newman. He co-chaired the every-four-years ozone assessment by 300 scientists, released at the United Nations.
FULL story at link.
This undated handout photo provided by Centro Mario Molina shows Mario Molina in Mexico City. Earth protective but fragile ozone layer is finally starting to rebound, says a United Nations panel of scientists. Scientists hail this as rare environmental good news, demonstrating that when the world comes together it can stop a brewing ecological crisis. It's a victory for diplomacy and for science and for the fact that we were able to work together, said chemist Mario Molina. In 1974, Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland, first wrote a scientific study forecasting the ozone depletion problem. They shared the 1995 Nobel Prize for chemistry for their work. (AP Photo/Centro Mario Molina)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140910/us-sci--ozone_rebounds-f1824a92cd.html
hibbing
(10,095 posts)Nothing would have been done I'm sure.
Peace
J_J_
(1,213 posts)Oh my Gawd I'm reading good news!!
Thanks for posting!
Fearless
(18,421 posts)Electric Monk
(13,869 posts)(LBN thread from just yesterday)
Geneva (AFP) - Surging carbon dioxide levels boosted greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to a new high in 2013, amid worrying signs that absorption by land and sea is waning, the UN warned Tuesday.
"An alarm bell is ringing," Michel Jarraud, head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), told reporters in Geneva.
In its annual report on Earth-warming greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the UN agency said concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide all broke records in 2013.
"We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels," Jarraud said.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/greenhouse-gas-levels-atmosphere-hit-high-un-073557254.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014891862
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)"Mrs. Jones, I have good news! That rash on your backside has completely cleared up! Oh, your cancer has metastasized, but at least the rash is gone."
C Moon
(12,209 posts)applied to the fate our planet.
I hope it continues!
Clyde Tenson
(65 posts)So you think we turned the corner? I would be VERY SKEPTICAL about any good news re the human species and its helter skelter destruction of the planet. Oh...this is an Onion thing right? I get it....ha ha! Taken bets for how long this "report" gets debunked.
NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)Our use of CFC refrigerants was depleting it, raising the damage from the radiation. The world got together and agreed to ban the production of CFCs.
Not sure what that has to do with a hummer. Global warming is not connected to the ozone layer.
Clyde Tenson
(65 posts)The environment of this planet is the result of millions of years of natural evolution creating a delicate balance for creation of life. The occasional meteor strike screwed things up, but the earth recovered and miraculously set the stage for human development. All was well until we started burning and lubricating things. The glorious balance (of which the Ozone layer is but a component) created by Mother Earth (God?) is under assault by Humans intent on destroying it.
The ship is sinking. To stop and celebrate the news that one small leak was patched is ridiculous and delusional if we think that we'll make it to safe harbor.
NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)I think we ought to highlight an example of international cooperation working. If we aren't, then let's just enjoy our last days until extinction.
toby jo
(1,269 posts)What we'll get in the long haul, though , will be an increasing attentiveness to our scientists.
Hope this gets pumped out everywhere.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Because it's worth appreciating....
In fact, to celebrate, I am gonna go ahead with the call to the landscapers I've been thinking of contacting, to have some TREES planted.
Hmmmm, I wonder how positive that would be if lots and lots of people started planting trees?
glinda
(14,807 posts)not
Lulu KC
(2,561 posts)Paradoxically, heat-trapping greenhouse gases considered the major cause of global warming are also helping to rebuild the ozone layer, Newman said. The report said rising levels of carbon dioxide and other gases cool the upper stratosphere, and the cooler air increases the amount of ozone.
And in another worrisome trend, the chemicals that replaced CFCs contribute to global warming and are on the rise, said MIT atmospheric scientist Susan Solomon. At the moment, they don't make much of a dent, but they are expected to increase dramatically by 2050 and make "a big contribution" to global warming.