Ozone Layer on the recovery mode

After more than two decades of continuous destruction of the Ozone layer, both the U.N. agency for Environment Program and World Meteorological Organization have reported that the protective layer is slowly recovering.

According to the report disclosed by the United Nations' weather organization yesterday it would take up to 15 years longer than previously expected i.e. by 2065 for the ozone layer to repair itself over the Antarctica, where the most prominent ozone-holes are located.

However huge areas in the Northern and Southern hemispheres will be back to the pre 1980 levels by 2049, the agencies said.

WMO Secretary General Michel Jarraud said in a statement, "While these latest projections of ozone recovery are disappointing, the good news is that the level of ozone-depleting substances continues to decline from its 1992-94 peak in the troposphere and the 1990s peak in the stratosphere.”

“This shows that the Montreal Protocol is effective and is working”. He said referring to the 1987 global treaty that aimed to reduce the use of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

The leakage of the chemical compounds from refrigerators, air conditioners and other devices causes the depletion of the ozone layer thus exposing the Earth to harmful solar rays. These ultraviolet radiation cause skin cancer and destroy tiny plants at the beginning of the food chain.