How often do you think about the hole in the ozone layer? I suspect that, with all the talk about global warming, melting icecaps, reducing our individual carbon footprints and genetically modified foods, the answer to my question is: not very often.
This is a mistake because, in a closed system like planet Earth, everything is linked. 20 years ago this week (on the 16th Sept. 1987 to be precise) world leaders got together in Montreal and signed up to something called the Montreal Protocol.
Fear that the CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) in things like aerosols and refridgerators were eating away at our most important protection against the suns harmful ultraviolet rays, concentrated minds and galvanised the world into action. Under the protocol CFCs were outlawed and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief: for once world governments had agreed on something useful, a monumental increase in the incidence of potentially deadly skin cancers had been averted and the planet's wildlife had also been saved from a fate worse than death.
Not changed since 1989
But when delegates meet to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, I suspect that the celebrations will be somewhat subdued. And if they are not they certainly should be because, despite the Protocol and despite all the positive news you might have heard, the hole in the Ozone layer has not changed since 1989.
But hey, don't shoot the messenger! It's not me saying this (what do I know about geophysics) but rather Dr Joe Farman, the British scientist credited with being among the first to discover the massive hole in the ozone layer above the Antarctic. According to him, the hole varies in size from year to year (actually "thickness" would probably be a better term, if you really want to be picky), but, however you measure it, the hole is still there.
That's because CFCs remain in the atmosphere for a very long time and the colder it gets the more harmful they become and global warming, strangely enough, has the effect of cooling the stratosphere where the ozone layer and the CFCs hang out.
Big Business
And there's another problem. When CFCs were banned in aerosols, refridgerators etc., they were replaced by HCFCs - better known to you and me as hydrochlorofluorocarbons - which are less harmful to the ozone layer. So where's the problem, I hear you ask? Well, a by-product of using HCFCs is something called HFC-23 which, when it comes to global warming, is 11,000 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide. And we don't even need to use HCFCs. There are a lot of other things that would work just as well and which would have no impact on the ozone layer.
So, why do we use HCFCs? The answer to that can be summed up in two words: Big Business. Need I say more?
Don't get me wrong: despite its many faults, the environment would be in a much worse state without the Montreal Protocol but I can't help but wonder how things will look in another 20 years. Will ours be the last generation to enjoy a stable environment/climate and all the advantages that has brought mankind in terms of technical, industrial, medical and social advances? A sobering thought.
How often do we think about the hole in the ozone layer? Not nearly often enough.
Hear more on Reality Check, Saturday 22nd of September (12-13)
And if you didn't catch it, click here for the podcast - after the programme.
Österreich | 21.9.2007 | 12:03 
