Regular readers of Booman Tribune are probably rather cynical when the issue of international cooperation comes up; we’ve grown accustomed to the disregard for international partnership demonstrated by the Bush regime since he came to power. The US (along with Australia) has failed to ratify the KYOTO PROTOCOL TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE, which commits nations to specific target reductions in the emission of greenhouse gases – although 169 nations have actually ratified it.
It is therefore gratifying to present an example of international cooperation that actually works. It turns out that the Montreal Protocol is having a demonstratively positive impact on our environment.
Follow below:
We recall how researchers back in the early/mid 1980’s discovered that the Ozone Layer over the poles was thinning to the extent that large holes developed over the poles. This was in fact predicted already in the 1970s:
In the 1970s, scientists began to wonder what might happen to all those CFCs after they had been in the air for a while. They eventually learned that CFCs could float past the troposphere up into the stratosphere where UV rays would break them down. The chemicals that make up CFCs, mainly chlorine and fluorine, would float around the stratosphere, breaking up ozone molecules.
This was bad, because scientists knew that ozone in the stratosphere protects the Earth from too many UV rays.
Extended exposure to UV rays has a number of adverse effects on health, including increased risk of skin cancer.
Still, the usage of CFCs – chlorofluorocarbons continued to increase through the early/mid eighties given the many applications in refrigeration, air conditioning and the manufacture of styrofoam.
The discovery of the ozone holes forced a quick resolution and the Vienna Convention was adapted in 1985 – quickly followed by the Montreal Protocol in 1987 – which was amended in 1992 to totally eliminate the use of halon and CFCs in developed nations by 1994 and 1996 respectively:
Through the 1980s, other uses expanded and the world’s nations became increasingly concerned that these chemicals would further harm the ozone layer. In 1985, the Vienna Convention was adopted to formalize international cooperation on this issue. Additional efforts resulted in the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987. The original protocol would have reduced the production of CFCs by half by 1998.
After the original Protocol was signed, new measurements showed worse damage to the ozone layer than was originally expected. In 1992, reacting to the latest scientific assessment of the ozone layer, the Parties decided to completely end production of halons by the beginning of 1994 and of CFCs by the beginning of 1996 in developed countries.
We can now reap the fruits of this work. The Montreal Protocol has made a difference.
The nations of the world might be deadlocked over what to do about greenhouse gases, but one important agreement reached 20 years ago seems to have produced tangible benefits for the atmosphere and Earth’s inhabitants. Researchers tracking one of the chemicals that is most destructive to the ozone layer have found that its levels peaked in the early 1990s and have been declining steadily ever since. The finding reinforces conclusions that Earth’s ozone layer is slowly returning to health.
(my bold)
The findings show that “there is indeed good evidence that the chlorine loading in the atmosphere is going down as a result of the Montreal Protocol,” says atmospheric chemist Christopher Cantrell of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. That doesn’t mean the ozone layer is out of the woods, however, he says. The observations don’t “tell us about the status of bromine levels,” Cantrell says. Bromine is rarer in the atmosphere but is “much more effective at destroying ozone.” Nevertheless, he says, “I think most everyone agrees that we should see [full ozone layer] recovery eventually,” although probably not for at least 50 more years.
So – what does it take to end the endless bickering and politicking with regards to greenhouse gases and climate change? What does it take to emulate the success of the Montreal Protocol?
Even the watered-down final reports of the IPCC – the Intragovernmental Panel on Climate Change – were clear in stating that climate change is happening as we speak. We see record melting of the ice caps in the Arctic and a new shipping lane has opened up, now that the Northwest Passage for the first time is observed ice free.
More – not less – international collaboration, please!
