PARIS: Scientists said on Tuesday that international efforts to protect the ozone layer had been a “huge global success” after revealing that damaging gases in the atmosphere were declining faster than expected.

The Montreal Protocol signed in 1987 aimed to phase out ozone-depleting substances found primarily in refrigeration, air conditioning and aerosol sprays. A new study has found that atmospheric levels of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), harmful gases responsible for holes in the ozone layer, peaked in 2021 — five years ahead of projections.

“This has been a huge global success. We’re seeing that things are going in the right direction,” the study’s lead author, Luke Western from the UK’s University of Bristol, said.

The most harmful CFCs were phased out by 2010 in the effort to protect the ozone layer — the shield that protects life on Earth from harmful levels of ultraviolet rays from the Sun. The HCFC chemicals that replaced them are expected to be eliminated by 2040.

This study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, examined levels of these pollutants in the atmosphere by using data from the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment and US National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2024