That is the conclusion of a new study, which found that greenhouse gasses are interfering with ozone's rebound in complicated ways. The study predicts a patchy future for the ozone layer, with some sections becoming even thicker than they were before bans on ozone-damaging chemicals kicked in. Other sections, meanwhile, may remain sparse.
"This shows that greenhouse gas increases could have some surprising effects on ozone," said Feng Li, an atmosheric scientist at NASA's Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center in Greenbelt, Md.
The ozone layer lies in the stratosphere, the region of the atmosphere that stretches from about 10 miles to 30 miles above the planet's surface. Up there, ozone gas plays an important, even life-saving role. By absorbing most of the sun's ultraviolet rays, stratospheric ozone protects people from skin cancer and guards plants, animals, and ecosystems forms from the blistering effects of UV radiation.
Lower down, ozone has a worse reputation -- as a major component of smog.
Stratospheric ozone was hard hit by emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and related chemicals, which used to be found in aerosol cans, refrigerants, aircraft, and other places. Then, in the late 1980s, as part of the international Montreal Protocol, many governments banned these chemicals."
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Discovery News
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