Antarctic ozone hole
Agujero de la capa de ozono antártico
- Date
- 1985 · confidence high
- Place
- Halley Station, Antarctica
- Credited to
- Joseph Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jonathan Shanklin (British Antarctic Survey); Molina and Rowland (CFCs, 1974)
- People
- 👤 Brian G. Gardiner1934–2021👤 Frank Sherwood Rowland1927–2012👤 Joe Farman1930–2013👤 Jon Shanklin1953–👤 Mario Molina1943–2020
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Measurements at Halley showed a 40% drop in ozone every austral spring since the late 1970s, confirming that the CFCs predicted by Molina and Rowland were destroying the layer. Satellites had recorded it, but their algorithms discarded the data as errors.
Coordinates of Halley station, where the data series were obtained. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995 for Crutzen, Molina and Rowland.
What it led to
- Montreal Protocol (1987), the most successful environmental treaty
- Worldwide ban on CFCs
- Model for global environmental governance
- Projected recovery of the layer by around 2060
Built on
- Synthesis of the first chlorofluorocarbons1892
- Ozone layer (Dobson)
- CFC chemistry (Molina and Rowland, 1974)
Made possible
- HFC and HFO refrigerants
- Satellite ozone monitoring (TOMS)