While we are all cooped up inside our houses, it seems that mother nature has finally got the chance to breathe. Air quality index has improved round the globe, animals which have previously been confined to their small ghettos are coming out. All in all mother nature is recovering.
A prime example of our environment healing is the fact that the ozone layer seems to be bettering. It heralds a rare success in the reversal of environmental damage and shows that global action can make a difference.
The ozone layer is a protective shield in the Earth’s stratosphere which absorbs most of the ultraviolet radiation reaching us from the sun.
She stated that: “We found signs of climate changes in the southern hemisphere, specifically in the air circulation patterns.
“The challenge was showing that these changing air circulation patterns were due to the shrinking ozone hole following the implementation of the Montreal Protocol.
“The jet stream in the southern hemisphere was gradually shifting towards the south pole in the last decades of the 20th century due to ozone depletion.
“Our study found that movement has stopped since 2000 and might even be reversing. The pause in movement began around the same time that the ozone hole started to recover.
“The emissions of ozone-depleting substances that were responsible for the ozone hole – the CFCs from spray cans and refrigerants – started to decline around 2000, thanks to the Montreal Protocol.”
While the recovery started in 2000, it seems to have speeded up during the lockdown that has been implemented across many countries around the globe. As a result of the lockdown, there are fewer cars on the streets, fewer planes flying thereby contributing to less pollution which again is helping the ozone layer to heal.
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