A new study suggests that the hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica is recovering.
This is a great news as the release of CFCs and other harmful pollutants had caused immense damage to the ozone layer in the past.
The study credited the Montreal Protocol of 1987 in bringing about these positive changes in the ozone layer. The protocol is an international treaty aimed towards banning the production of ozone-depleting substances.
The effects of this recovery have been observed in the changes in the flow of air over Earth’s surface that causes winds, especially in the southern hemisphere.
Talking to The Independent, Antara Banerjee, the lead author of the study said:
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 ozone layer is now expected to recover at different speeds in different parts of the atmosphere and if the world adheres to the Montreal protocol this recovery is possible by 2060.