A New Threat To The Ozone Has Been Discovered

Industrial emissions from a chemical called dichloromethane (CH2CI2) have been detected in the atmosphere, threatening to slow the reparation of the ozone which has been on the mend for at least a decade now. The chemical is commonly-used in solvent, paint remover and pharmaceutical production, to name a few, which has increased exponentially over the past few years.

The ozone layer— which protects the inhabitants of Earth from the sun’s ultraviolet rays— is drastically affected by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) such as CH2CI2, which essentially break apart upon exposure to sunlight. Chlorine atoms are then released to tangle with the chemicals in the stratosphere, dismantling any ozone molecules they come into contact with.

As reported by Science Magazine, world leaders came together in 1987 in the attempt to create an international protocol that would ban the production and use of known CFCs. However, this agreement—formally known as the Montreal Protocol—essentially ignored CH2CI2 due to the fact that it was believed the chemical didn’t stay intact long enough to do any significant damage to the stratosphere and, subsequently, ozone. This has now been proven false, as recent evidence does, in fact, suggest that CH2CI2 molecules can float up to the lowest edge of the stratosphere, which includes the ozone layer.