The
picture alongside shows
the hole in the ozone layer
(area marked grey) over
the Antarctic. The affected
area depicted is approximately
28 Mio km2 or 8.5 times
the size of the Indian continent!!
It will require many dozens
of years (scientists say
50 years or more) to repair
the damage, even with the
Ozone Depleting Substances
phased out.
Protecting the Ozone
Layer
The first international
agreement to protect the
ozone layer was the Vienna
Convention on the Protection
of the Ozone layer. This
was followed by the Montreal
Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone layer
in 1987. The Montreal Protocol
was substantially revised
four times, the latest being
in 1999 (Beijing). The Montreal
Protocol stipulates that
the production and consumption
of compounds that deplete
the ozone layer like, chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs), halons, and carbontetrachloride
are to be phased out by
2010 while methyl chloroform
by 2005.
