MONTREAL PROTOCOL

Montreal Protocol

Due to the too much use of CFCs, our ozone absorbs most of the ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation reaching the surface of the planet; depletion of the ozone layer by CFCs would lead to an in increase in UV-B radiation at the surface, resulting in an increase in skin cancer and other impacts such as damage to crops and to marine lifes.

The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty helps to protect the ozone layer by limiting the production of numerous substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. The treaty was opened for signature on September 16, 1987, and entered into force on January 1, 1989, followed by a first meeting in Helsinki on May 1989. Since then, it has undergone seven revisions, in London (1990), Nairobi (1991), Copenhagen (1992), Bangkok (1993), Vienna (1995), Montreal (1997), and in Beijing (1999). It is said to be that if the international agreement is adhered, the ozone layer is expected to recover on the year 2050.

The Montreal Protocol has often been called the most successful international environmental agreement to date because there is clear evidence of a decrease in the atmospheric burden of ozone-depleting substances and some early signs of stratospheric ozone recovery like when NASA found out that the thinning at Antarctica had remained the same thickness for the previous three years on year 2001.