Rise in banned ozone-destroying chemical emissions leaves scientists baffled
A MYSTERIOUS rise in banned ozone-destroying substances could cause irreparable damage to the Earth's UV protection layer, scientists are warning.
Researchers are now locked in a race against time to find the source of the emissions, which they believe are spreading from somewhere in East Asia.
The chemicals known as Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, were once found in everything from cans of hairspray to ovens and fridges.
Then they were banned under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, after a team of scientists discovered they were contributing to a giant hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica.
Researchers had hoped that the global agreement to phase out the harmful substances would result in the ozone layer being salvaged.
And in 2016, boffs declared that the earth's protective shield was on the mend.
But this latest surge in emissions could permanently hamper those rescue efforts.
In the new study, scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) claim that CFC-11 emissions have recently increased by 25 percent above the average measured from 2002 to 2012.
And though the concentrations of this banned substance are still declining, they're falling more slowly than they would if there was no new origin of emanations.
CFCs found in building materials and appliances before the ban was enforced still leak into the air today.
But neither atmospheric distribution nor these older CFC sources are behind the recent spike, claims the new study.
The findings also ruled out chemical manufacturing processes as a possible culprit.
Ultimately, the researchers decided that somebody is making the banned substance and leaking it into the atmosphere.,
"In the end, we concluded that it’s most likely that someone may be producing the CFC-11 ," said NOAA scientist Stephen Montzka, the study’s lead author.
"We don't know why they might be doing that and if it is being made for some specific purpose."
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The ozone layer protects the planet from dangerous ultraviolet radiation, which is known to cause skin cancer in humans.
Montzka added that further investigations are required to trace the exact location of the emissions in East Asia.
He added: “We’re raising a flag to the global community to say, ‘This is what’s going on, and it is taking us away from timely recovery of the ozone layer.’”
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