The Ozone Layer's Recovery by 2060
- flaminiavisionfact
- Dec 17, 2025
- 4 min read
Author: Eren Koc
The ozone layer has very thin layer of gas. It is in the high location of the earth atmosphere. Its mission is to protect the sun lights coming from the sun. Since these lights are harmful for people’s health, it has such an important role. It saves us from harmful UV, ultraviolet light, radiation. If we do not have ozone layer, these harmful lights would reach us and be harmful for humans, animals, and plants. During 20 th century, it was found out by the scientist that the human actions cause big amount of damage to ozone layer. It was the first time international concern raised. Many countries and scientist warned people. They took international action. Thanks to these precautions, ozone layer is getting better today. The ozone layer seems to get better day by day and it is expected to heal until 2060. It is considered as one of the most successful environmental successes for humans.
Why the Ozone Layer Is Important
It has the role of protecting radiation coming from the sun. This UV radiation would cause
people to have higher risk of having cancer and eye diseases. Also, it reduces the risk of
weakened immune system. So, without ozone layer, people would have worse quality of life. Also, plants and animals would suffer as well. It is dispensable for humans and nature. For example, there are lots of plants that are vulnerable to sun lights. Because of too much UV radiation, they would die or they would not have crop yields. Eventually, there would not be too much agriculture and food supply for humans. For marine, small organisms as plankton is not too strong for UV radiation. They could not survive without ozone layer. Because it is essential for food chain in the oceans, it would affect the other fish too. So, we can understand that it is too important to keep ozone layer safe not only for human’s life but also for ecosystem.
The Ozone Problem in the Past
In years of 1970s and 1980s, some scientists could identify that ozone layer were affected by the human activity. The main reason of this harm was mostly coming from chemical reactions. These were called chlorofluorocarbons. It was generally used in the making of fridges, sprays, and air conditionings. Because it was cheap, resistible, and powerful. After these chemicals were released, they got the to the upper atmosphere. Here, they were interacted with ozone layers’ molecules and they got comminute. This event caused ozone layer to shrink. The biggest effect was seen in Antarctica. This event shocked all the world and caused great anxiety among people. It showed all the world that human activity has a great impact on ozone layer. This realization was the turning point of countries to take action towards ozone layer.
Action: The Montreal Protocol
The ozone crisis brought nations from around the world together into action. In 1987, they signed an international agreement known as the Montreal Protocol. The primary purpose of this agreement was to reduce and eventually eliminate the production and use of ozone-depleting substances. Industry and technology were affected by major changes under the Montreal Protocol. Many companies had to find safer alternatives to harmful chemicals. Though very painful in the beginning, this process actually worked well. One of the strongest points that inspired the agreement was the global cooperation of both developed and developing countries, active participants and recipients of support, respectively, to assist them in making the transition. Eventually, there was a steady decline in the quantities of substances that damaged the ozone layer present within the atmosphere.
Signs of Recovery
Since the signing of The Montral Protocol, the scientists have been following the result of ozone layer. It can be said that the ozone layer is getting better day. The ozone hole in the Antarctica has shrunk in the last years. According to scientist’s prediction, ozone layer can reach to its version in 1980 until 2040. However, since the damage in Antarctica is more than the other parts of the world, it can be healed totally by 2060. Even though it sounds little bit slow, it takes a lot of time to cover itself. Also, it is one of the most hopeful actions for humans to make for nature. Moreover, it is not only hopeful for humans for the action. On the other hand, human’s health is getting better as well.
Complications and Follow-Up
Even tough the healing in ozone layer is going better, there are some challenges for this. For example, some chemicals can stay in the ozone layer for a long time. We try to heal ozone layer, but we damaged so much in the past that it has to take some more time. Also, climate change affects the ozone layer. Since we have to face climate change every year harshly, it affects the ozone layer as well. Because of these reasons, the experts still watch the ozone layer so carefully. They try to find new solutions to protect its safety. Also, the countries must follow The Montral Protocol to maintain this success. They should prevent the use of harmful chemicals. Lastly, for the permanent solution, people and society should not harm ozone layer. Everyone should be more concerned.
Hopeful Results in The Future
The expected recovery of the ozone layer by 2060 presents another powerful example of what global cooperation can achieve. The human activities that caused serious damage to the ozone layer became a matter of human responsibility and collective action that reversed the problem. That success showed that with science-based policies and international agreements, protection of the environment was possible. The ozone story says something important for the future: the key problem of environmental issues is that they all too often appear to be intractable, and none more than climate change. Yet, the recovery of the ozone layer proves that positive change will come. Learning from this experience can enable societies to take firmer action to protect the planet for the health of future generations.
You can also read about:
References
Comments