The Positives: The Ozone Layer

Zachary Rohwer
    While I see the modern Environmental movement as an incredibly fantastic thing, I do have a couple of complaints. My biggest one probably being the fact that on social media, virtually only negatives discussed. While negatives do outweigh the positives, it’s important to be aware of all the great steps humanity is taking. An example of such a positive would be the Ozone Layer.

    Starting in about the 1970’s, the ozone layer began rapidly decreasing. This was mostly a result of Ozone-depleting substances (ODS), such as aerosol. The ozone was depleting at a staggering rate of four percent a year, and drastic measures needed to be taken immediately.

Antarctic Ozone Hole in 2001

This was the cause of the Montreal Protocol in 1989, which banned or heavily restricted the use of many of these ODS substances. The Montreal Protocol is currently considered one of the most successful global environmental agreements ever created. While it has taken a fair bit of time, as of 2019 the ozone is starting to recover. According to some sources, the hole is smaller than it has been since the early 1980s. 

Antarctic Ozone Hole as of October 20th

    Now does this mean the problem is over and we’ve fixed our problem? Of course not. We probably won’t be seeing the ozone 100% repaired for 50+ years. However, what’s really important is how we’ve begun redeeming our past mistakes for this piece of the environment. I believe it’s important to have hope that we as a species can indeed redeem our past failings, and my issue with environmental social media is it portrays our current situation as one without hope. The Earth is portrayed as a place that is hopeless, that nothing is going right and it’s all falling about irreparably. That’s why this story is so important; it gives an example of the true positives of environmentalism; we’re fixing what needs to be fixed.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I totally agree with you. It's hard to faith for the future if you only acknowledge the successes of the past. I always knew that the Montreal Protocol existed but I never knew what it did. Banning of certain aerosols has definitely helped the atmosphere recover as you said. Maybe banning other things like plastics will actually have long term impacts. The ozone is a crucial part of the atmosphere and without it, we could literally be cooked by the sun. So I am grateful for the world's environmental accomplishments so far.
October 26, 2019 at 6:33 PM
Anonymous said…
What good news! I agree social media has caused problems in many especially when it comes to the environment. This is really cool that its healing. I’m glad the ozone is healing. Honestly I didn’t know what the ozone layer did before this class so thank goodness it’s recovering! I really don’t want to be alive when the ozone is totally gone so whew! Let’s keep up the good work! But we cant give up now.
October 28, 2019 at 11:01 AM
Anonymous said…
It’s really good to hear about how certain steps being taken to help save the planet are working, and are actually effective.
Personally, I feel like giving people a little bit of good news would make them feel like they did enough and become lax. That’s one of the biggest reasons people always blow the negatives out of proportion: to encourage the population to truly believe they need to take action. Banning is definitely a clear line of what flies and what doesn’t that is working really well and I feel like using it more often may not be a terrible idea.
October 28, 2019 at 4:35 PM
Anonymous said…
That’s awesome that our ozone layer is improving. I believe that the world is taking a stronger stance to improve the global climate. Which this is a great thing as addressing climate change often requires the help of the more developed nation since developing nations lack the money and infrastructure to help. When the world works together, climate change will be reduced. Also I think people use fear and social media posts to evoke a stronger passion to improve the environment. Urvi Vallapareddy
October 29, 2019 at 1:06 PM
Anonymous said…
It's really easy to be forcussed on the negatives with concerns about the environment, but this kind of news makes everything we've done seem worth it. I wish we could take the same precautions that we did with the ozone layer to other issues like deforestation. As an elementary student, I was taught that the excess of co2 was causing the ozone layer to expand and that's where there are hole(s) in it. It's weird to think it's actually because of other things, not greenhouse gasses. I'm glad we have started to reverse what we caused though. In addition, some endangered animal species populations are going up. Pandas are no longer "endangered" and tiger populations are rising! I hope these positives will grow and expand into other problems!
October 30, 2019 at 11:57 AM
Anonymous said…
Awesome to finally hear some good news about the environment! It’s important that we continue to take steps to reduce the impact on the ozone layer. It’s good that we have stuff like the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer but I think we can still take bigger action to save the environment.
October 30, 2019 at 12:26 PM
Anonymous said…
Looking at the decrease in damage we’ve done to our ozone layer, it’s certainly a relief to see humans are finally maybe taking the right steps to fixing the damage we’ve inflicted on our environment. That said, it is very disappointing that the damage got as far as it did without anyone noticing, but I suppose it’s good that it was noticed as soon as it was. Also, it is quite shocking to see global leaders cooperating so willingly on an issue, as evidenced in the Montreal Protocol, and I do very much hope that our current leaders will take the cue from leaders of the past and address current environmental crises in the same way.
October 30, 2019 at 9:57 PM
Anonymous said…
Whenever I've read about how our earth is on its decline, I usually feel very discouraged, but after reading this I feel really relieved to know that our actions are starting to pay off. With things like the Montreal Protocol truly working to repair our ozone layer, I hope he international community can make more agreements like this to solve the looming problems that we have currently.
October 31, 2019 at 12:32 PM
Anonymous said…
I was unaware that the state of the ozone layer is progressively getting better. Social media coverage causes people to believe that there is no hope for the future of the environment and that there is nothing we can do to stop our inevitable doom. However, it is encouraging to know that the hole in Antarctica is actually getting smaller. This causes me to have hope for the future of this world. I think we should continue protests that hold companies accountable for the damage they are doing to the environment. Before this blog post, I did not know how effective the Montreal Protocol actually is. It is reassuring to know that different nations can come together and solve an international problem that puts all of us at risk.
October 31, 2019 at 7:08 PM
Anonymous said…
I totally agree with what you are saying. People seem to only complain for the sake of complaining, and often end up doing nothing to help. By bringing up these positive and successful attempts at environmental protection, we can learn from them and truly make the process of fixing Earth a lot faster and efficient.
November 1, 2019 at 6:35 PM
Anonymous said…
When you put an idea into someone's head most of the time it sticks not budging until there is proof. I believe that, this is what is happening with the Ozone Layer. The news brought the hole to the attention of the public and now that's what people are worried about. The worriedness won't go away until there is solid proof that it won't affect the population.
November 3, 2019 at 12:53 PM
Adam Yook said…
I think that environmental problems should be taken at face value without a positive or negative spin on them. These days, polarization of issues is so common, and I think some of that can be avoided by neutral reporting of facts. That would facilitate more social change as people are not immediately polarized to one side or the other.
November 5, 2019 at 6:32 PM
Anonymous said…
Never do I often witness a day when media coverage brings in a positive story to be broadcasted but this example of our population taking a stand to fix our own environment is outstanding. If i had not read this article I would never have been aware of a positive measure we have taken to fix our own problems. I hope in the future we are able to take such a stand as this, and for our own sakes as soon into the future as possible.
November 6, 2019 at 6:50 PM
Aerah Kim said…
The ozone layer helps protect us from harmful UV rays and this article definitively informed me on fixing our own real world problems. People only talk about the negatives about the environment and never inform us about what we really do right or wrong.
November 7, 2019 at 12:07 PM
Andrew Thomas said…
I totally agree with you. With the ozone layer improving, it will greatly help us because it helps protect us from harmful UV rays. the ozone is a crucial part of the atmosphere and without it, we could possibly be affected in a very negative way. By bringing up these positive and successful attempts of environmental protection for the ozone layer will eventually make the process of fixing Earth a lot faster and efficient.
- Andrew Thomas
November 11, 2019 at 9:31 PM
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