Now for some good news about our planet: The ozone layer is healing.
A recent United Nations-backed assessment found continued progress in the global effort to repair the shield-like layer high up in the stratosphere that protects Earth and its inhabitants from harmful ultraviolet radiation that causes skin cancer and hurts plants and animals. The ozone layer is now on track to be restored to 1980s levels over much of the world by 2040, over the Arctic by 2045 and the Antarctic by 2066.
The gradual recovery of the ozone layer has been held up as proof that humanity can succeed with sustained, collective action against a shared threat to our environment. So should it also give us hope for the climate crisis? Not if we ignore its example and continue with the same plodding rate of action.
