The ozone layer is on track to recover in around four decades due to a global phaseout of chemicals which is also helping curb climate change, scientists said. A UN-backed scientific assessment panel said the phaseout of nearly 99% of banned ozone-depleting substances has succeeded in safeguarding the ozone layer, which is recovering in the upper stratosphere.
The Montreal Protocol came into force in 1989, after scientists raised the alarm over a "hole" or decrease in the Earth's ozone layer which protects humans against harmful ultraviolet rays. The international agreement bans ozone-depleting chemicals such as CFCs, and the latest four-yearly report from the scientific assessment panel to the Montreal Protocol assesses its impact.
If current policies remain in place, the ozone layer is expected to recover to 1980 levels - before the appearance of the hole - by around 2066 over the Antarctic, by 2045 over the Arctic, and by 2040 for the rest of the world. Variations in the size of the Antarctic ozone hole, particularly between 2019 and 2021, were driven largely by meteorological conditions, but the hole has been slowly improving in area and depth since 2000, the report said.
