In 1987, panic about the “ozone hole” from ozone-depleting chemicals such as refrigerants led to the Montreal Protocol. Now, the narrative mainly concerns the climate effects of such chemicals. Are you ready to do without air conditioning to save the Planet?
Stratospheric ozone protects the earth from excess ultraviolet radiation. Increases in skin cancer and cataracts were predicted—if the “hole” spread to parts of the earth outside Antarctica.
The graphs below show that the area of the “ozone hole” (seasonal Antarctic ozone depletion) is about the same as in 1987, as is the minimum level of stratospheric ozone measured in Dobson units. The Montreal Protocol made little difference.
Ozone depletion has been monitored since 1979 using NASA’s Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer, an instrument carried by the Nimbus-7 satellite. We do not know what was happening before that, say due to natural factors. We have no data prior to 1957.
The real purpose of the Montreal Protocol was to show that an international environmental treaty was feasible. The strategy was to ”start and strengthen”—at first only three halons and five chlorofluorocarbons [CFCs] were involved. Now it is proposed to force replacement of the replacements and the equipment required to use them—at enormous expense. Even asthma inhalers have had to be replaced.
The effect of the expanded bans on ozone, surface ultraviolet, and global climate will be negligible. The impact on the economy: devastating. Will you be able to afford to pay ten times (or even twice) as much to replace your car or home air conditioning?
Additional information:
- International agreements and sovereignty, AAPS News, August 2024
- “The Trouble with Ozone,” Sallie Baliunas, 2000 Doctors for Disaster Preparedness meeting
- “Why the U.S. Should Withdraw from the Montreal Protocol,” by Dr. Hugh Ellsaesser
- “Stratospheric Ozone: Politically Correct and Other Views,” by S. Fred Singer (designer of the first satellite instrument for measuring atmospheric ozone), 1996 Doctors for Disaster Preparedness meeting
- “Changes in Threat,” The Week That Was, April 8, 2023
