Ozone treaty could be adapted to limit a potent greenhouse gas
NOV 10, 2010
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.024820
Nature : In force since 1989, the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer—to give the treaty its full name—has successfully forestalled the widening of the ozone holes above Earth’s polar regions. The treaty was aimed at two classes of chemical: chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Now, as Nature‘s Jeff Tollefson reports, the signatories of the original Montreal Protocol are considering amending the treaty to curtail emissions of a related class of chemical, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). HFCs are much less damaging to the ozone hole than CFCs or HCFCs, but HFCs are a 1000 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Fortunately, alternatives to HFCs already exist. Prospects for reducing the HFC presence in the atmosphere are good.
© 2010 American Institute of Physics
