Why you don’t hear about the ozone layer anymore
Finally, some good news about the environment.
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In the ’80s, scientists discovered there was a hole in the ozone over the South Pole. A significant layer of gas that deflects much of the sun’s radiation was disappearing much faster than anyone expected. Projections suggested it would collapse by 2050, increasing skin cancer rates, harming crops, and destroying the marine food chain. The situation was dire. But today, we are on the path to recovery.
Dr. Susan Solomon, among other scientists, contributed key findings to understand what was depleting the ozone layer and how to address it. In this video she takes us back to her expedition to Antarctica, breaks down how we managed to fix this huge problem, and looks at our next big environmental challenge - climate change - with the unbridled optimism that drove her to fix the ozone hole.
Further reading:
To learn about the scientific discoveries by Mario J. Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland that kickstarted research into chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the ’70s, take a look at their groundbreaking paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/249810a0
To read the 1985 paper that revealed there was an ozone hole forming over the South Pole, click here:
www.nature.com/articles/315207a0
You can find Solomon’s 1986 paper on her Antarctica expedition here:
www.nature.com/articles/321755a0
To read more of Solomon’s work, check out her publications here:
eapsweb.mit.edu/people/solos
To understand the Montreal Protocol in more detail, read the United Nations Environment Programme’s summary here:
www.unep.org/ozonaction/who-w...
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Hi! Christina here - I wanted to share NASA’s World Avoided scenario with you. As a child of the ’80s, the threat of the ozone hole was always something I was aware of, but this model really helped me understand the catastrophe we would’ve faced had we ignored it: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/WorldWithoutOzone Thanks so much for watching our video! Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Thank you, Christina!
Medieval Warm eriod Little Ice age
I almost have a degree in chemical engineering and don't want petroleum industry or any brand in organic chemistry to be eliminated in the name of climate change policy. We are continuously improving and doing things more efficiently to reduce pollutants, but there will always be some of it at the end.
Soo you mean literally every pool and water treatment plant has this soo how will be fix it.
Hey New Zealander here, we have maybe the worst skin cancer rates in the world and from its this hole as I understand. Thanks world ❤️
One day, I hope to see a video like this explaining why we no longer hear about climate change.
There will always be climate change
@@aleale6277 yes but hopefully we can reduce the rate by a significant amount one day :)
😬
Spot on. But scammer freak Billy Gates is buying up all media. So we will probably keep hearing about CC and others of his sophisticated looting schemes.
That will never happen. Climate change is inevitable. We're not causing it, merely speeding it up.
Low key Dr. Susan saved the whole world and no one knows who she is.
and that's what i call a hidden hero
Can you tell about her?
@@idontknow6859 she's the lady in the video..
@@idontknow6859 They’re talking about Dr. Susan Solomon - in the video. This person says Dr. (first name, or Susan in this case). Most say Dr. (last name, or Solomon in this case). I hope I helped you understand this a bit more.
A hero we all need but didn't deserve
It feels amazing to hear something positive about the environment for once
well...sorry to interrupt, but the hole is bigger than ever...china never stopped using those chemicals
@@sanji1259 That is true and in fact it is disrupting fish and other aquatic life by building dams on every single river they have even multiple dams on a single river. That is not including all amount of waste they dump on rivers from all the manufacturing plants they have that make all of our daily products. This was also the cause of the extinction of the baiji dolphin in the Yangtze River
@@link2442 the reality is literally too much to handle for the majority...many solutions turn out to be worse... it's sad what we do ...
@@sanji1259 its healing but very slowly, its not depleting like it used to anymore.
@@Iceify_ because china and others are still using those chemicals...and we don´t care about it but yell how green we are...
I am curious as to why this victory over a depleting ozone layer has not been more publicized?
Because it was a fable that outlived its usefulness.
@@Chef_Alpo A fable in what sense?
@@Victoriens don't try to reason with them...
@@Victoriens people weren't afraid anymore. I'm sure that you can connect the dots from there.
Fear keeps people in line
Imagine a time when people believed science and cared about the environment.
did you watch the video? this is literally an example of it
@@sarbajithazra9981 they weren’t being serious bro. chill
Y’all know the hole in the ozone is still there right? A few months over a year ago the hole got to the size of three times that of the United States. The 12th largest in recorded history. Although, recorded history doesn’t have much on weather patterns and that’s why they can use a speculative hypothesis to scare people. You can’t say they’re wrong or right because it’s purely speculative at the time. Only time will tell and it has said they were wrong.
They didnt really. They did it in the last minute, when they had found another way to fix the issue without it costing them too much
times aren't different. Its just that fuel industry lobby is waaaaay stronger than that for CFCs. Also CFCs were only in some products, while greenhouse gasses are emitted in huge quantities by almost every single company.
Used to write essays about the depletion of ozone layer during school days... around 10 years back...😐 But now...this news is relieving ✌️
Did you offer a solution in your essay? Maybe they used your idea and didn't give you credit. Gotta give credit where credit is due... Thank you for saving our lives. Youʻre the real hero 👏🏽😂
The whole world owes Dr. Susan a huge thank you. A big one
China owes this chicken a huge thank you. Now China produce all freon and export it around the world.
I hope we get “why we don’t hear about climate change anymore” video in the near future
Because it's a lie.
The climate already changed.. wdym?
@@richardscathouse ???
Climate change is a broad name for a series of current changes going on, unlike the ozone being a single solvable issue. Climate change is also a natural process, humans existed during the ice age too. These ages come and go, we have accelerated warming by giving off certain things (methane being a big one comparable to cfcs like in this video), but alot more things are going on then there being one solution.
@@richardscathouse yea not like there are thousands of studies proving it and none proving that it’s false
I literally expected the reason to be: "Because we lost the fight years ago." Since when is it healing? That’s amazing!
it's literally been healing since the cfc ban in the '90s
its healing becuase of covid, we all stayed home because of fear. covid is nothing but a test. has been this whole time.
@@LoneWolfLegendOfficial not quite but I like the enthusiasm
@@LoneWolfLegendOfficial was my first thought when I heard about that whole pandemic thing haha
@@LoneWolfLegendOfficial no, climate change has improved slightly because of Covid. The cfc/ozone problem has been long dealt with
I have never been more invested in a educational video
YES! I distinctly remember when they quit using refrigerant R12 in ALL air conditioners. It happened very quickly. We complained about air-cons not being as cold as they used to be, but when that hole started filling in we were very glad to be a part of it!
HA< ozone is easy to make costs a million to replace it, spent billions to save it
I guess she needed to add a fourth P to the story: Producers. Back then they directly attacked the producers of the chemical, and therefore went straight to the source. These days the narrative is aimed at the consumers and personal responsibility, a narrative invented by stakeholders such as BP. This ensured that for decades the big players stayed out of the picture. Change isn't possible if that remains the case.
exactly
This is such an underrated comment!! So true!
Exactly!! If you want to actually solve a problem you gotta go down to its roots! If you just cut the leaves, they'll grow again
exactly!
This.
This is wild. Literally today I was thinking of how much we heard about the ozone layer as kids and how it’s not talked about anymore and now this video is on my feed
Well Google knows too much about you then... little bit scary
Wasn't there a hole over sydney?
I was thinking about this two hours ago, kind of weird.
Now Google can read your mind, unless of course you were talking about it. I regularly get KZhead feeds about things I was having a conversation about. I know, I know, I can turn that off in settings but I actually find it quite fascinating.
Zucc moment
In Western Australia, you use to be able to go out in the sun for hours without burning, now you are lucking if you can go out for 15 - 30 minutes without burning, its now Spring and even days of 23C feel like the sunlight is burning, we get to 40+C in Summer time.
Sounds like anecdotal evidence to me.
its great that we made this effort all over the world, im just stuck thinking about the question "Why was the hole in ozone hole just over antarctica, where not many people live, feels like the hole should be somewhere else
as soon as i watched this i was like "just another fact contributing to human's extinction" but as soon as j heard that its healing, i genuinely thought it was a joke. I cannot believe us humans actually stopped a huge problem like this. We need to keep doing this.
Ikr??
In the 90s I was very concerned about the destruction of habitat, plastic and chemical pollution of water, and loss of biodiversity. I get why people are concerned about the climate but ever since the early 2000s when climate change has dominated every discussion about the environment the work and attention we spend on the acute issues of pollution, habitat destruction, and species losses seems to be dropping.
I thought the same thing
🤓
Apes together STRONG
Thank god social media didn't exist in the 80's/90's
Why just asking I still haven’t seen the whole thing
Yeah otherwise People might start living underground
@@pedroDpoop well.. watch it then and maybe you'll understand the point he's making.
OMG VERIFIED
The whole thing wasn't real to begin with, it was a hoax.. The goalposts shift soon as the time comes
I understand the mechanics of the situating. But I've also always wondered about two other aspects of the situation: Where the loose oxygen atoms came from is the first. Solar radiation breaks the CFC molecule, releasing a chlorine atom that must combine with something. Its two available choices are to link with another chlorine atom to form a stable chlorine molecule (Cl2) which should then fall to earth, or to encounter and break up an ozone molecule, forming an oxygen molecule 02 and a chlorine monoxide radical The ClO, when encountering a loose oxygen atom will break down again, but ... where is that loose oxygen atom coming from? And why does it break the ClO down, rather than joining it to make a stable ClO2 molecule, chlorine dioxide, which should then also fall to earth? And even given that the chemical reactions actually do occur as described, how do the CFCs, being several times heavier than air, achieve such great altitude and in such large quantity to begin with? I know I am not by any means a great scientist, so am asking the great scientists out there for layman's answers. How do heavy molecules achieve 10 to 25 mile altitudes; and why do the atoms not combine into stable molecules?
Not an expert, but I have done some work with industrial chemistry that involved some relevant products, so I'll take a stab at your questions, though note I stand ready to be corrected by any specialists in the field. In order: a) where do loose oxygen atoms come from? - ozone. It is itself an inherently unstable heavier than air molecule, and breaks down naturally into oxygen molecules plus loose oxygen radicals in response to ionising radiation. b) why doesn't it form chlorine dioxide instead? It does. Very very briefly. ClO2 is very much NOT a stable molecule outside of a polar solvent.* c) how does a heavier than air molecule end up 10 miles plus up with any regularity? Mostly it doesn't. Outside of the polar regions, very few heavy molecules make it that high (Brownian motion and statistics means that some always do - drunkards walk model basically) The icecaps at the poles cause a katabatic wind system to continuesly flow off them, which draws in a high altitude flow of replacement air, which in turn is fed by warmer regions storm systems - those updrafts can carry much heavier things very high indeed (ice crystals, dust etc) d) why do the atoms not combine into stable molecules? some do, hence why the problem becomes partly self solving (once chlorine sources are removed). However, in a high radiation environment, a lot of stable molecules become unstable radicals, hence why we have an ozone layer in the first place - as mentioned in the first answer, ozone isn't stable, and is heavier than air. It only exists in that layer of atmosphere because radiation and electrical sources continue to generate new ozone molecules to replace those that decay or settle earthwards. *seriously, for your own safety, do not play with chlorine dioxide outside of properly diluted solutions. It gets nasty if you get concentrated solutions a bit too warm, let alone exposing concentrated gas to explosive stimuli such as - naked flames, any bare metal, temperatures over 30 degrees C, daylight, loud noises, ambient air pressure....
what's odd is that in australia we were told that we get sunburnt so easily and quickly because of the ozone layer hole. but we get burnt faster/worse now, than back in the period from late 80's onwards.
I'm honestly shocked that we actually did it and it's extremely hard to believe that we stopped it. I hope we can continue this environmental conservation... unfortunately, there are still so many deniers of human-induced climate change that it's hard to have faith in the future of our environment.
It's not the deniers, it's the corporations...who unfortunately seem to be headed by deniers.
Funny thing, humans didnt change anything last couple decades, so humans cant be the reason.
@@fetzi6284 Wdym?
Don't be fooled, that's exactly what they want you to believe. That we are so smart we figured it out and solved it already. Just so they can point at carbon dioxide next and try to the same thing, which would lead to the end of civilization as we know it
You have been deceived. Read the book by Dr. Tim Ball, PhD "The Deliberate Corruption of Climate Science" if you want to actually learn the truth about the climate hoax.
Shout out to the scientists who discovered the problem and proposed a solution and shout out to the media who communicated it to the people. You guys really saved the world.
As a child of the 80’s… I wish we hadn’t bothered.
@@ThePinkBinks The great thing about inventing a crisis out of thin air is that it is very easy to resolve the crisis. All you have to do is announce that the problem is solved and "WOOT" they it is. Oh happy days.
DrCruel Indeed, hence I wish we hadn’t bothered. Or rather I wish my parents generation had been far more discerning. There isn’t a single thing that wasn’t a hoax but people are still falling for them. Not that it matters considering what this has all been leading up to and is about to start.
The time when Scientist are actually listened too.
@@ThePinkBinks so, the ozone never had a hole to begin with?
One day, I hope to see a video like this explaining why we no longer hear about war.
Did you watch the news? lol
I think our biggest worry now is the damage mining cobalt, lithium and copper are doing to our planet, people and water😢
The 90s in school they told us this was an end we Could see. Imagine the anxiety.
Don't have to imagine when we're facing our own global threat.
in the 10's in school they told us climate change and global warming is slowly killing our planet.. it's still happening 😭
@@jezz1217 Ha ha ha ha... Climate Change is the least of your kin's worries... The Earth shall be undone.
@@sethreign8103 the only threat is to drown in the stupidity of people that believe that.
The 70s at school we were tought that we were facing global cooling, and towards a new iceage. They showed us data and facts to support that. We talked alot about that, how that would affect us all. And now warming? They show us data and facts to support that. We talk alot about that, how that can affect us all...
Ozone layer recovery is an environmental success story! It shows that collective action, guided by science, is the best way to solve major global challenges. This kind of good news should inspire all of us to join forces on keeping the earth's rising temperature as low as possible. How awesome would it be if our editors could skip all the flooding/wildfires/extinction stories and could go straight to "How humanity achieved the 1.5 target and saved biodiversity hotspots".
Very true, there is hope!
@@Scrungge Yes, there's hope! 💫
horse manure
The key is the chemistry of CFCs and O3 was well known and straight forward to make that policy change. The best way to get proper policy is to continue to pull more of the population out of poverty, having disposable wealth to place in enacting change. So we must keep energy cheap... the most effective method to keep consistent energy production high is not wind or solar it is nuclear... which has nearly zero (processing and mining contributions) Co2 output. The 4th and now developing 5th generation nuclear is very safe IF safety is a priority (I am watching you China)... no short cuts. Solar and wind are NOT efficient to support global energy demand to keep poverty low and continuing to shrink.
@@vuchaser99 Nuclear power has been safe for sometime now. That we put nuclear power in our warships should be a clue. Those mini nulear power generators could power small cities towns etc for 20 plus years. We are deprived of this because cheap power is not in the financial interest of he few. The ozone hole scare is the same as the AGW scare. Not to mention, the politicians that passed the new controls had "inside information" on which companies to invest in and as well as their political contribution for passing the new laws.. co2 is NOT a pollutant it is a clear odorless gas that happens to be plant food.
Thanks for the scientist who discover the problem and find the solution that is practical. I hope the same for greenhouse gas emission too
i remembered that ozone layer was one of the most specific science subject was put into our grades syllabus. The ozone layer explained that by using certain product can caused the ozone layer to teared apart. It even made into a subject for younger generation. Which i think they needed to emphasis this matter more than just why and the impact. But also the substances involves in it that let them know more about it. What can be done in a project to mitigate besides watching our government solve it but make a project where anyone who can solve the issues scientifically can be rewarded like how they reward a spaceship inventions.
Call me a cynic, but let's be honest, the only reason we were able to take immediate concise action was because the chemical manufacturers were able to hike up the price of the newer HFCs. the yes, the solutions were personal, perceptible, and practical, but above all else they were profitable.
I agree with you. If it's not beneficial for them, why sacrifice?
covid lockdown the entire world economy and people did it.
@@Neko2fishore against their will.
practical = profitable. You can't expect people to voluntarily go broke. That has to be taken into account when thinking about climate change solutions.
Renewable energies are profitable
When they said "The world came together"... I gave that surprised face and was like "We did!?!?!?"
nowadays people are gonna claim it as some sort of government conspiracy and would hoard CFC products
I would doubt North Korea, China and Iran to be participating
🌚
me too. Dang everyone actually signed that treaty!? What?! Like, that never happens!
Also thank you very much for specifying exact list of music used in the video, very polite from you, loved some tracks in the background
I was just reading a study that found CFCs currently at record highs. I think there needs to be more studies. When they discovered the hole they did not and still don't know how long it was there or if it was always there?
It's so nice to hear that the world is able to take collective action when it's really crucial. Nice to know that this is at least possible.
*was atleast possible....
@@johnbainivanua2566 too bad internet happened
@@beezmanit2683 its bittersweet. Information available to everyone with the caveat being anyone can modify that information.
Conspiracy theorists: hold my beer
Problem is: this was way easier to solve.
"every single country eventually signed the protocol, making it the only universal treaty to every be ratified" wow this has brought me back some hopes with the humanity
Even though this happened 34 years ago?
According to some there is another: all countries in the world have agreed to hype up a harmless corona virus so that they can destroy their own economies. Strange how this is the only other thing in history that all countries could agree on... 🙄
@@christophh9477 I didn't read your comment thorougly, I deleted mine and hope you can accept my apology xD
@@christophh9477 Wait, your comment begs some more careful explanations. Are you saying the particular take that the pandemic problem is somehow overblown is right or wrong? Because it is wrong, profoundly so. I see someone down there excusing themselves because of a now-deleted response to your comment, but it is not clear whether you think we should worry about an airborne virus that spreads very quickly and has the potential to overburden healthcare systems worldwide and has already produced millions of victims worldwide.
@@moscanaveia comment starts with “according to some”. So it’s not Christoph opinion
the choice of words that Dr. Susan Solomon used are powerful and i, myself, never expected those words to come out from her..... but its done and the world became conscious about the topic. ..... and eventually, act on it. What a gifted human she is. And I was thankful we had her in our times.
Look how everone can work together when problems weight more than greed. thanks for this video.
I was in my grade school when I learned about the ozone layer having a massive hole. As a child, it was a scare. Thankful that it has healed
phew same
I remember when we talked about the deodorants in the locker room after sports class. Saying stuff like "so you're still destroying the ozone layer" when someone had spray on deodorant. We were well aware of the CFCs. I guess it was the first time ever that I started to pay attention to what things really contained. And there were spray on deodorants labeled "does not contain CFC". I was using the roll on ones, so didn't need to worry, but of course there was also hairspray and fridges. I wish climate change was as easy to deal with.
Lol! Same here.
What about CFC's in a/c?
Yeah that was miraculous
I've actually been wondering about this a lot. When I was a kid it was all over the news and they even had that "sun screen" song that was insanely popular for no apparent reason. Now you literally never hear about it. Thanks so much for producing this.
ur here too?
that's when politicians owned sunblock stock... now it's pharma. :-)
I don’t think there probably EVER was a significant problem… yet another lie propagated by climate extremists and engineered to push the “green” agenda… i think GOD fixed it because His people have been praying for restoration!
@@originalmamagrizzly2478 Well if that's the case, let's hope people start praying to fix world hunger, homelessness, and peace.
@@instinctrules2969 I'm everywhere 😉
i like how they showed steam (water vapor) at the nuclear plant at the end like that was a problem. the plant is creating rain for areas east of it. plus clean energy.
Excellent documentary. Bravo. So well told in the time range needed. Excellent work!
It’s nice to have an uplifting video about the earths future, it’s so often a doomsday narrative
Absolutely, yeah! It's always too depressing when it involves climate change. A refreshing outlook 🌏
Bad news is always louder than good news, also sell better
some people on the left talk like our planet is doomed while it's not.
@@tibodeclercq2131 it is if we carryon like were are right now
@@sprigganmint9291 It's not doomed. We can deal with some of it after all. And spending trillions of dollars ain't helping.
I remembering giving a presentation at school in the 1990s about the importance of saving the earth's ozone layer. I'm glad we've successfully come a long way since then. 🌍
Makes sense. Humanity created the problem and as soon as we took our hands off the wheel, everything straightened out.
Half of Americans don't believe in climate change. And guess who is leading the charge?
You are not a child anymore, you can't believe it climate change as an adult.
To counter global warming, we need to shoot chemicals that prevent sun heat energy absorption into the sky. 10 years later: Snowpiercer
Amen! 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🌙🌙🌙🌙💎💒🌙🌴🌴🌴💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣🔔🌙🍈🍈🍈🍈🍈🍈🍈🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾
To finally have the explanation of one of our biggest climate change issues on a scientific front is so helpful.
i remember changing everything in my life during the 80's and 90's to use friendly products to limit the damage
It is so refreshing to hear good news about the environment for once.
Ikr I was freaking out.
@R J i like fish
We could solve most of the ecological problems in the West overnight. All one would have to do is to stop issuing billion dollar grants to ecologists with dubious academic credentials and research practices.
For real, aside from most of humanity dying from skin cancer if the Ozone hole was not confronted, the global temperature would also already be around 1 degree Celsius warmer than today, which would've pretty much already devastated humanity decades ago.
@@tenidaska9984 me tooo (¤ _°)
At least I can say that once in my lifetime humanity realized a problem and stepped up together to solve it. I hope this trend can continue.
After the cold war... we almost go extint by nukes...they get rid of most of nucks ...
The solution for eliminating nuclear weapons is one-world government. Otherwise, you may as well just watch Superman IV repeatedly until you get the point.
Tell me how you participated 😐
Acid rain is also vastly reduced since the early 90s, thanks to the cap & trade system
Oh yeah, like the vaccines 🤣
Wow.. Dr. Susa Solomon should be awarded 🥺
The science of it all blew my mind
On behalf of the younger generation, i’m here to tell you how grateful im for this.
same
Why tho they broke it only logical that they fix it
@Arun Mathew this was going to affect them. plus this may sound a bit entitled, but I am not gonna be grateful for some one breaking my home and then fixing it
So nice of you Inaya! I, too, express my gratitude for this. Also, the disaster caused by climate change needs to be handled by our generation and we shall make ourselves ready...
it was never a significant problem. There was no "hole" in the ozone , just a seasonal low concentration area over the poles which should be expected based on atmospheric physics. This was another hysteria driven primarily by politics.
Hopefully, this success story can inspire us to tackle the great environmental issue of our time. Through our productions, we meet so many incredibly motivated people out there, doing an incredible job. The solutions are there, we just have to be willing to pull together.
13 mins ago 61 likes me impressed
SHUT UP!
Hope our goverments do something useful other then just sit and wait
Together we can make a difference!
@@eliasziad7864 Climate change sceptic, why do you exist?
We can learn that when we ALL come together, we can achieve almost anything!❤️
The human population is way off the charts and it requires extraordinary effort to do something about climate change
If earth is considered mother, human are the greatest mfs out there
🤣🤣
You are talking about yourself, your family, friends and everyone.
@@KingVermilion Is he wrong tho?
Nice one
And Activists have mommy kinks
Excellent news. Very well presented by a very knowledgeable lady. This is a sign of what the people of the world can achieve. Protect this planet for everyones future 🙂
This should be talked about more. Humanity recognized a threat and really worked together to solve it,
Small correction, humans created a threat, later recognized it, then they created another threat to mitigate the first threat.
Yes gives me hope for the climate catastrophe
“The 80s was all about big hair, MTV, the human race saving itself from destruction, and dancing”
I heard that When avg. Global temps reach 47 Celsius it would turn earth into venus
@@user-ns2vc4rn6j Yes if we reach 47 degrees co2 would be so much in the air temperture would reach Venus temperatures in a decade
The 80s was all about shallowness and vanities.
@@Edithmedjdoub I guess that would be possible at ranges like 30,000 ppm CO² which is impossible
@@Edithmedjdoub as of now the CO² level is 400 which is same as levels in Cretaceous period it was 200 pre industrial and likely 150 before the advent of farming
Wait.... you are telling me if the world got together, leaving aside their differences, we can avoid catastrophe.... This is brand new information
🤣🤣🤣
never realised that omg
Humans aren't actually that bad at working together and solving issues as long as there aren't more powerful people in the way. Sure, there were forces that didn't want to stop producing CFCs, but they weren't even close to being comparable to the power of the petroleum industry, past and present. No country then relied on CFCs for their economies to the same degree that they do for fossil fuels now, and an aerosol manufacturer doesn't come close to an oil company in terms of how they can bully politicians into doing whatever they want and buying media outlets to trick a critical mass of voters. Still, with this information and a successful roadmap based on CFC phaseout, the climate crisis could be our next success (albeit only partially; some damage is already irreversible for the next few centuries).
@@vitaminluke5597 The most important takeaway is that capitalism keeps creating worldwide crises and for each one we get closer to the edge before dealing with it than we did last time, so if we do manage to beat climate change we just have to really hope that there won't be another one after that because that one will be sure to destroy us.
this was a time before Twitter and Facebook so we did believe our scientist and experts! I'm not holding my breath for the next save!
In other words why nobody talks about ozone hole is because, it's not a problem anymore (also climate change stole the spot light.)
That wonderful graph showing the ozone layer getting better on average certainly doesn't reflect the uv values that continuously increase every year. Why not show a few graphs of the UV levels on average, as that is what is really important. I'm surprised the graph shows levelling off and improvement of the ozone layer in such a short time given the fact that chlorine is there for 50 to 150 years.
We are just going to throw in the climate change bit, you know because the coasts are all under water, all the storms and weather events are far worse, and the polar ice caps are gone, you know because its an emergency.
Those scientists are the real heroes. It's incredible how they managed to find that one specific substance that was consuming the ozone!
*Tiny correction: they aren't one specific substance but a group of similar substances
It must have been a heroic feat to figure out the underlying mechanisms of those chemicals- Its kinda less perceptible from a public standpoint, no storms wracked the country, island countries wernt disappearing.
Imagine spending your whole life studying atmospheric properties only to have someone that doesn't even know what O3 is tell you there is no problem. I feel so bad for scientists sometimes. I'm really glad they were able to get people on board for this one.
Scientists made the chemicals that destroyed it
I'd disagree to some extent. I'd contend society at large is the real hero. The scientists had the opportunity as society granted the the appropriate opportunities, and incentives for them to do it. Scientists still get credit, as they are part of society.
Finally some good news. Vox should make more videos like this, most of they’re content is just depressing Edit: spoke too early
Its reality.
Their*
@@fightplace123 I never know exactly when to use their and they're.. not very bright I guess.😃
@@Carl6801force use the same sentence with "they are". If it doesn't make sense, then don't use they're. It's how I figure it out xD
@@Carl6801force it’s aight, both of u guys are assuming aren’t english
The video is so much fantastic and appreciable, it explain each and every dimensions and the caption is wonderful why we don't listen about it 🙂🙂🙂
I remember as kids, we learned about this ozone depletion almost every year in environmental science. The awareness that gets created through education and representation is so intensive. I hope we can do the same for global warming and water depletion
Water depletion? Where do you think water is going?😅😅😅
I hope Dr. Solomon knows that she has literally saved the entire world.
bet she thinks that, too.
Research James Lovelock
She would be if it were true.
@@alandouglas2789 what do you mean
At least for now
My father in the 1960's and early 1970's was a scientist at Australia's CSIRO and he was tasked to measure the ozone layer. The ozone issues were first raised back then and papers with proof showing the ozone depletion and the cause being CFC's. No one back then wanted to listen so the depletion went on and a hole developed. Only then, people started to listen and take note.
Yup. Itʻs a familiar and predictable story. Only once climate change has caused damages that are horrific and irreversible will the holdouts stop obstructing and allow changes to be enacted.
Humans are REALLY bad at acting urgently to prevent a problem. We are amazing, however, in coming together to make solutions to problems AFTER they start.
It wasn't an Australian, his name was Alfredo Molina, Mexican Nobel prize winner, he discovered the link between CFC's and the ozone layer depletion.
@@IrKeNoVa My father went to Macquarie Island and Antarctica in the late 60's and early 70's to measure the ozone layer and logged the depletion. As I stated the research papers were provided but were rejected as no one hear wanted to listen. It is good that Molina was also working in this too.
@@aussietaipan8700 I was educated in part by Molina, he never mentioned your father. He did talked about his fellow Nobel laureates. So sorry your father didn't get the recognition, but history has been written.
It's amazing what humans can do when united.
Amazing what we can do when we work together.
I remember this as a kid and I hear it all the time in school and on TV. I always wondered what had happened... I wish we can do the same for climate change.
Difference from the past and now is that no big power was making money off of the chemical that contributed to depleting the O-zone. This time climate change is by oil companies, fracking and big money war machines that contribute to manufacturing polluting weapons. Now that it impacts them they won't comply
@@jynxyouowemeasoda5066 it’s the same thing as the pass. Why you think we switching gasoline cars to electric vehicles by 2030. Because of global warming. Vehicles all over the world make i big impact to global warming along other things
@@osvaldovalencia6330 Do you really believe that humans can mine enough metals to replace gas cars with electric in only 10 years??? Gas cars will be with us for many decades yet. What the earth really needs is less humans, over population is a problem, we wont be able to feed them all without depleting resources.
@@fastone371 what u r saying won’t happen. Once car companies switch to full electric I’m sure governments are gonna put pressure to people to change electric cars by helping them do down payment or 0 down payment. Not everyone gonna switch all at once but gasoline cars already have death date and that’s 2030
@@osvaldovalencia6330 Where are all of the materials going to come from to make the batteries that will be required??? I will believe the end of petrol cars when I see it, you can go ahead and believe the government if you want to but I personally wont put any stock into that.
I feel like in protecting the Ozone we weren't up against a powerful industry like the oil and fossil fuel lobby.
You can't demonize an industry that you're using every day yourself. People love to shout that the fossil fuel industry is evil and the cause of climate change, but they still drive their gasoline cars, so what would they do if fossil fuels would be banned? Walk? We need more affordable electric cars first, so we can stop extracting fossil fuels. Otherwise we will be left with tons of gasoline cars, but no fuel to make them work.
@@Ruzzky_Bly4t most americans have no choice but to drive a car, it’s a necessity in many areas. Should that prevent people for criticising the fossil fuel industry? absolutely not
@@Ruzzky_Bly4t How are people supposed to stop using cars if they live in a car-dependent town or city?
@@pmc_ They can't, because we need car-independent towns and cities, which is a huge effort.
@@marcoroberts9462 Yes it should. It's the industry that allows them to use their car, so they're part of the industry as well.
She said why its different for us, "it was a problem we have now, it's not a future problem.". I find it's one of the reasons a lot of people don't take climate change seriously because people always talk about in the future it's going to be really bad.
The Earth knows how to Heal itself ..... Humans have done NOTHING to put us on track for Catastrophe !! It's ALL a Scam !! Have A Nice Day !! 🙂
and i hope we’ll continue to heal along with it
2 questions I’m left with after this. 1. Why was the ozone so bad over Antarctica? 2. If the CFCs last a century, why would any change have a noticeable impact in just a decade? Shouldn’t things look basically the same for the next 50 plus years? I’m not any type of expert, so just curious.
Energetic particles are funneled into the south pole due to the magnetosphere, they annihilate ozone (O3), the hole is still there and through natural processes increases and decreases in size due to electric atmospheric processes, temperature and those energetic particles from space. The Earth's magnetosphere has decline in strength for many years and continues to weaken. A good source for information is the SuspiciousObservers channel here on KZhead. Although CFCs do interact with ozone we would be arrogant in thinking that humans were the only cause, Volcanic eruptions dump tons and tons of chemicals that do this also. I think it's great that we are striving to pollute less but the money doesn't seem to go in that direction.
it has been almost 50 years
Most valid observations and questions here…
Something about patents on CFC's running out, Dupont needed the world to change to the newly patented HFC's. People can believe what ever they want, I guess.
@@willyhillstrom7816 the patent issue was around r22 which is why Dupont wanted to make it redundant and move to 134a then 410a etc. In the 1970s the design of the large industrial CFC chillers ment that when they started up they used to vent gas to remove air contaminants. World wide it meant hundreds tons of CFC'S were vented to atmosphere each year. With r22 you never had that issue.
I remembered once when the ozone layer was taught as endangered at my elementary school
Too bad, because it certainly looks like you are still on that level of knowledge.
@@Jolly_Rodger What the heck is wrong with you
@@fathfez7991 Why is it always me? What I meant is that ozone wasn’t endangered then and it’s still not endangered now, because as long as we have Sun shining, space radiation and water vapor in the atmosphere we will always have ozone layer.
@@Jolly_Rodger CFCs can upend that equilibrium, that constant maintainence will only work when we humans Don't interfere with the ozone formation
@@Jolly_Rodger We get it, you're smart. But you could've said that without insulting the guy, dude.
this is the most positive video I've seen in a while.
Awesome video. I had no idea the hole was mending.
The only sad in the video was that the world only agreed on this once, wish there were more collective agreements among nations. We should start to collaborate instead of compete.
There are plenty of collective agreements among nations, the montreal is only the most sucessful one. There is, for example, Kyoto Protocol (1997) - signed by 195 countries, Paris Treaty (2016) - signed by 192 countries, both adressing climate change.
If the competition was about finding an economical and sustainable way to replace fossil fuels, and a race between countries to cut their emissions to as low as possible, then please go ahead and compete.
But people still hate the idea of a World government
@@axelaguirre5014 Because you don't know what kind of goverment it's going to be? Western democracy if you are lucky, but imagine a world governed like Saudi Arabia.
@@karaloop9544 it could be a World council with each president representing their countries (just as it is now) but the decisions made in the UN would have way more authority, it wouldn't be a sugestion, it would be law, and if a country refuse to follow it, it could come with económic penalties, United Nations would also have taxes to build International projects like a nuclear fisión reactor with the world budget or a space station or a project for developing poor nations and stoping migration
Actually so nice to learn about this. Ever since I read about CFCs in 8th grade and how they increase due to the use of refrigerators and ACs, I started having massive guilt and tried to use as little as possible. My anxiety and guilt only grew more and more, over the years but now I know that I was simply so misinformed. I thought CFCs were the biggest problem because they threatened the ozone layer, unaware that the ozone layer was rapidly being fixed. Thanks Vox, love your videos. Thank you Christina.
I think you're unaware that you've been part of the help that fixed the ozone layer, at least not making it worse. Thank you for caring!
The cfc’s contained in your a/c and refrigeration systems can only be released if there’s a leak in the system. It’s a completely sealed system and does not release cfc’s into the air while using it.
Yes but your limited use also means that there is.less.pollution in the environment!Good job :))
Amen! 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🌙🌙🌙🌙🌴💣💣💣💣💣🍈🌳🌾🌾🌾
same i live in southeast asia and it’s incredibly hot but we almost never use the AC
Can anyone tell me what they are doing in 8:05 while she's speaking about measures to fight climate change???
This is great. We should put more emphasis on celebrating our successes so that they don't go unnoticed.
This just shows how humanity can bond together to address an issue or fight it back
Only when rich corporations are held accountable. This literally only happened because Du Pont was sued and legally ordered to stop all of their polluting, as alluded to in the video. Nowadays nothing will be done as long as megacorps can continue to perpetuate their destructive but profitable business models and governments just allow them to do that (while taking a cut, of course). Essentially the 'love of money is the root of all evil', as it says in a particular book you may know of.
@@J3diMindTrix well that's true but government should make moves as well But just incase this talk turns to climate change, it's really hard to change from fossil fuel, oil, and coal based production of electricity
It actually shows that when the problem is immediate and can happen to anyone, even the rich and powerful, then the rich and powerful come together to fix it. Another such problem was the Y2K bug. But if the rich and powerful see a way out for themselves, they will do everything to delay the solution if it comes in the way of profits or business as usual.
@@anandsharma7430 "Another such problem was the Y2K bug." - Yeah, except for the fact there was no such a thing. In a way great comparison to current climate alarmism.
@@safetycar-onboard I'm sorry that you are either uninformed or possibly too young to understand the world at the time. Nothing happened because action was taken. Not like climate change, which deserves more alarm, but like the Ozone problem, which we actually solved. There is a whole generation of Indian immigrants to USA and Europe who became US/EU citizens working on the Y2K bug.
Basically if the entirety of the US isn't threatened, neither is the world
By the entirety, you mean the one in power?
@@florians9949 cope harder
🤣🤣 🇺🇸
@@florians9949 I mean every single contiguous state in unison. Some might call these united states
Let’s blame USA for everything right 😂🤨
So what's next? Now what to replace HFCs with?
I heard they use some type of propane or something that's combustible!
If this happened today, we would have gotten nowhere
Too busy on tiktok
Its great to see that what we are doing actually makes a change. All it takes is for governments, corporations and people to actually make the change.
.. what we are doing actually makes a change. .. YES it makes climate change !
"All it takes is for governments, corporations and people to actually make the change." Yes, all it takes is to make a wish . . . if only people would wish for the same thing. Unfortunately, making that wish will reduce our standard of living to levels not seen in over a century. Are you prepared to do that?
millions are already dying in floods and hurricanes worsened by climate change, wouldn't it be enough to convince them?
@@cghbv1585 China, India, Russia, entire Africa and Colombia are not convinced about climate change. They do not take any measures.
It is a very good thing, without these people in the late 1980's, then if I am born after that point, I would get sunburned very easily. However, there will always be some group of people who will oppose their changes to fight against climate change, as they cared about the economy over the environment....
I think the most important factor was that it threatened everyone immediately, from poor to rich, from all around the globe. Climate change is not as equal to everyone, and there are too many who can afford to avoid resolving it.
Temporarily* The hardest and the first hit will be the poor and vunerable. But eventually everyone will be affected by it.... Your point is good one, but isn't the only reason (or even that big of a contributer) why people aren't taking the action we need to. (That's my opinion, and I don't have the numbers to back it up...tho)
That's because scientists were able to reproduce the claim that CFCs destroyed ozone, beyond a reasonable doubt. That's real science, not computer models and far off projections. There was legit universal agreement on that subject. It's simple chemistry. Now with regards to global warming you're seeing such false claims about how warming caused more severe hurricanes and wildfires. It just isn't supported by empirical data at all. It's not the same situation as the CFC thing.
Reducing methane compared to carbon dioxide is remarkable different, the chlorofluorocarbons which were invented for DDT or bug spray in Vietnam. Malaria and such eaven though we knew Methylene blue was an antidote... HFC or R134a is larger corporations finding a way to have exp. Date (sorry for spelling, every spelling wrong according to my "autospell" )
@@f-86zoomer37 eehh the number of strong hurricanes and storms has increased, coincidence?
@@f-86zoomer37 There were models and projections, how do you think they predicted the end of the ozone layer in 2050 otherwise ? There are oodles of data supporting our climate change models and predictions, some models are decades old and match pretty well with what we observe today and the more data we collect the more precise our models and predictions are. It takes someone very determined to deny the evidence to say we don't observe global warming, the sheer amount of research papers on climate change showing evidence of global warming versus not is dizzying.
We take rain dances for granted too. Thank you to all the indigenous peoples of the world performing with their rain sticks around the world to keep our crops watered. We never talk about them and how they saved us. It's so sad.
Imagine how all the cfc’s used around the world managed to migrate to NZ and created one big hole in the ozone.
"Humanity's greatest ally and adversary is humanity itself." - Random Guy
that was from sun tzu - art of climate
That was taken care of literally more than 20 years ago. Humanity as a whole should be smarter than ever with anything concerning our planet. It's just so unfortunate to see so many people choosing to be ignorant about the recent situation in the environment while big corporations aren't being held accountable for the damage they're doing just so they can cut costs.
Funny how you spell China & India "big corporations".
I don't think tenuous and undefined threats of climate change and their failed predictions really compare to an actual hole in the ozone layer.
@@actually5004 says the one who thinks china and india are trying to cut costs
@@chatteyj You don't consider places on earth reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit where it isn't supposed as serious as the ozone layer? There are people that have to deal with those temperatures yet it's only 10 degrees to the 130 used to hold hot food so bacteria wouldn't grow. A simple search would show that multiple countries in the middle east and northern Africa have reached these fatal temperatures and would continue to worsen if left alone. They're also facing reduced rainfall due to the effects of climate change. Something we've predicted, known, and now seeing.
@@marireee2407 do you know anything about geoengineering?
2:05 look at that beautiful crew cab dentside 4x4
Hey, guess what. We use more CFCs than ever before in cleaning electronic parts. That's cell phones and computers. The ozone is healing by itself.
6:22 - Key lesson right here. DuPont did not stop until the governments of the entire world told them to, and pushed denialism until the very end.
Actually the truth may be murkier than that. I usually follow the money in such cases to see what it leads to. "Freon" a Dupont refrigerant was declared the evil CFC and banned. The patent on Freon had run out a while back and was not profitable for Dupont anymore. It was being made super cheaply in China. The new "CFC free" refrigerant R-134a was issued a fresh patent, surprise surprise! Dupont owns this. Please can someone help me figure out if I am wrong...
Can you imagine how much more awful it would've been if most of DuPont's profits came from CFCs, if entire countries based their economies on CFC production, etc... Oh wait. Maybe we can imagine. Sigh.
Nice pfp so illusional
@@GiriGagan Got any sources on this? If this is true it goes to show that the rich and large companies will continue to get richer and larger, yet the personal aspects of these matters still put blame on the consumers. Got to follow the money.
@@MrdotKstar if governments appealed to the general public's understanding and requested people to not buy harmful products, that might yield the same results. If DuPont refused to switch, consumers would buy from competitors who did, forcing DuPont to either yield or end up dying out. Alas, government rarely appeals to people's understanding, much more often it just imposes things. And with that, it helps the bad players stay the market, nicely alive and kicking with no lessons learned.
I just want to say, honestly as someone that’s still rlly young (21), I’m really really thankful elders before me stepped up to do this. If the generations before me didn’t take action, perhaps I wouldn’t be enjoying the sun the way I can now. It inspires me to look out for future generations as well. So thank you, to everyone that pushed for this and VOX for sharing this :) Like someone said in the comments, I hope one day you’d make a video abt “why we don’t hear about climate change anymore”.
I'm 22, almost graduated in industrial engineering (in the sector industrial chemistry), and hope there will be no exaggerated regulation in the petroleum sector (or industry in general) in the name of climate change. Many engineers also develop technology to live with climate change.
That is never going to happen in your lifetime. Sorry to say. I mean even if we address the problem of carbon emissions radically and adequately now, the Earth will continue to warm for decades. We'd need negative emissions on a massive scale to actually eliminate the problem, like we did for the ozone layer. Rather than simply mitigate it.
@@tibodeclercq2131 ok well there needs to be, sir.
Your generation loves to demonize the generation that fixed the ozone layer issue. Your generation loves to blame them for everything. You call them "boomers", and say they destroyed the future, yet they literally saved the planet numerous times.
Vox is owned by a company that is one of the largest polluters in the world.
What a pleasant video to watch! I jumped up in joy after realizing humanity had succeeded overcoming a task like this, we can do away with climate change next 😊
Because we bannd cfc's (chloroflourocarbons) I think they were called, therfore repairing the ozone layer over time. It's pretty much closed up now
Glad to hear that an universial contract is possible and that we can work together as one team but we always wait till the problem affects us directly ... thats too late
What do you mean "too late" we've done it
That's human nature.
@@filu7043 he means climate change, once its affects us all directly, its gonna be too late no matter how drastic action is taken, ive already accepted that we're doomed, literally.
No don't think that. It can be undone, we just need to put our heads together and get too it. The second we start believing that it's impossible is when all the big corporations that started this mess win. And we can't let them have that.
@@caspianprice7009 global warming cannot be undone .
the one thing that it overlooked is that replacing CFCs as aerosol propellants was relatively easy. replacing the CFC used as refrigerants was a little more difficult, but was done. The one thing that I did not like at the time was how CFCs were painted as being evil incarnate. When I talked about this in my introduction to engineering classes (particularly how decisions made with technology may have unintended consequences) is what the CFCs replaced as a refrigerant which was propane and ammonia. The initial development of CFCs did a lot for improving health and nutrition as food could be frozen with little loss in nutrients and food could be kept unspoiled for a longer period of time. This situation is much different than dealing with the GHG problem as what we are looking for is a substitute for an energy source.
So it was constantly improved upon
CFCs where the test run. GHGs are the real test.
No different. We have had alternative energy options since the 1970s, but stayed with the fossil fuels because we see how they led to big wealth for certain leaders, nations and individuals.
@@lld752 the issue is the best and cleanest energy is also the one no one will fight for.
You exhale carbon dioxide.. careful where the carbon fear leads
Maybe I am wrong, but I understand things in another way: What if ozone is an effect? I mean what if ozone (O3) is produced by reaction between normal oxygen (O2) and ultraviolet light? This could explain the "consumption" of ultraviolet light in areas where ozone was formed into high atmosphere, because UV was used into reaction. Also it could explain the fact that ozone layer is almost unexisting to the poles (less light reaching the poles => less ozone is produced). Another phanomena couldd also be explained: ozone holes over Europe or other areas on Earth, other than poles - this could happen due to the movement of atmosphere layers over the Earth, when an atmosphere layer contain exactly the ozone pole from a pole. In such a case, the ozone hole migrated from the pole is pretty quick "refilled" with ozone due to ozone generation reaction from O2 and UV.
Climate change is the biggest problem now guys I'll tell you why I live in India and from the start of 2023 it was really showing that how fast the climate was changing and talking about the weathers it's genrally very cold in January but it was not too cold like it used to be and we experienced summer like April may just in March and the Feb month which used to be my fav month coz it's the time for spring season in india but we didnt experienced any spring season which made me feel like will we lose this awesome season just like this and that's the time when it started concerning me and like its may now and it's usually used to be super hot in northern india but like literally we are experiencing rainfall,storms for days and it feels so cold in the night time I really never experienced this like feeling cold in may month even the news said that after 6 year it was raining like this in india in the month of may and the may is feeling like december When I was a kid I attend one of these Montreal protocol program which was held in delhi in india and some students of govt, school were invited At that time I didnt know much about it but now hearing that its healing now makes me feel great I think we should do the same for climate change and I know that un and other organizations are already working on it but it doesnt seem effective to me ppl still dont believe that climate change is the real thing and it will affect each one us so even if they r trying I dont think its functional as it should be
The answer is simple: the industry, the lobbies and the powerful did not have to fear losses from the CFC ban and therefore had nothing against it. Unfortunately, it is completely different with the climate crisis and its causes.
Leider nur zu wahr, Grumpy .
Some probably lost something anyway. Industry is often very slow at changing. So if they had a choice they would probaly keep producing it until they needed to replace most of the machinery. Or the production of the alternatives would become an order of magnitude cheaper.
"The answer is simple: the industry, the lobbies and the powerful did not have to fear losses from the CFC ban and therefore had nothing against it. Unfortunately, it is completely different with the climate crisis and its causes." Yeah, because *people* have nothing to lose from the cessation of fossil fuel consumption. 🙄
Ah yes the industry , meanwhile governments dumping wastes in water bodies
Are you talking about the climate change hoax ?