Scientists Find Ozone Depletion Began Decades Before Discovery of Ozone Hole

Scientists Find Ozone Depletion Began Decades Before Discovery of Ozone Hole

By Jennifer Chu | MIT News The Antarctic ozone hole was discovered in 1985, when scientists observed a severe depletion in the Earth’s protective layer of stratospheric ozone. Industrial chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), then widely used as refrigerants, propellants, foam-blowing agents, and solvents, were at the root of the ozone depletion. After concerted global effort to phase out the use of CFCs, ozone today is recovering, espec…