The Ozone layer is on track to recover within decades

(Image from Pixabay)

Each year, human emissions of specific chemicals cause a hole to appear in the ozone layer over Antarctica. This affects the ozone layer's ability to protect life on Earth from the sun's harmful radiation.

Results from the 1987 Montreal Protocol, in which 197 countries committed to gradually phase out ozone-damaging compounds, are now becoming apparent.

According to the UN-backed Scientific Assessment Panel to the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Chemicals' four-yearly report, nearly 99% of prohibited ozone-depleting compounds have been successfully phased out.

An expert panel supported by the UN stated during a presentation on Monday at the annual conference of the American Meteorological Society that the ozone layer will restore by 2066 over the Antarctic, 2045 over the Arctic, and 2040 for the rest of the world.