The Ozone Layer – Good News in United Nations Report

The Ozone layer is in the lower stratosphere, between 15 to 35 kilometers above the earth; it was first discovered by French physicists Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson 110 years ago. They found that not all radiation from the sun was reaching the earth, and they established that the chemical ozone was absorbing the radiation. Their work was built on by British meteorologist Gordon Dobson who designed a spectrophotometer that enabled scientists to measure the stratospheric ozone from the ground. In the 1930s–1950s, he instituted a network of ozone monitoring stations worldwide, which are still in use today. Named in his honor, the “Dobson unit” is the measure of ozone found in the layer.

It was in 1976 that researchers found the ozone layer was being depleted, and the leading cause was chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). This was followed in 1985 when scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) published their discovery in the scientific journal Nature of abnormally low levels of ozone over the South Pole. Their discovery became known as the Ozone Hole and, if left to expand, would most certainly threaten life on earth, triggering a worldwide search for solutions.