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Published online 20 January 2000 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news000120-9
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The mystery of the missing gases
Vast quantities of an ozone-destroying gas have been found seeping unsuspected from warm coastal environments, reports Philip Ball.
The thinning of the protective layer of ozone-rich air high in the Earth's atmosphere is caused primarily by chlorine-containing gases released into the air by human activities. But the most abundant chlorine-containing substance in the atmosphere, a compound called methyl chloride, comes mostly from natural sources.
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