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Reflections on the ozone hole

Nature volume 465, pages 34–35 (2010)Cite this article

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Jonathan Shanklin, one of the team who discovered the thinning ozone layer over the Antarctic 25 years ago, reflects on lessons learned from a tale of luck, public perception and fast environmental change.

There were already concerns that CFCs could be depleting the ozone layer, which lies 10–35 kilometres above the ground and protects humanity from more than 90% of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. This was a worry, because it could increase the risk of health problems such as skin cancer and cataracts. The Antarctic 'hole' was a powerful illustration of the effect of CFCs on ozone.

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Figure 1

NASA

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jonathan Shanklin is head of the Meteorology and Ozone Monitoring Unit at the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK. j.shanklin@bas.ac.uk,

    Jonathan Shanklin

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  1. Jonathan Shanklin
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See ozone celebration at http://go.nature.com/2XzJCC .

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Shanklin, J. Reflections on the ozone hole. Nature 465, 34–35 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/465034a

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