How we save ourselves by saving the ozone layer

In a previous publication I told you how the protective ozone layer of our planet was damaged, indicating its causes and consequences. Fortunately, there are always scientists who seek the truth, such as the Mexican Mario Molina. Mario Molina was a nerdy kid from Mexico City who had converted a bathroom in his house into a laboratory, supported by his aunt Ester Molina, who was a chemist. He carried out increasingly more complicated experiments and soon realized that this was his vocation. We are all grateful, Aunt Ester, wherever you are. If it weren't for him, you would have already left this chat called life or you would be part of a new underground civilization of mole humans, this Mexican chemist saved your ass and also that of all the people you know, those you don't know and all the animals, plants and other organisms that live on the surface of the planet.

In 1973, Mario Molina, who already had a doctorate in physical chemistry, enrolled in a research program at the University of California at Berkeley, where he began researching CFCs with chemist Sherry Rowland. These studies culminated in the publication of the article “Atmospheric stagnation of chlorofloromethanes, ozone destruction catalyzed by chlorine atoms.” In the article they explain how CFCs produce a chain reaction that basically destroys the ozone layer. The article raised alarm bells in the scientific community because if true it meant that we were making a serious, very serious mistake with terrible consequences, but the reaction of the chemical industry was immediate; They basically attacked the scientists on a professional and personal level.

A Dupont executive described the article as science fiction, (this company has already attacked humanity on many occasions) they financed an article in the publication Aerosol Age that insinuated that Molina and Rowland were KGB agents who sought to harm American industry, they even hired public relations firms and sold scientists like Richard Scerter to discredit them. As a result, for a decade they were ignored by their colleagues, and the industry would continue to produce as if nothing had happened, it was not until 1985 with meteorologist Jonathan Shanklin who during the 70s worked at the British-Antarctic study, which is the UK Polar Research Institute, there he was in charge of supervising the digitization of meteorological data from the UK Antarctic bases.

Among these data were measurements made with spectrometers that indicate the concentrations of atmospheric ozone over Antarctica since the 1950s. He analyzed this data and realized something disturbing: ozone levels began to fall during the 1970s and a huge hole opened over the South Pole where the ozone layer reduced its density by 30%. He communicated this concern to his bosses, but they did not give it importance. So in May 1985 he published an article where, with historical data, he verified what the Molina and Rowland study had proposed a decade ago, the ozone layer was thinning and it was the fault of CFCs. His work with information from Antarctica was key because it does not have the same impact to be told that “ozone concentrations are falling” as to be told that “a huge hole in the ozone layer is growing year after year.” It sounds and looks very different.

When Mario Molina read this article, he led research in Antarctica, where he found that the beautiful stratospheric polar clouds that are common during the winter in the polar regions, help accelerate the ozone depletion reaction and that is why the hole is more visible at the south pole, but it is an indicator that global ozone concentrations also decrease, this completely vindicated Mario Molina and his colleague Sherry Rowland and that scared everyone, including the people who have the power to do something. This led to an unprecedented mobilization of the scientific community and the public, as a result of which the governments signed the Montreal Protocol in 1987, an international treaty where the signed countries undertake to stop producing the substances responsible for the destruction of the ozone layer. This is the only international treaty that has been unanimously ratified by the 198 members of the United Nations and as a result, the ozone layer has been recovering little by little and CFCs can last for many years in the atmosphere, but when we stop producing them, we can see that the hole in the ozone layer is reducing its size little by little, but we are here. This story is proof that when we set our minds to it we can achieve anything, it is a matter of loving and convincing the right people. Fun fact: One of the researchers who developed these compounds was Thomas Midgley, he was the person who thought that putting lead in gasoline was an excellent idea, wow, he is basically responsible for two planetary-level environmental disasters.

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