We may have learnt in the environmental studies back in school about the depleting ozone layer and the impact it has on the environment. The ozone layer had a hole over the polar regions of the earth in the 1970’s due to the use of substances such as chloro-fluoro-carbon and halocarbon in refrigerators, air-conditioners and aerosol cans.  It has been 32 years since nations signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987.  On this day, leaders of all 197 countries plead to refrain from using ozone-depleting substances in the bid to replete the ozone hole. Looking back at the initiatives taken by the countries to ensure the ozone layer recovers for a healthy planet, this year the theme of World Ozone Day is 32 years and healing.

What is the ozone hole?

Pollutants such as chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), halons, halocarbon, hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) also known as ozone-depleting substances (ODS)  were being used in industries, refrigerators, air-conditioning systems. These pollutants, in their compound form, mixed into the stratosphere, thus releasing the halogen atoms that break down the ozone molecules (O₃) to oxygen (O₂), therefore resulting in a hole in the ozone layer towards the Antarctican Polar region.