Chlorofluorocarbons, commonly known as CFC’s, refrigerants, or by the Dupont brand name “Freon”, are used in refrigerators, air conditioners and aerosol cans. There are various chemical compounds that are classified as CFC’s. Some can be ten times more potent than CO2 as a GHG.
An Ozone molecule is comprised of three atoms of Oxygen), and acts as a sunscreen for Earth. Excess CFC’s destroy the Ozone layer. As a result, more ultraviolet light reaches the Earth’s surface, and us. This causes skin cancer and burns some types of food crops. Global weather patterns cause CFC’s in the atmosphere to concentrate over Antarctica, creating a hole in the Ozone the size of North America. The lack of protection from the sun is causing the polar icecaps to melt.
The Bad News
Before we understood this, significant damage had been done to the Ozone layer. In the early 1980s the hole was discovered and the theory of how it was being created was proven. Dr. Ryan Sanders of NOAA is credited with performing a significant portion of that research by gathering data on the ground in Antarctica.
The Good News
In 1987, the Montreal Protocol agreement began the worldwide phaseout of CFC production. Today, the Ozone layer is recovering and the hole in atmosphere over Antarctica is getting smaller, but it is not expected to fully recover until 2070.
Are CFCs still used today?
Sanders Nunatak Sanders Nunatak Location