Glimpse of Montreal Protocol

                Montreal Protocol is an international agreement signed by 24 countries in September 1987 to protect and control the substances that could deplete the Ozone Layer. The treaty tackles about the reduction of the substances such as halons, methyl chloroform, chlorofluorocarbons and carbon tetrachloride. In 2006, these ozone depleting substances have been reduced to 95% by the 191 parties that signed the treaty.

              

Montreal Protocol was built when the Sherwin Rowland and Mario Molina, chemists from the University of California, released an article in the journal Nature ­­about the effects of CFC’s chain reaction process which destroys the Ozone layer. In their article, it describes that one chlorine atom could destroy as many as 100,000 molecules of Ozone. The destruction of Ozone could definitely affect us. There would be a possible spread of diseases like skin cancer, the drying of crops due to extreme heat and as what we are experiencing, the climate change. Due to this article, the hypothesis that these chemists brought up made an extensive media interest that leads in the formation of the Montreal Protocol.

                 

 To date, Montreal Protocol has the greatest degree of global participation than any other United Nations Treaty. Moreover, developed countries actively participated in the phased out the production and the consumption of these chemicals. Through this, the developing countries continue to explore and research an alternative for these chemicals. In its scientific results, if we continue to follow the provisions of the Montreal Protocol the Ozone Layer is expected to return to its pre 1980 levels by 2050 and 2075. The effect of these could lessen the diseases that spread out like skin cancer and cataracts and could improve the climate change that we are experiencing right now. These are only few benefits that we could experience as we follow the provisions in the protocol. This shows that, it is not impossible to reduce the usage of these destructive substances. It happened because we do it altogether. Even small things could contribute a change as long as we do it hand in hand.