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.