Recovering Ozone

If you want to feel a little better about things, it’s worth reading this article in Science Daily about the apparent recovery of the ozone layer. While its still not healthy over the South Pole, there is evidence of an overall recovery. Some scientists are even predicting return of the ozone layer to pre-1980 levels by later this century, with the southern hole in the ozone layer completely closing.

So what changed? Scientists believe that about half is attributable to changes in human behavior, but don’t have an explanation for the other half yet. Assuming these guys are on the mark, its a good reason to be optimistic that if we (all of us) take problems seriously, we can do something about them.