There was a time when many of us were confused over the difference between the hole in the ozone layer and global warming. Some people even seemed to think they were same thing.
Nowadays, we've all been exposed to so much news coverage on climate change it's hard to believe there was ever such a problem.
Of course, the hole in the ozone layer is still there, but we're winning the war on repairing it. In fact, once the hole was recognised, it took just 2 years for the World to start phasing CFCs out. Today, they have practically been eliminated. Yes, the CFCs we've used in the past will continue to effect the ozone layer for up to a century, but the situation's been turned round by fast, unified action.
Ironically, solving the ozone problem is now threatening to add to the climate change problem: The chemicals they've replaced CFCs with, HCFCs, are thousands of times worse than CO2.
It's already been agreed to replace HCFCs with HFCs, which are less of a greenhouse gas (GHG), but HFCs could still be contributing between 9% and 45% of total man-made greenhouse effect by 2050!
There are now moves to replace HFCs with low ozone depleting, low GHG alternatives and, get this, that could mean the return of methods that existed before CFCs came along! It's a funny old world.
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