What steps have been taken to save the ozone layer? Are they working?
In 1987, the nations of the world banded together to draft the Montreal Protocol to phase out the production and use of CFCs. The 43 nations that signed the protocol agreed to freeze consumption and production of CFCs at 1986 levels by 1990, reduce them 20% by 1994, and reduce them another 30% by 1999. The alarming loss of ozone in Antarctica and worldwide continued into the 1990’s, and additional amendments to further accelerate the CFC phase-out were adopted. With the exception of a very small number of internationally agreed essential uses, CFCs, halons, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform were all phased out by 1995 in developing countries (undeveloped countries have until 2010 to do so). The pesticide methyl bromide, another significant ozone-depleting substance, was scheduled to be phased out in 2004 in developing countries, but a U.S.-led delaying effort led to a one-year extension until the end of 2005. At least 183 counties are now signatories on the Montreal Protocol.
