New ozone-destroying gases on the rise at 20-30kms above earth’s crust

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WASHINGTON: When we almost thought that our Ozone layer was protected and guarded by the never ending efforts of our Scientists to make our earth a better place to live in, a new studies have revealed warning signs about an increase in the chemicals which were earlier never linked to Ozone depletion are now growing rapidly to threatening levels nullifying any recovery the layer has ever made.
Known as very short lived substances (VSLS) or VSLS gases which are damaging to the lower stratosphere of the earth which is nearly 20-30 kilometers above the earth’s crust.
Currently these compounds are forming naturally in the environment but man made production of these compounds from industrial processes is also rising rapidly. These compounds have a tendency to break away rapidly and drastically into smaller compounds further harming the Ozone.
These compounds are said to have a life span of less than six months and are causing immense damage to our lower stratosphere, according to reports released on February 16, 2015 in the Journal on Nature Geoscience.
More than 90 per cent of VSLS are naturally occuring and are produced in Oceans by microscopic plants living in it like phytoplankton and seaweed. They form a part Ozone’s normal cycle of depletion and redevelopment but the other 8 to 10 per cent comes from industrial chemicals like chlorine and dichloromethane the production of which is rising due to rapid industrialization and urbanization.
The researchers estimate that VSLS account for as much as 13 per cent of ozone damage only in the Antarctic and global analysis is even more worrying as it amounts to as much as 25 per cent of Ozone depletion in the lower stratosphere.
Fortunately enough VSLS are not as damaging as the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases that are produced by AC’s and refrigerators on day to day basis but were banned by the Montreal Protocol in the late 1980s primarily due to their drastic effect on the Ozone layer.