<p>Back in 1987, world leaders came together to ban chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are the chemicals associated with the gigantic, gaping hole in the ozone layer that persisted for decades.</p><p>And it’s a good thing that they did. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03737-3.epdf?sharing_token=dPEMwLCaxQzte3_623vJ5tRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NaY7jKBgX26XZGgdJlDo_9SKenh9py1_axDwbZW9FSGm4XRFpXmL3si5jhZtYb82nQDzdzcru6GTCMC5dYhUOkAPryxCfSxaMXHFbuBXENimraaDqLfkxf_XZ5bSyrQiHkvXVEoumPiaiqhu3fwgEFlA_plaDtGvItYxA9kn6UBg%3D%3D&amp;tracking_referrer=www.bbc.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Research </a>published in the journal <em>Nature </em>on Wednesday found that a world in which the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer treaty never happened, the planet would be in horrible shape. In the present-day of that hypothetical world, we would already be living through some of the worst-case, nightmare scenarios.</p>

Timely Decision Helps Save Global Climate Crisis.

<img alt="" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMTAyNCIgaGVpZ2h0PSI2ODIuNjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NiIgeG1sbnM9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cudzMub3JnLzIwMDAvc3ZnIiB2ZXJzaW9uPSIxLjEiLz4=" width="692" height="461"><div dir="ltr"><span dir="ltr">by</span><span dir="ltr">Dan Robitzski</span></div><h2>Or, at the very least, it bought us crucial time.</h2><div>Yesterday</div><h2>Or, at the very least, it bought us crucial time.</h2><h2>Amazing Foresight</h2><p>Back in 1987, world leaders came together to ban chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are the chemicals associated with the gigantic, gaping hole in the ozone layer that persisted for decades.</p><p dir="ltr">And it’s a good thing that they did. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03737-3.epdf?sharing_token=dPEMwLCaxQzte3_623vJ5tRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NaY7jKBgX26XZGgdJlDo_9SKenh9py1_axDwbZW9FSGm4XRFpXmL3si5jhZtYb82nQDzdzcru6GTCMC5dYhUOkAPryxCfSxaMXHFbuBXENimraaDqLfkxf_XZ5bSyrQiHkvXVEoumPiaiqhu3fwgEFlA_plaDtGvItYxA9kn6UBg%3D%3D&amp;tracking_referrer=www.bbc.com" dir="ltr">Research</a> published in the journal <em dir="ltr">Nature</em> on Wednesday found that a world in which the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer treaty never happened, the planet would be in horrible shape. In the present-day of that hypothetical world, we would already be living through some of the worst-case, nightmare scenarios caused by worsening climate change that we, in a world with the 1987 treaty, are currently trying to avoid, <em dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58248725" dir="ltr">The BBC </a></em><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58248725" dir="ltr">reports</a>.</p><h2>Darkest Timeline</h2><p dir="ltr">Part of the problem would have stemmed from the CFCs and their role as greenhouse gases. But the damage to the ozone would have also vastly accelerated climate change, the <em dir="ltr">BBC </em>reports, releasing currently-sequestered carbon into the atmosphere and causing further environmental degradation.</p><p dir="ltr">Among other dangers, the scientists found that global temperatures would have increased by 2.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels by 2100, according to the <em dir="ltr">BBC</em>. Scientists’ <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/united-nations-code-red-humanity-climate" dir="ltr">current-yet-still-dire projections</a> estimate that urgent climate action could, perhaps, theoretically, limit that warming to the 1.5-degree threshold set by the 2015 Paris agreement.</p><h4>Advertisement</h4><h4>Advertisement</h4><p>That would have meant more extreme weather, more deadly heats, more infrastructure collapse, and more mass death and extinction, to be blunt.</p><h2>Keep It Up</h2><p dir="ltr">All things considered, global climate change is still a dire existential threat that needs immediate action if we’re to leave a habitable planet behind for future generations. The 1987 treaty didn’t prevent anything — it <a href="https://futurism.com/ozone-healing-layer" dir="ltr">bought us the crucial time</a> to get our acts together and stop making climate change worse.</p><p dir="ltr">“The science was listened to and acted upon — we have not seen that to the same degree with climate change,” lead study author and Lancaster University researcher Paul Young told the <em dir="ltr">BBC</em>. “But I would be cautious of using it as a positive example for the climate negotiations. It’s not [directly] comparable — but it’s nice to have something positive to hold on to and to see that the world can come together.”</p>

A new analysis of the environmental impact of the 1987 ban on CFCs found that it bought us crucial time to stave off the worst of climate change.

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Or, at the very least, it bought us crucial time.

<p>Back in 1987, world leaders came together to ban chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are the chemicals associated with the gigantic, gaping hole in the ozone layer that persisted for decades. </p>

<p>And it’s a good thing that they did. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03737-3.epdf?sharing_token=dPEMwLCaxQzte3_623vJ5tRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NaY7jKBgX26XZGgdJlDo_9SKenh9py1_axDwbZW9FSGm4XRFpXmL3si5jhZtYb82nQDzdzcru6GTCMC5dYhUOkAPryxCfSxaMXHFbuBXENimraaDqLfkxf_XZ5bSyrQiHkvXVEoumPiaiqhu3fwgEFlA_plaDtGvItYxA9kn6UBg%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.bbc.com">Research </a>published in the journal <em>Nature </em>on Wednesday found that a world in which the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer treaty never happened, the planet would be in horrible shape. In the present-day of that hypothetical world, we would already be living through some of the worst-case, nightmare scenarios caused by worsening climate change that we, in a world with the 1987 treaty, are currently trying to avoid, <em><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58248725">The BBC </a> </em><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58248725">reports </a>. </p>

<p>Part of the problem would have stemmed from the CFCs and their role as greenhouse gases. But the damage to the ozone would have also vastly accelerated climate change, the <em>BBC </em>reports, releasing currently-sequestered carbon into the atmosphere and causing further environmental degradation. </p>

<p>Among other dangers, the scientists found that global temperatures would have increased by 2.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels by 2100, according to the <em>BBC </em>. Scientists’ <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/united-nations-code-red-humanity-climate">current-yet-still-dire projections </a>estimate that urgent climate action could, perhaps, theoretically, limit that warming to the 1.5-degree threshold set by the 2015 Paris agreement. </p>

<p>That would have meant more extreme weather, more deadly heats, more infrastructure collapse, and more mass death and extinction, to be blunt. </p>

<p>All things considered, global climate change is still a dire existential threat that needs immediate action if we’re to leave a habitable planet behind for future generations. The 1987 treaty didn’t prevent anything — it <a href="https://futurism.com/ozone-healing-layer">bought us the crucial time </a>to get our acts together and stop making climate change worse. </p>

<p>“The science was listened to and acted upon — we have not seen that to the same degree with climate change,” lead study author and Lancaster University researcher Paul Young told the <em>BBC </em>. “But I would be cautious of using it as a positive example for the climate negotiations. It’s not [directly] comparable — but it’s nice to have something positive to hold on to and to see that the world can come together.” </p>

Study: A 1987 Chemical Ban Saved the Planet

Timely Decision Helps Save Global Climate Crisis.

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