New Study Could Upend How We Think About the Ozone Layer and Health – Slashdot

Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading! Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday September 23, 2023 @05:34PM from the layers-of-meaning dept. First the Washington Post summarizes what scientists believed in the 1970s. Chlorofluorocarbons, or (CFCs, “could float up into the stratosphere and break down a protective layer of ozone, allowing more ultraviolet light to enter the atmosphere and harm humans, crops, and entire ecosystems. In fact, this had already happened: There was a hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole.” Experts view the subsequent treaty to cut down on the use of CFCs — the 1987 Montreal Protocol — as a landmark environmental achievement. Scientists estimate that the pact has prevented millions of cases of skin cancer. Today, the ozone hole is recovering well. But a provocative scientific paper published Friday in the journal AGU Advances suggests that the link between the ozone layer and human health is more complicated than it seems. Under certain circumstances, the researchers write, small decreases in the ozone layer could now save lives… The researchers initially were examining something else: what would happen to the chemistry of the atmosphere if humans injected sulfates into the
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