Fluorocarbon and Ozone 2

 In a paper published in June 1974 in the British scientific journal Nature, Dr. Molina and Professor Rowland of the University of California warned that the atmospheric release of In a paper published in the British scientific journal Nature in June 1974, Dr. Molina and Professor Rowland warned that CFCs released into the atmosphere would eventually destroy the stratospheric ozone layer.

The amount of CFCs in the atmosphere, calculated based on observations, is not much different from the amount of CFCs that have been consumed and released into the atmosphere. Once released into the atmosphere, CFCs have a lifetime of tens to hundreds of years before they reach the stratosphere and are destroyed by solar ultraviolet radiation. The chlorine atoms released from the UV-degraded CFCs will be enough to deplete the stratospheric ozone layer if the CFCs continue to be released into the atmosphere at the current rate. That was the gist of the paper.

The warnings of Molina and Rowland were based on logical deductions, but later, when satellite observations confirmed the existence of a huge ozone hole over Antarctica, and proved that the hole was caused by the catalytic action of chlorine atoms in CFCs, the protection of the ozone layer and the regulation of CFCs became an international issue. As a result, the protection of the ozone layer and the regulation of CFCs became an international issue.

Stratospheric sink for chlorofluoromethanes: chlorine atom-catalysed destruction of ozone

Mario J. Molina & F. S. Rowland 

Nature volume 249, pages810–812 (1974)