Mysterious spike in banned ozone-destroying chemical traced to China’s Shandong and Hebei provinces
- Trichlorofluoromethane, or CFC-11, is also a potent greenhouse gas, with roughly 4,750 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxide
- Production and use of CFC-11 is a violation of the Montreal Protocol, which phased out such chemicals in favour of ones that do not damage the atmosphere
Two provinces in China are a source of a troubling spike in emissions of a globally banned chemical that damages the Earth’s protective ozone layer, according to a study published on Wednesday that has alarmed scientists who monitor the planet’s atmosphere.
The study, published in the journal Nature, comes one year after another report revealed that air samples had shown a startling excess of a type of chlorofluorocarbon known as trichlorofluoromethane, or CFC-11, since 2012.
This manufactured chemical, once widely used to blow polyurethane into a rigid insulating foam, leaks into the air and destroys ozone molecules in the upper atmosphere.
The ozone layer is critical to life, limiting the amount of harmful ultraviolet solar radiation that reaches the planet’s surface. CFC-11 is also a potent greenhouse gas, with roughly 4,750 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxide.
The new report underscores the need for enforcement of international environmental agreements even when the hazards are clear and profound. And it is a reminder that China’s intensifying environmental challenges have global consequences.