It's largely bad news out there today, but here's a bright spot to start off your week:
Earth's protective ozone layer is well on track to recovery in the next few decades, per a report just released by a study financed by the United Nations. The good news is due largely to the phase-out of certain chemicals used in refrigerants and aerosol cans.
Without the Montreal Protocol and associated agreements, atmospheric levels of ozone depleting substances could have increased tenfold by 2050, according to a summary document of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2014.
The Protocol will have prevented 2 million cases of skin cancer annually by 2030, averted damage to human eyes and immune systems, and protected wildlife and agriculture, according to UNEP."
2) I'm not hugely impressed that the UN is running studies like this. They are better positioned as a political, not a scientific organization. I read: I'm hoping that means the WMO did the study and the UNEP oversaw it, or funded it, or something. Because the bureaucratic numbnuts at the UN don't belong in science and research.