A new U.N.-backed report says the ozone layer is healing.
The multi-agency, 70-page "Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2018" was released on Monday. The assessment is done every four years.
The report says if the ozone layer continues recovering at its current rate, the Northern Hemisphere and mid-latitude ozone will be healed completely by the 2030s. It says the recovery is all due to actions taken under the Montreal Protocol, which was finalized in 1987.
The protocol hoped to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production and use of ozone-depleting substances, which are used in products like aerosols and some cooling and refrigeration systems. The Montreal Protocol became the first treaty to ever be ratified by all countries in the world.
That treaty is set to be strengthened with the Kigali Amendment next year. The amendment calls for a further decrease in the use of climate-warming gases in refrigerators, air conditioners and other products.
The writers of the report say once the Kigali Amendment is fully in place, the world should be able to avoid .4 percent of global warming this century.
The U.N. calls the findings a "ray of hope" after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its special climate report less than a month ago, warning of the consequences of global warming if it continues the way it is now. That report pushed for the adopters of the 2015 Paris climate accord to further restrict the rise in global temperatures.
