Earth ID: 4272

What Would have Happened to the Ozone Layer if Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had not been Regulated? (UPDATED)

Visualizations by Trent L. Schindler Released on February 9, 2015

Led by NASA Goddard scientist Paul Newman, a team of atmospheric chemists simulated 'what might have been' if chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and similar ozone-depleting chemicals were not banned through the Montreal Protocol. The comprehensive model — including atmospheric chemical effects, wind changes, and solar radiation changes — simulated what would happen to global concentrations of stratospheric ozone if CFCs were continually added to the atmosphere.

The visualizations below present two cases: the 'world avoided' case, where the rate of CFC emission into the atmosphere is assumed to be that of the period before regulation, and the 'projected' case, which assumes the current rate of emission, post-regulation. Both cases extrapolate to the year 2065. This animation is an update to entry #3586, adding chlorine data and creating a Robinson projection of the ozone data.

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Visualization Credits

Trent L. Schindler (USRA): Lead Visualizer
Paul Newman (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Jefferson Beck (USRA): Producer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Ozone data provided by Paul Newman

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4272

This item is part of these series:
Ozone
Narrated Movies

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Ozone Hole
SVS >> Ozone depletion
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Chemistry/Oxygen Compounds >> Ozone
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> Copenhagen
DLESE >> Narrated
SVS >> For Educators
SVS >> Pollution >> Distribution
SVS >> Pollution Index
SVS >> CFCs
NASA Science >> Earth
SVS >> Presentation

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0