London: Your love for decaffeinated tea or coffee may have led to ozone depletion, say scientists who found that a chemical commonly used in the food industry delayed recovery of the atmosphere’s protective layer by up to 30 years. Researchers from Lancaster University in the UK found that a previously ignored chemical called dichloromethane may now be contributing to ozone depletion and should be looked at to improve future ozone predictions. The projections by researchers show that continued dichloromethane increases at the average trend observed from 2004-2014 would delay ozone recovery over Antarctica by 30 years. The projections by researchers show that continued dichloromethane increases at the average trend observed from 2004-2014 would delay ozone recovery over Antarctica by 30 years. Researchers used simulations with a global chemical transport model to examine the sensitivity of future stratospheric chlorine and ozone levels to sustained dichloromethane growth.

Source: Mint June 29, 2017 11:37 UTC