Humans Already Slowed The Climate Crisis Once, New Research Shows
Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia,
have evaluated various climate scenarios using simulations combined
with a global climate model to judge what our planet might look like if
the 1989 Montreal Protocol had never taken place.
Their initial
goal was to see how a drop in ozone-depleting chemicals affected
atmospheric circulation around the Antarctic. They imagined a world
where CFCs continued to build at around 3 percent each year – a rate
that’s rather conservative given increasing demands of the material
towards the late 20th century.
It’s a world we can be grateful we no longer live in.