Ozone-Destroying HCFCs Increasing Since 2005, To Atmospheric Scientists' Surprise

Just when it seemed Earth's protective ozone layer was healing, researchers have discovered that three types of ozone-depleting chemicals are rising again.

Soon after an international agreement was signed in 1987, levels of ozone-eating hydrochlorofluorocarbons, or HCFCs, began dropping in the atmosphere - until 2005. Since then, levels of the chemicals, found in car and home air conditioners, have been growing in the atmosphere, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lab in Boulder. "We thought everything was fine," NOAA scientist Jim Elkins said. "This is very much a surprise."

Near the Earth's surface, ozone contributes to smog, but high in the stratosphere, the chemical forms a natural blanket that protects living things from damaging ultraviolet radiation. Elkins and others blame the problem on another international environmental treaty - the Kyoto Protocol, designed to slow the emissions of greenhouse gases.

Under the protocol, when refrigeration companies in developing countries such as China and India make HCFCs, they are eligible for millions of dollars in U.N. credits when they burn off a byproduct that is a potent greenhouse gas. Those companies could switch to a different refrigerant, but then they'd not produce waste gas or earn the credits, Elkins said.

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