Faster track for ozone layer protection
(This story appeared on page 223 of the
Oct. 4, 1997, Science News.)
By Sid Perkins
Science News
Representatives from more than 100 governments met in Montreal last month
and agreed to tighten restrictions on several chemicals harmful to the
ozone layer. The meeting, which ran from Sept. 15 to 17, also marked
the 10th anniversary of the original international treaty to phase out
ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
The new aggrement accelerates the elimination of methyl bromide, a soil
and crop fumigant. Developing countries had previously agreed only to
freeze their use of this chemical in 2002, but they have now accepted a
complete phase-out by 2015, with some exceptions for critical uses
thereafter.
Meanwhile, industrial nations have agreed to move the deadline for
eliminating methyl bromide from 2010 to 2005, with similar exceptions
therafter.
Delegates in Montreal also set up a licensing system, which will take
effect on Jan. 1, 2000, to help governments track international trade in
CFCs and discourage illegal sales. A brisk black market has emerged in
industrial nations (SN: 5/25/96, p.331). In 1996, the U.S. Customs
Service seized more than 87,500 kilograms of CFCs, with an estimated
value of $3.8 million.
Attendees failed to reach consensus on proposals by the European
Community and Switzerland to accelerate the phase-out of
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), a class of chemicals that can replace
CFCs in some applications but that still harm the ozone layer (SN:
4/7/90, p. 215).
Despite the new agreement, not everyone was happy with the extent of
progress made by the delegates. "There was a big opportunity to do a lot
more at this meeting, but the steps taken at Montreal were timid ones
compared to the danger yet to come," says Brent Blackwelder, president of
Friends of the Earth U.S. in Washington, D.C.
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Copyright 1997 by Science Service.
All rights reserved.
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