SCIENCE BRIEFING
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Earth dodged disaster with the ozone layer, according to a NASA study about ozone-munching chemicals from aerosol sprays.
NASA scientists used a computer model to find out what would have happened if the world hadn’t agreed to cut back on chlorofluorocarbons 22 years ago. By 2065, two-thirds of the protective ozone layer would have vanished and the world would have been 4 degrees hotter.
In Los Angeles, DNA-damaging ultraviolet radiation would have increased more than sixfold.
But that dreadful scenario was “a world avoided,” according to the study, published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
