Twenty-year-old Montreal Protocol has helped combat global warming

Pay No Attention to That Protocol Behind the Curtain

It kind of sucks to be the Montreal Protocol. Not only do you lack the name recognition of your compatriot from Kyoto, you also go widely unrecognized for the work you've done to fight global warming. The phaseout of chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons under the Montreal treaty -- negotiated in 1987 to protect the ozone layer -- has dramatically slowed the rate of climate change, as CFCs are also potent greenhouse gases. (Shocking statistic alert: common chemical CFC-12 is 11,000 times as heat-trapping as carbon dioxide. Eleven. Thousand. Times.) Research published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences simulated how the planet would have warmed if not for the humble Montreal Protocol -- which contributed to a 60 percent drop in global CFC emissions from 1989 to 1995 -- and "clearly shows that things are possible in a global treaty," says lead author Guus Velders. "We gained about 10 years for climate change." Excellent! We'll pencil in "apocalypse" for 2017.

straight to the source: The Globe and Mail, Martin Mittelstaedt, 06 Mar 2007

straight to the source: Rocky Mountain News, Jim Erickson, 06 Mar 2007

straight to the source: New Scientist, Catherine Brahic, 05 Mar 2007

straight to the source: ScienceNOW, Phil Berardelli, 05 Mar 2007

see also, in Grist: Ozone layer is recovering, a little

ADVERTISING POLICY

Comments: (2 comments)

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have a Gristmill account, log in below. If you don't have a Gristmill account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.

CFCs

Congratulations on highlighting the role of CFCs in global warming. Folks who promote nukes as a solution should pay more attention to this. For instance:
"Uranium enrichment plants located in Paducah, Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio that produce nuclear fuel for Seabrook and other nuclear power stations are the nation's largest contributors of CFC-114, a chemical coolant that destroys the earth's ozone layer. Emissions from these two fuel enrichment plants represented 88% of all U.S. industrial sources and 14% of all industrial CFC-114 emissions worldwide in 1999." 2003, Nuclear Information and Resource Service.

The global warming potential for almost all CFCs is in the thousands of times that of CO2 (114, in 100 years, is about 9000), so a little goes a long way.

Bill B.

by bburtis at 10:21 AM on 07 Mar 2007

Ozone treaty can buy more time against warming

Immediate Release
March 6, 2007

Governments Urged to Use Ozone Treaty to Buy Time Against Global Warming

Washington, D.C. - Pointing to recent scientific findings that actions taken under the ozone layer treaty could do more to combat climate change than the Kyoto Protocol, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is calling on governments to accelerate the phase-out of key gases to buy time against global warming.

The conservationists' appeal comes on the heels of the release of a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that the climate protection already achieved by the Montreal Protocol is far greater than the reduction target of the Kyoto Protocol and that additional climate benefits of a similar magnitude could be achieved through an earlier phase-out of a category of gases called hydrochloroflourocarbons (HCFCs).

"This study is a call to action. By agreeing to stop producing HCFCs, we have the potential to reduce the effects of global warming in an unprecedented way," stated EIA Campaigns Director Alexander von Bismarck.

EIA's own estimates indicate that accelerating the phase-out of HCFCs has the potential to prevent the production of 27.5 billion carbon-dioxide-equivalent tons of HCFCs-more than the total annual global emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning and flaring of fossil fuels.

HCFCs have been promoted by the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer as ozone layer-friendly alternatives to CFCs for refrigeration and air conditioning. Under the Montreal Protocol, developed countries are to phase out the production and consumption of HCFCs in 2015, while developing countries, such as China, need only freeze production levels in 2015 with a complete phase-out in 2040.

"The NAS article confirms that we have an incredible opportunity to use the most successful environmental agreement in history-the Montreal Protocol-to help protect the globe from climate change. I can't imagine a better way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the treaty," von Bismarck concluded.

Editor's Notes:

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is dedicated to investigating, exposing and campaigning against the illegal trade in wildlife and the destruction of the natural environment.
EIA first articulated the climate impacts of gases regulated by the ozone layer treaty last summer in a report entitled, "Turning up the Heat," which detailed the explosive growth in production of HCFCs in China. Highlighting the ozone layer and climate benefits that could result from earlier action on these chemicals, EIA campaigners have since been calling for an immediate HCFC production freeze and an acceleration of the phase-out schedule for this group of chemicals.
The Montreal Protocol was agreed on January 1, 1987 and is now ratified by 188 countries. Under the Montreal Protocol and its amendments, ozone-depleting substances are to be reduced and eliminated through the development of chemical substitutes and alternative manufacturing processes (elimination is the final objective).

Danielle Fest Grabiel Managing Director/Campaigner Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)

by Danielle Grabiel at 11:55 AM on 07 Mar 2007

The comments of Grist users reflect the opinions of those individuals only, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Grist, its staff, its board members, their psychotherapists, or their aestheticians. Got it?