Ozone Layer Faces Bumpy Return to Health

Typography
The Earth's ailing ozone layer will probably recover, but it will never look exactly like it used to.

The Earth's ailing ozone layer will probably recover, but it will never look exactly like it used to.

That is the conclusion of a new study, which found that greenhouse gasses are interfering with ozone's rebound in complicated ways. The study predicts a patchy future for the ozone layer, with some sections becoming even thicker than they were before bans on ozone-damaging chemicals kicked in. Other sections, meanwhile, may remain sparse.

!ADVERTISEMENT!

"This shows that greenhouse gas increases could have some surprising effects on ozone," said Feng Li, an atmosheric scientist at NASA's Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Article continues