Executive Summary of the WMO/UNEP 2022 Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion released

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has released the Executive Summary of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2022. Scientists from Helmholtz TOPIC1 (The Atmosphere in Global Change) contributed to this report, including Johannes Laube (IEK-7) in the prestigious role as chapter Lead Author.

The Executive Summary was discussed and drafted in a meeting at the headquarters of the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva in July 2022 with Johannes Laube and Rolf Müller from the IEK-7 as participants. This document summarizes and provides key highlights of the seven scientific chapters of the international ozone assessment, which is prepared by the scientific community every four years in accordance with the United Nations Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. This 1987 agreement and its amendments and adjustments protect Earth's vital ozone layer from depletion by man-made substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons.

Some of the key highlights of the 2022 assessment include: 

• Actions taken under the Montreal Protocol continued to decrease atmospheric abundances of controlled ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) and advance the recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer.
• Compliance with the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which requires phase down of production and consumption of some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), is estimated to avoid 0.3-0.5 °C of warming by 2100.
• The recent identification of unexpected CFC-11 emissions led to scientific investigations and policy responses.

The full assessment is currently in production with an expected release at the end of 2022.

Executive Summary:
https://csl.noaa.gov/assessments/ozone/2022