Voice of America, September 18, 2002

A team of Australian scientists has announced that the hole in the ozone layer is shrinking, and is likely to close by 2050.

The scientists, who are with the government-funded Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, report a declining level of atmospheric chlorine from chlorofluorocarbons - responsible for destroying part of the ozone layer. They say the decline will lead to a gradual recovery of the ozone layer during the next half-century.

The ozone layer, which filters the sun's ultraviolet rays and protects humans from skin cancer, has suffered the most damage over Antarctica. At its peak, the hole was three times the size of Australia.

But scientists say ozone layer recovery is the result of international efforts to ban chlorofluorocarbons.

CFC's, used in refrigerators, air conditioners and aerosol spray cans, were banned in the developed world in the mid-1990s, after a pact signed at a 1989 international conference in Montreal, Canada. They are still being phased out in developing countries.

The closing of the ozone hole is not expected to alleviate projected global warming problems. They are said to be related to the release of other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.