In 1974, Nobel Laureates Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina predicted that the increasing use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in foam insulation, refrigeration, and aerosols including metered-dose inhalers for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) would exponentially increase stratospheric chlorine loading and catalytically destroy the ozone layer, our primary protection against ultraviolet (UV) light. More than a decade later, the proof came along in the form of a large hole in the Antarctic ozone layer. By 1987, strong environmental leadership — with boosts from Margaret Thatcher’s background in chemistry and a skin cancer on Ronald Reagan’s nose that inspired him to take action — had resulted in the signing of the Montreal Protocol.
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