麻豆社

Thirty years ago in May 1985 members of the British Antarctic Survey - Joe Farman, Jonathan Shanklin and Brian Gardiner - published a paper that changed the world. It revealed there was a large and expanding hole in the ozone layer above the Antarctic and that the cause was the chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs then commonly used in aerosols and refrigerants. It was 'a triumph of British boffindom' and the subsequent Montreal Treaty of 1987 has been called the most successful environmental legislation ever passed. Among many significant benefits are the millions of skin cancer cases that have been avoided every year since.

First broadcast as part of Costing the Earth, Radio 4, 12 May 2015.