Production of cfcs -- the chemicals that attack earth's precious atmospheric ozone layer and are being phased out by international agreement -- is falling even faster than expected. That's the good news. The bad news is that cfcs already released are still drifting up through the atmosphere. New satellite data, reported in the current Nature, show that ozone levels over some northern parts of Canada, Scandinavia and Russia were 10% lower this winter than they were just one year ago.
Since ozone loss can increase the amount of ultraviolet radiation reaching earth's surface, the risk of skin cancer may be rising...
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