She is known for her work in the 1980s which established how the Earth’s protective ozone layer was being depleted by human-made chemicals.
Her studies formed the basis of the 1989 Montreal protocol – an international agreement that helped eliminate 99% of these harmful solvents.
As I started reading about planetary atmospheres I thought: Oh, my goodness, chemistry on a planet instead of in a test tube!
Having done a lot of work on the ozone hole, one is constantly asked: “If we could [solve the problem] for ozone, can we do it for climate change?”
But by the 1980s it was becoming clear that we were depleting it through the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in aerosols and refrigerators, among other things.
For goodness sake, let’s not give up now, we’re right on the cusp of success.
It also helped the climate change issue, by the way, because chlorofluorocarbons are very strong greenhouse gases. »
