This provided a stunning confirmation of the Rowland-Molina hypothesis that human-made chlorofluorocarbons were destroying the ozone layer, and much faster than predicted. In 1985, his team made the most important geophysical discovery of the 20th century: the ozone hole above the Antarctic.
Joseph Farman was a British geophysicist who worked for the British Antarctic Survey. His efforts played a critical role in making the Montreal Protocol successful. Andersen’s tireless efforts brought together leaders from industry, government and academia to implement the needed changes in CFC use to mend the ozone hole. Stephen Andersen is the American Director of Research at the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, and is former co-chair of the Montreal Protocol Technology and Economic Assessment Panel. Solomon led an Antarctic ozone research expedition which both confirmed that CFCs caused the ozone hole, and showed that sunlit cloud tops catalyzed the ozone destruction process to be much faster.ĭr. She now serves as the Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate science at MIT. Susan Solomon was the Chemistry and Climate Processes Group of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration until 2011. In 2020, the award honored Bill Foege and Viktor Zhdanov for their critical contribution to eradicating small pox and thus saving roughly 200 million lives so far.įor some background on this year’s winners, Dr. Matthew Meselson for his contributions to getting biological weapons banned. In 20 the award honored Vasili Arkhipov and Stanislav Petrov for their roles in helping to avert nuclear war.
Unfortunately, Joseph Farman passed away in 2013, so his role in this story will be told through our guests on his behalf.įor those not familiar with the Future of Life Award, this is a $50,000/person annual prize that we give out to honor unsung heroes who have taken exceptional measures to safeguard the future of humanity. Solomon and Andersen as participants to the mystery of the ozone hole and the subsequent governance efforts related to mending it. In this podcast, we tell the story of the ozone hole from the perspective of Drs. This year’s winners are Susan Solomon, Stephen Andersen, and Joseph Farman, who all played an essential part in the efforts related to identifying and mending the ozone hole. This is a special episode with the winners of the 2021 Future of Life Award. Lucas Perry: Welcome to the Future of Life Institute Podcast. You can listen to the podcast above or read the transcript below.
Sherwood Rowland’s and Mario Molina’s research on the atmospheric science of CFCsġ9:52 How a single chlorine atom from a CFC molecule can destroy a large amount of ozoneĢ3:12 Moving from models of ozone depletion to empirical evidence of the ozone depleting mechanismĢ4:41 Joseph Farman and discovering the ozone holeģ0:36 Susan Solomon’s discovery of the surfaces of high altitude Arctic clouds being crucial for ozone depletionġ:00:00 Who were the key stake holders in the Montreal Protocol?ġ:03:46 Stephen Andersen’s efforts to phase out CFCs as the co-chair of the Montreal Protocol Technology and Economic Assessment Panelġ:13:28 The Montreal Protocol helping to prevent 11 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions per yearġ:18:30 Susan and Stephen’s key takeaways from their experience with the ozone hole crisisġ:24:24 What world did we avoid through our efforts to save the ozone layer?ġ:28:37 The lessons Stephen and Susan take away from their experience working to phase out CFCs from industryġ:34:30 Is action on climate change practical?ġ:40:34 Does the Paris Agreement have something like the Montreal Protocol Technology and Economic Assessment Panel?ġ:43:23 Final words from Susan and Stephen Have any feedback about the podcast? You can share your thoughts hereģ:13 What are CFCs and what was their role in society?ħ:09 James Lovelock discovering an abundance of CFCs in the lower atmosphereġ2:43 F.