In 1974, chemists Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland at UC Irvine published research showing that human-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in refrigeration and other industrial applications, migrate into the stratosphere and destroy ozone, the layer that shields Earth from UV radiation. Their warning helped drive global policy action, culminating in the Montreal Protocol banning CFCs, and the ozone hole has since begun to heal. Molina and Rowland shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work.
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55:04>> 1974 discover of ozone depletion and chlorofluorocarbon CFC's. >> Yes, this was a huge triumph for I think the global community at large. um chemists uh Mario Molina and Sherwood Roland at UC Irvine, they published this landmark paper that showed that human-made CFCs, chlorofhluocarbons, which are used in like refrigeration and all sorts of other industrial applications, they migrate into the stratosphere and they kill ozone, which is 03, the the the three oxygen molecule. That ozone is critical for us because it protects us from UV radiation and it's a big part of our ozone layer,
55:45the Earth's protective coat. Um, this stark environmental warning directly catalyzed global climate change policy because the entire globe then decided, hey, let's not use CFC's anymore. Um, that was part of the Montreal Protocol. It was a big win, I think, for humanity because it showed that we could all come together and be like, "Hey, let's >> let's not do that, >> right? >> Let's We like the ozone, right? There's a giant hole. Let's let's not have that hole get bigger." And actually, once we stopped using CFC's, the ozone hole came back and we healed we healed the earth, >> which is incredible. >> Which is incredible. They won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.