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Article: Disaster Averted, Experts Say; Study Applauds Chemical Ban to Protect Ozone Layer
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- November 21, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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A year after the implementation of an international ban on
ozone-destroying chemicals, Dutch scientists have estimated the
projected savings in human illness: up to 1.5 million skin cancer
cases averted each year in the United States alone.
Using new computer models, the researchers at Utrech
University concluded that global policymakers dodged a disaster by
acting to prevent further erosion of Earth's protective ozone layer.
"These results demonstrate the importance of the international
measures," the five-member team wrote in a report in today's issue
of the journal Nature.
Without restrictions on halocarbons -- man-made chemicals
known to destroy ozone -- the number of skin ...