BEACON TRANSCRIPT –  Leaders across the globe agree on climate change. Officials believe that a global agreement to decrease green house emissions could tackle global warming, reducing temperatures by 0.5 degrees.

The ozone layer is now recovering, thanks to the 1987 Montreal Protocol. Now, it’s time for politicians to help solve the greenhouse emissions crisis.

Leaders of the world met this week in Vienna to tweak the Montreal Protocol. The act banned CFC’s in refrigerators and aerosols, thirty years earlier. Now, the HFCs have taken politicians’ attention. These chemicals lead to the greenhouse effect and ultimately change climate by increasing temperatures.

Countries came to the summit set to co-operate. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says she’s seen high energy levels and that all countries aim to take part in the discussion.

CFCs or chlorofluorocarbons are chemicals made of fluorine, chlorine, and carbon. Air conditioners, refrigerators or aerosol cans used to be packed with CFC. After the discovery of a hole in the ozone layer, a link was made between CFCs and pollution. As a result, CFCs were almost completely banned by the Montreal Protocol.

The new replacements, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) worked equally well and were easy on the ozone layer. Extensive studies have revealed that HFCs are gasses with a greenhouse effect and they, too lead to climate change.

World leaders have agreed to make some changes to the Montreal Protocol, by setting HFC limits. These limits could help decrease global warming by 0.5 Celsius degrees. It’s an important step in tackling global climate change.

By 2100, Earth is estimated to get 4.5 degrees Celsius warmer. After the Paris agreement on climate change, the figure is going to e around 3.5 degrees.

In the developing world, things are a lot more complicated than in developed nations. Air conditioning is an increasingly available commodity for the growing middle class. In some countries, like India, where you get 120 degrees Fahrenheit in summers, people can’t do without air conditioning. This will push the demand for air conditioning even further.

Such situations make implementing the agreed agenda difficult, especially for low-income countries with more stringent priorities in mind.

The group of officials wanted to strike a balance between science and commerce. India requested a 15 year period, for gradually introducing these changes. The agreement is approaching its final form.

Image Source – Wikipedia