Look up! Ozone layer is protecting our planet like an umbrella

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Thursday marks the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, a day dedicated to raising awareness about protecting the fragile shield of gas around the Earth.

The Ozone umbrella shields Earth from most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation, making life on the planet possible.

The discovery of Ozone "holes" in the 1980s triggered a ban in 1987 on ozone-depleting substances, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which were commonly used in refrigerators before the ban.

A new study published in August in the journal Nature shows that the ban has prevented the planet from an additional 0.85 degrees Celsius of warming, highlighting another role of the ozone layer as a terrestrial carbon sink.

Let's take a look at the sky and remind ourselves again how important the ozone layer is.

A plane flies through the blue sky and white clouds in Renhuai City, Guizhou Province, southwest China, September 5, 2021. /VCG

The evening sky with stars in Pleinfeld, Germany, September 6, 2021. /VCG

A boatman rows his boat during sunset in Dal Lake, Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, September 9, 2021. /VCG

Sailboats navigate under clouds on Tagus River in Lisbon, Portugal, September 14, 2021. /VCG

A wind turbine stands in a field in Odesa Region, southern Ukraine, August 11, 2021. /VCG

(All photos via VCG)

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at nature@cgtn.com.)

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