Ozone chemicals ban may have led to global warming `pause`

London: A new study has suggested that ban on ozone depleting chemicals may have impacted the global temperature rise.

The authors associated a ban on the use of CFC gases to a "pause" or slowdown in temperature rise since the mid 1990. Researchers carried out a statistical analysis on the link between temperature rise and rates of increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere between 1880 and 2010. They said that the changes in the warming rate could be attributed to specific human actions that affected greenhouse gas concentrations. They also asserted that the introduction of the Montreal Protocol that phased out the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) impacted global temperatures as well. These chemicals that were used as spray can propellants and in refrigeration, had thinned the ozone layer over Antarctica. The authors said that their removal was a critical factor in the slowdown. The research has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.