However, the aim of the Montreal Protocol has been to eliminate the source of CFC emissions, as a result the only really feasible way for a state to achieve this would be through a ban on substances related to Ozone depletion.

The steady decline in CFC emissions, scientists say, is almost certainly responsible for the slower growth in atmospheric concentrations.

CFC emissions have been blamed for harming the protective ozone layer in the upper atmosphere.

He added, however, that Du Pont is working on a substitute solvent that would substantially reduce CFC emissions.

If CFC emissions continue to increase at the current rate, they would cause an extra 2C of warming over the same period.

Steps are being considered worldwide to curb CO 2 and CFC emissions, but the hope of reducing the greenhouse effect seems fairly forlorn.

The consensus amongst most atmospheric physicists and chemists is that the scientific understanding has now reached a level where countermeasures to control CFC emissions are justified, although the decision is ultimately one for policy-makers and society.

With this data, the Montreal Protocol was passed and CFC emissions were regulated within Canada, the United States, Sweden, Norway, and all other major industrial countries.

Many experts say the production phase-out has already led to a lessening of CFC emissions, and it is generally expected that concentrations of the chemical will stop building up around the turn of the century, after which a slow recovery lasting perhaps a century will begin.