The international community's environmental leaders met in London during the summer of 1990 to revise and strengthen the existing Montreal Protocol. The Montreal Protocol is designed to control CFC emissions. At the London Revision meeting, phaseout timetables were set for the previously unregulated methyl chloroform and carbon tetrachloride substances. A complete phaseout for CFCs and Halons is now scheduled for the year 2000.
While these phaseout plans are a big improvement over the original Montreal Protocol (which just required 50% cuts) many are concerned that another 10 years of CFC production will lead to massive environmental damage. According to Friends of the Earth calculations, the London phaseout schedule will permit industry to produce up to ANOTHER 10 BILLION POUNDS of CFCs and enough Halons to equal 50% of all Halon ever produced. Opposition to tighter CFC controls came from US, Japan, and the Soviet Union. The US EPA now projects atmospheric chlorine will peak at around 4 ppb as the new controls take affect, but a more realistic study by NASA, (see graph on the previous card) shows levels closer to 5 ppb. There is good reason to believe chlorine will not be contained under 5 parts per billion, since neither China nor India have yet signed the Montreal Protocol. ***
