GERMAN scientists have warned that the Earth's ozone layer, which filters radiation from space, is regenerating itself at a slower pace than originally predicted. "Even if international agreements on the protection of the atmosphere are strictly followed, the size of the ozone hole 20 years from now will be the same as today," warn experts from the German Aviation and Space Centre (GASC) at Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich. The ozone layer would regenerate itself only if, along with known "ozone killers" such as cholorofluorocarbons, flurocarbohydrates, carbon emissions are also eliminated. Also, according to GASC experts, if the concentration of chlorides in the stratosphere diminish more slowly than predicted, the ozone hole will continue to grow. And then there is a danger of a new hole, first discovered in 1985.
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