Ozone layer upper-atmosphere ozone-depletion rate slowed down significantly during the previous decade. Some breakdown can be expected to continue because of ODSs used by nations which have not banned them, and because of gases which are already in the stratosphere. Some ODSs, including CFCs, have very long atmospheric lifetimes, ranging from 50 to over 100 years. It has been estimated that the ozone layer will recover to 1980 levels near the middle of the 21st century. A gradual trend toward "healing" was reported in 2016. Compounds containing C–H bonds (such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons, or HCFCs) have been designed to replace CFCs in certain
Period 2 element can form an allotrope known as ozone. Ozone is a triatomic gas even more reactive than oxygen. Unlike regular diatomic oxygen, ozone is a toxic material generally considered a pollutant. In the upper atmosphere, some oxygen forms ozone which has the property of absorbing dangerous ultraviolet rays within the ozone layer. Land life was impossible before the formation of an ozone layer. Fluorine is the chemical element with atomic number 9. It occurs naturally in its only stable form F. Fluorine is a pale-yellow, diatomic gas under normal conditions and down to very low temperatures. Short one electron of the