Ozone layer breakdown of ozone in the stratosphere results in reduced absorption of ultraviolet radiation. Consequently, unabsorbed and dangerous ultraviolet radiation is able to reach the Earth’s surface at a higher intensity. Ozone levels have dropped by a worldwide average of about 4 percent since the late 1970s. For approximately 5 percent of the Earth's surface, around the north and south poles, much larger seasonal declines have been seen, and are described as "ozone holes". The discovery of the annual depletion of ozone above the Antarctic was first announced by Joe Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jonathan Shanklin, in a paper which appeared
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer Groups that help facilitate functions under the convention. A Multilateral Fund exists to aid developing nations transition from ozone-depleting chemicals using guidelines under the convention, which is administered by a Multilateral Fund Secretariat. The Multilateral Fund has aided thousands of projects in nearly 150 countries, preventing the usage of roughly 250,000 tons of ozone-depleting chemicals. Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is a multilateral environmental agreement signed in 1985 that provided frameworks for international reductions in the production of chlorofluorocarbons due to their contribution to the destruction