ABSTRACT
Every year in the autumn there are fresh news reports on the ozone hole over the Antarctic. There is an almost ritual quality to the coverage, since the script always seems to be the same: in comparison with the preceding year, the hole in the ozone layer has grown or the ozone levels have reached new record lows. Obviously, only negative records are set in this area. The lay public is given the impression that too little is being done in the face of this catastrophic development. In actuality, the international community has already agreed upon measures that could solve the problem. According to the experts, however, it will be several more decades before the seasonally appearing ozone hole over the South Pole disappears (WMO 1994). This is due above all to the longevity of the ozonedestroying substances, which remain in the atmosphere for a long period after their release. Thus far the facts-paradoxical as they may seem at first-are simple: although the ozone layer initially continues to deteriorate, in the long term the measures are assumed to be successful. The matter becomes more complicated, however, if we want to understand how it became possible to arrive at binding controls in the first place.
