The Chemical Prediction of Stratospheric Ozone Depletion: A Moral Model of Scientific Hazard Foresight

When Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland in 1974 predicted the depletion of stratospheric ozone through chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which posed a threat to almost all terrestrial life, they initiated an unprecedented and still unique political process that led to a global ban of CFCs and other ozone depleting substances. After a brief introduction to atmospheric chemistry and the history of CFCs, the first part of this paper narrates the history of that prediction, its experimental verification, including the discovery of the Ozone Hole, and the international political consequences. The second part investigates if and to what extent chemists have a moral duty to research and warn us of possible hazards, taking Molina and Rowland as moral role models.