Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, were once considered a triumph of modern chemistry. Stable and versatile, these chemicals were used in hundreds of products, from military systems to the ubiquitous can of hairspray.
![Going, going, gone: A NOAA weather balloon floats into the pre-dawn Antarctic sky over the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in this time-lapse photograph taken September 15, 2017. The balloon was carrying an ozonesonde -- instrument to measure ozone during NOAA's annual monitoring of the Antarctic ozone hole. Rising emissions of a strictly regulated chemical threatens recovery of the ozone hole, according to new NOAA research published in the journal Nature, May 16, 2018. (Image credit: Christian Krueger/IceCube) Going, going, gone: A NOAA weather balloon floats into the pre-dawn Antarctic sky over the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in this time-lapse photograph taken September 15, 2017. The balloon was carrying an ozonesonde -- instrument to measure ozone during NOAA's annual monitoring of the Antarctic ozone hole. Rising emissions of a strictly regulated chemical threatens recovery of the ozone hole, according to new NOAA research published in the journal Nature, May 16, 2018.](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_width_1275/public/legacy/image/2019/Jun/Photo-Time%20Lapse%20-%20pre-dawn%20Antarctic%20over%20Amundsen-Scott%20South%20Pole%20Station-Credit%20%20With%20Permission%20Christian%20Krueger%20-%20IceCube-091516-1130x575-Landscape.jpg?itok=NSzycckl)
Going, going, gone: A NOAA weather balloon floats into the pre-dawn Antarctic sky over the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in this time-lapse photograph taken September 15, 2017. The balloon was carrying an ozonesonde -- instrument to measure ozone during NOAA's annual monitoring of the Antarctic ozone hole. Rising emissions of a strictly regulated chemical threatens recovery of the ozone hole, according to new NOAA research published in the journal Nature, May 16, 2018. (Image credit: Christian Krueger/IceCube)