Google Doodle celebrates Mario Molina who helped save the planet's ozone layer

On Sunday, Google commemorated the 80th birth anniversary of Dr. Mario Molina, a Mexican chemist who played a pioneering role in persuading governments to work together to protect the planet's ozone layer, through a doodle.

Google remembered him as one of the co-recipients of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and a researcher who revealed how chemicals deplete the Earth's ozone layer, which is crucial for safeguarding humans, plants, and wildlife from harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Dr. Molina was born on this day in 1943 in Mexico City, and as a child, he was so passionate about science that he transformed his bathroom into a makeshift laboratory, finding immense pleasure in observing tiny organisms glide across his toy microscope.

Molina's academic achievements include a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and an advanced degree from the University of Freiburg in Germany. Upon completing his studies, he moved to the United States to conduct postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In the early 1970s, Dr. Molina commenced research on how synthetic chemicals impact the Earth's atmosphere. He was among the first to discover that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a chemical present in air conditioners, aerosol sprays, and other products, were responsible for breaking down the ozone and causing ultraviolet radiation to reach the Earth's surface.

Dr. Molina and his fellow researchers published their findings in the Nature journal, which earned them the Nobel Prize in Chemistry later on.

Their groundbreaking research served as the basis for the Montreal Protocol, a worldwide treaty that successfully prohibited the manufacture of almost 100 ozone-depleting chemicals.

This international cooperation is widely regarded as one of the most significant environmental treaties ever enacted and a blueprint demonstrating that governments can collaborate effectively to tackle climate change.

Dr. Molina is celebrated for his critical scientific discoveries, which have led the planet's ozone layer to recover fully over the next several decades. The Mario Molina Center, a leading research institute in Mexico, carries on his work to create a more sustainable world.