Renowned atmospheric chemist and MIT Institute Professor Emeritus Mario Molina, who discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had the potential to destroy the ozone layer in the Earth’s stratosphere, has died at the age of 77. At MIT, Molina held joint appointments in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) and the Department of Chemistry, from 1989 to 2004. In the early 1970s, Molina demonstrated through computer modeling and laboratory work that compounds widely used in propellants and refrigerants could destroy ozone in the upper atmosphere, increasing the ultraviolet radiation…
