LOS ANGELES (AP) - F. Sherwood Rowland, the Nobel prize-winning chemist who sounded the alarm on the depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer, has died.
The University of California, Irvine says Rowland died Saturday at his home in Southern California. He was 84.
The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease.
Rowland was among three scientists awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize for chemistry for discovering that a byproduct of aerosol sprays, deodorants and other consumer products could destroy the earth’s atmospheric blanket.
The prize was awarded more than two decades after Rowland warned of the problem. His theory was strongly challenged before it won widespread recognition and leaders of nations worldwide began to act to ban usage of the harmful chemicals.
Rowland is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.
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