Mario Molina

Hello! My name is Mario Molina. I was born on March 19th, 1943, in a big, busy city called Mexico City. Even when I was a little boy, I was a scientist! I loved my chemistry set and my toy microscope. I was so excited about science that I even turned our family’s extra bathroom into my very own laboratory. I would spend hours in there, looking at tiny things through my microscope and mixing chemicals to see what would happen. It was my favorite place to be!

When I grew up, I went to college to become a real chemist. In 1973, I moved to California and started working with another scientist named F. Sherwood Rowland. We called him Sherry. We were curious about some chemicals that were used in everyday things like hairspray cans and refrigerators. These chemicals were called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs for short. We wanted to know: what happens to these CFCs when they float all the way up into the sky? We discovered something very important. High up in the air, there’s a special layer called the ozone layer. It works like a giant pair of sunglasses for our planet, protecting us from the sun’s strongest rays. Our research showed that the CFCs were eating little holes in this protective layer!

Sherry and I knew we had to tell everyone what we found. In 1974, we published a paper explaining how CFCs were harming the ozone layer. At first, some people didn't believe that such a small thing could cause such a big problem. But we kept sharing our work. Slowly, people started to listen. Leaders from countries all around the world came together and made a promise. In 1987, they created an agreement called the Montreal Protocol to stop using the harmful CFCs. It was amazing to see everyone working together to protect our Earth.

Years later, in 1995, something wonderful happened. My friend Sherry, another scientist named Paul Crutzen, and I were given a very special award called the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. We received it for our work showing how to protect the ozone layer. It made me so happy to know that our curiosity and hard work had helped make the world a safer place. I continued to work as a scientist, always looking for new ways to care for our beautiful planet.

I lived to be 77 years old, and I spent my life exploring the world with science. Today, people remember me as a scientist who helped the whole world come together to fix a big problem. My story shows that if you stay curious and ask important questions, you can help change the world for the better.