"An insider's account of the most successful international environmental action ever undertaken: the Montreal Protocol on Protection of the Ozone Layer. Richard McKenzie's career in ozone research began years before the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole and continues to the present day. McKenzie brings a first-hand experience to the story through his research and involvement in scientific and environmental assessments of ozone depletion. Saving our Skins is the story of how McKenzie and his colleagues at New Zealand's National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research in Lauder - a research laboratory housed on a sheep and cattle station at the bottom of the country - helped ensure the success of the Montreal Protocol. McKenzie's story plays out against a backdrop of an ever-increasing threat from climate change and its interactions with the ozone story. This book - authoritative on the science, but accessible to the layman - intertwines the scientific story behind the Protocol with the author's personal experiences in a career that spans four decades, stretching from the hallowed corridors of Oxford University to an isolated rural community where the locals refer to the scientists as "stargazers". The book's title plays on the dual problem of ozone depletion - which leads to dramatic increases in ultra-violet radiation that causes skin cancer - and climate change, which poses an existential threat to humanity. Both serve to remind us of the fragility of our thin skin of atmosphere. Ultimately, McKenzie shows that with foresight and global cooperation, difficult problems in science can be solved. As world leaders grasp for solutions to the climate change threat, this book suggests they might find a model in the Montreal Protocol"--Back cover.