F. Sherwood Rowland, the Nobel prize-winning chemist who sounded the alarm on the thinning of the earth’s ozone layer, has died.

The University of California, Irvine said Mr Rowland died at his home. He was 84.

The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease.

Mr Rowland was among three scientists awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize for chemistry for discovering that a by-product of aerosol sprays, deodorants and other consumer products could destroy the earth’s atmospheric blanket.

The prize was awarded more than two decades after Mr Rowland warned of the problem.

His theory was strongly challenged before it won widespread recognition.

Mr Rowland is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.