Questions and answers about the environmental effects of ozone depletion and its interactions with climate change: 2010 assessment

Pieter J. Aucamp, Lars Olof Björn, Robyn Lucas

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    In the mid-1970s it was discovered that some man-made products
    destroy ozone molecules in the stratosphere. This destruction leads
    to higher ultraviolet (UV) radiation levels at the surface of the
    Earth and can cause damage to ecosystems and to materials such
    as plastics. Itmay cause an increase in human diseases such as skin
    cancers and cataracts.
    The discovery of the role of the synthetic ozone-depleting
    chemicals, such as the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), stimulated
    increased research and monitoring in this field. Computer models
    predicted a disaster if nothing was done to protect the ozone layer.
    Based on this scientific information, the nations of the world took
    action in 1985 with the Vienna Convention for the Protection of
    theOzone Layer, followed by the Montreal Protocol on Substances
    that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987. The Convention and
    Protocol have been amended and adjusted several times since 1987
    as new knowledge has become available.
    The Meetings of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol appointed
    three Assessment Panels to regularly review research findings
    and progress. These panels are the Scientific Assessment Panel,
    the Technological and Economic Assessment Panel and the
    Environmental Effects Assessment Panel. Each panel covers a
    designated area with a natural degree of overlap. Themain reports
    of the Panels are published every four years, as required by
    the Meeting of the Parties. All three reports have an executive
    summary that is distributed more widely than the entire reports.
    It has become customary to add a set of questions and answers –
    mainly for non-expert readers – to these executive summaries.
    This document contains the questions and answers prepared by
    the experts of the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel. They
    refer mainly to the environmental effects of ozone depletion and
    its interactions with climate change, based on the 2010 report of
    this Panel, but also on information from previous assessments and
    from the report of the Scientific Assessment Panel. Readers who
    need further details on any question should consult the full reports
    for a more complete scientific discussion. All these reports can be
    found on the UNEP website: http://ozone.unep.org.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)301-316
    JournalPhotochemical and Photobiological Sciences
    Volume10
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

    Subject classification (UKÄ)

    • Biological Sciences

    Free keywords

    • assessment
    • climate change
    • ozone depletion
    • ultraviolet radiation
    • UNEP
    • vitamin D

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