Ozone layer: better but severe

2002/09/16 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Klima
• Ingurumena

A new report points out that, although it is recovering, the ozone layer will remain very sensitive during the next decade at least, despite compliance with international treaties by the States.

The summary of the report was presented today by the United Nations Environment Programme, in collaboration with the World Meteorological Association, on the international day of ozone protection.

The full report will be available next year, but some data have already been advanced. For example, in the stratosphere, in the highest layer of the atmosphere, the gases that destroy ozone are currently at their highest level and, therefore, human disturbance. But, at the same time, the data show that society is working slowly but steadily for ozone. In fact, in the lower layers of the atmosphere there are fewer and fewer fungible chemical compounds. However, it is recalled that in order for the ozone layer to return to the situation prior to the appearance of the Antarctic hole, the measures agreed in the Montreal Protocol must be strictly complied with. No one wants to lower the guard.

Since the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, the United Nations has systematically produced such reports. That of this year is the last of a series of four and collects the data obtained since 1998. In addition to confirming the importance of compliance with the Protocol, this report has carried out studies on the relationship between ozone layer and climate change. The relationship between these two phenomena is not clear, since the report indicates that greenhouse gases can have a positive or negative effect on the stratosphere and ozone layer. They know nothing.

Additional Information:United Nations Environment Programme: Summary report of the day of ozone United Nations Environment Programme: ozone Ozone layer, climate thermometer of the planet Why is there a hole in the ozone layer in the South Pole?