WART Hog would like to share about ozone layer which forms a thin shield high up in the sky. It protects life on Earth from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays.
In the 1980s, scientists began finding clues that the ozone layer was going away or being depleted. This allows more UV radiation to reach the Earth’s surface. This can cause people to have a greater chance of getting too much UV radiation. Too much UV can cause bad health effects like skin cancer and eye damage.
Ozone is a natural gas that is found in two different layers of the atmosphere. One layer, called thee, is at the Earth’s surface where we live. Ozone in the troposphere is “bad” because it dirties the air and helps make smog, which is unhealthful to breathe. The other layer, called thee, is miles above the Earth’s surface. Ozone in the stratosphere is “good” because it protects life on Earth by absorbing some of the sun’s harmful UV rays. Stratospheric ozone is found most often between six and 30 miles above the Earth’s surface.
Recently, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were used a lot in industry and elsewhere to keep things cold and to make foam and soaps. Strong winds carry CFCs up into the stratosphere where UV radiation breaks them apart, releasing chlorine atoms.
Each chlorine atom can attack and break apart (destroy) as many as 100,000 ozone molecules during the time it is in the stratosphere. The chlorine from CFCs reduces (depletes) the amount of ozone in the stratosphere.
Other ozone-eating chemicals are pesticides such as methyl bromide, halons used in fire extinguishers, and methyl chloroform used in businesses.Countries around the world, including the United States, have seen the threats created by ozone depletion and agreed to a treaty called the Montreal Protocol. This Protocol will help humans to stop making and using ozone-eating chemicals.
As world-wide controls reduce the release of CFCs and other ozone-eating substances, nature will repair the ozone layer. By year 2065 stratospheric ozone should return to the amount present in 1980. Until then, we can expect higher levels of UV radiation at the Earth’s surface. We need to take care to avoid the bad health effects that could result from too much UV radiation.
As the say goes ”there is no zone like the ozone layer”. The earth’s ozone layer plays an important role in protecting human health and the environment. The only thing that stops earth from getting fried up by the radiation from the sun is the ozone layer.  It is therefore not an overstatement to say that if we protect the ozone layer, we protect ourselves.
The ozone layer is a layer in the earth’s stratosphere at an altitude of about 10 km containing a high concentration of ozone, which absorbs most of the ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the earth from the sun.
The ozone layer absorbs approximately 99% of the Sun’s medium-frequency ultraviolet light, which otherwise would potentially damage exposed life forms on Earth.
Reducing the strength (depleting) of the Ozone layer consequently results in a variety of biological consequences such as increases in skin cancer, cataracts, damage to plants, and reduction of plant (plankton) populations in the surface areas of oceans (photic zone) may result from the increased UV exposure due to ozone depletion.
Ozone depletion describes two distinct but related phenomena that scientist has observed since the late 1970s. The first phenomenon has been a steady decline of about four per cent per decade in the total volume of ozone in Earth’s stratosphere. The second phenomenon is a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric zone (The region of the upper atmosphere extending upward from the tropopause to about 16 to 50 km above the earth) over Earth’s Polar Regions. The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole.
HCFCs (Hydrochlorofluorocarbons) are some of the substances that destroy the ozone layer. HCFCs and other contributory substances are referred to as ozone-depleting substances. Since the ozone layer prevents most harmful UV radiation from passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, observed and projected decreases in ozone have generated worldwide concern leading to adoption of the Montreal Protocol. The protocol bans the production of HCFCs, halons, and other ozone-depleting chemicals such as carbon tetrachloride and trichloroethane.
Zambia is one of the parties to the Montreal protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. This protocol was instituted in 1987 by the United Nations (UN). The UN’s International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is celebrated on September 16 every year. This event commemorates the date of the signing of the Montreal protocol.
Warthog should be quick to mention that the UN’s International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is a global observance and not a public holiday.
In 1987 representatives from 24 countries met in Montreal and committed themselves to stop destroying the ozone layer. Zambia ratified the protocol in 1990.
Later in 1994 Zambia as Party to the Montreal Protocol also ratified the London Amendments to the Protocol. On December 19, 1994, the UN General Assembly proclaimed September 16 to be the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. The day was first celebrated on September 16, 1995. The United Nations’ (UN) International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer focuses on the importance of protecting human health and the environment.
The theme of this year’s commemoration is “HCFCs phase-out: a unique opportunity”. Warthog is proud to announce that The Wildlife and Environmental Conservation Society of Zambia (WECSZ) in partnership with the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) and Wonderful Ceiling will this Wednesday, the 16th of September, broadcast an inter-school quiz competition for Chipembele conservation clubs. The quiz will be aired on ZNBC TV.
On this day, Selected secondary school clubs (Chipembele conservation clubs) will demonstrate their awareness on topics related to the ozone layer, climate change and ozone depletion.
Notwithstanding Zambia’s effort to combat ozone depleting substances, a lot still remain to be done in order to realise considerable contribution to addressing the threats to the ozone layer.
Wildlife & Environmental Conservation Society of Zambia
P.O. Box 30255, Lusaka, Zambia.
Telefax: 260-211-251630, Cell: 0977-780770
E-mail: wecsz@coppernet.zm