ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCETOPIC

OZONE DEPLETION

HISTORY:> There is no local study about the ozone depletion issue.DENR and EMB or Environmental Management Board has the responsibility about controlling people activities that contributed much to the destruction of ozone layer. The unique role of ozone in absorbing certain wavelengths of incoming solar ultraviolet light was recognizedin the latter part of the nineteenth century by Cornu [1879] and Hartley [1880]. Interest in ozone stems from the fact that such absorption of solar radiation is important in determining not only the thermal structure of the stratosphere [Andrews et al., 1987] but also the ecological framework for life on the Earth’s surface. Decreased ozone results in increased ultraviolet transmission, which can affect the health of humans, animals, and plants [Van Der Leun et al., 1995].

HISTORY: Observations of the total integrated column ozonebased on ultraviolet absorption began in the first fewdecades of the twentieth century [e.g., Fabry and Buisson, 1913. Systematic measurements of this type have revealed that the total ozone abundances over many regions of the globe have decreased markedly since about 1980 (Dobson, 1968.Dustch, 1974 ). Indeed, the depletion of the global ozone layer has emerged as one of the major global scientific and environmental issues of the twentieth century.

Formation of the Ozone LayerEarly planet history:

– No ozone present because only algae is the first plant evolved in the earth, trees are not yet present.

– UV light directly hit planet’s surface because atmosphere layer is not yet formed or developed.

– Theory of evolution and ecological succession-reason of atmosphere formation.

A molecule containing three atoms of oxygen is called ozone. Ozone is very rare in our atmosphere, averaging about three molecules of ozone for every 10 million air molecules. In spite of this small amount, ozone plays a vital role in the atmosphere.

Ozone is mainly found in two regions of the Earth's atmosphere. Most ozone (about 90%) resides in a layer that begins between 6 and 10 miles (10 and 17 kilometers) above the Earth's surface and extends up to about 30 miles (50 kilometers). This region of the atmosphere is called the stratosphere. The ozone in this region is commonly known as the ozone layer.

Ozone LayerOzone gas layer exists in between

troposphere and stratosphere

Ozone present in the stratosphere plays a beneficial role by absorbing most of the biologically damaging ultraviolet sunlight. The absorption of ultraviolet radiation by ozone creates a source of heat. Ozone thus plays a key role in the temperature structure of the Earth's atmosphere.

Without the filtering action of the ozone layer, more of the Sun's UV radiation would penetrate the atmosphere and would reach the Earth's surface. Many experimental studies of plants and animals and clinical studies of humans have shown the harmful effects of excessive exposure to UV radiation.

At the Earth's surface, ozone comes into direct contact with life-forms and displays its destructive side (hence, it is often called "bad ozone"). Because ozone reacts strongly with other molecules, high levels of ozone are toxic to living systems. Several studies have documented the harmful effects of ozone on crop production, forest growth, and human health. The substantial negative effects of surface-level ozone present in the troposphere from direct toxicity contrast with the benefits of the additional filtering of UV radiation that it provides.

There is also widespread scientific and public interest and concern about losses of ozone in the stratosphere.

Ground-based and satellite instruments have measured decreases in the amount of stratospheric ozone in our atmosphere.

Over some parts of Antarctica, up to 60% of the total overhead amount of ozone (known as the column ozone) is depleted during Antarctic spring (September-November).

This phenomenon is known as the Antarctic ozone hole. In the Arctic polar regions, similar processes occur that have also led to the depletion of column ozone.

Formation of Ozone

Depletion of Ozone Layer

•The ozone layer is being destroyed by ChloroFlouroCarbons and other chemical substances that goes with the air and reaching the atmosphere layer.• The mechanisms Responsible for Ozone depletion

1)Meteorological mechanism 2)Chemical mechanism

CAUSES OF OZONE DEPLETION• Activities that affect air, water, land, flora and

fauna like….On-road car and truck air-conditioning systemsAir-conditioning and refrigeration appliancesElectronic gadgets and devicesChemicals and pesticidesImproper disposal of chemical waste containersLand use and development (factories, buildings, etc.)Production and consumption of compounds like

chlorofluorocarbons, halogens, carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform

CAUSES OF OZONE DEPLETIONMining, exploration and extractive industriesPollution-burning agricultural residues, garbage,

plastics and rubbersDynamite FishingNon-approved Cosmetics and Beauty ProductsLeaded gasoline, LPGVolcanic EruptionDeforestation and illegal loggingForest Fires

Chemical composition – Group – Ozone depleting potential.

TrichlorofluoromethaneBromochlorodifluoromethaneChlorotrifluoromethane Tetrachloromethane 1, 1, 1-TrichloroethaneDichlorofluoromethaneDibromofluoromethane Methyl bromide

List of Ozone depleting substances

Philippines finally bans CFCs beginning in 2010 -DENR

Published December 19, 2009 6:59pm Two decades after it signed an international treaty banning the use of environmentally unsafe chemicals, the Philippines will finally halt the importation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) starting January 2010. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary Jose Atienza Jr. said that CFCs will no longer be allowed into the country in accordance with the National CFC Phase-out Plan as well as the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer -an international treaty signed by the Philippines in 1988.

A combination of low temperatures and elevated chlorine and bromine concentrations are responsible for the destruction of ozone in the upper stratosphere thus forming a “hole”. (Kerr, 1987)

Location of Ozone Losses

Ozone loss extends beyond Antarctica and Arctic Polar regions

Ozone loss over US currently 5% below normal rates

Current Rate of Ozone Depletion

• Decrease in rate of ozone depletion (since 1997)• Slowing of buildup of harmful Cl- from CFCs• Ozone hole is still growing.• Ozone layer recovery expected by 2050

Images of Antarctica Taken Indicate A Slow Recovery

Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992

• This agreement, adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is part of a comprehensive strategy for sustainable development -- meeting the needs of the current generation of human beings while ensuring a healthy and viable world for future generations.

• In this pact, most of the world's governments commit to maintaining the world's ecological underpinnings while pursuing economic development. The convention sets three main goals: conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of plant and animal species, and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources.

A treaty to restore the earth’s umbrella

The ozone layer is that thin, fragile layer found in the stratosphere, about 20-40 kilometers above the earth’s surface. This layer is comprised of ozone, a naturally occurring greenhouse gas (GHG) made up of three atoms of oxygen (O3). At ground level, ozone is considered a pollutant, but in the stratosphere, ozone protects humans and other life forms on earth by shielding us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, particularly UV-B.

Accordingly, exposure to UV-B radiation poses several risks:For humans, it means susceptibility to skin cancer, which kills 66,000 people worldwide every year. UV-B radiation also causes cataracts, which lead to blindness, and rapid aging.UV-B affects the growth and quality of crops and trees. Rays penetrating the ocean also affects the reproduction of phytoplankton, which, as the primary food source of most marine life, is at the bottom of the food chain, as well as growth of fish eggs and young plants.UV-B degrades the quality of outdoor plastics and polymers commonly used for buildings, paints and packaging.

From the 1970s to the 80s, scientists discovered and observed the depletion of ozone molecules in the atmosphere caused by greenhouse gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which is commonly used in aerosols and as refrigerants. The depletion led to the thinning of the ozone layer, eventually creating a hole that has rendered the earth vulnerable to UV rays. The hole is located over the Antarctic region at the earth’s South Pole, then measuring around 25 million square kilometers, or more than 80 times bigger than the Philippines.

F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina,Chemists(1974) first warned that CFCs destroy the ozone layer by about 20 to 30 percent. By 1984, some scientists believed that CFCs can only destroy the

ozone layer by 2 to 4 percent in the next entury. After this, ozone became a dead issue for a while.

In 1990s, EPA conducted a study and projected that about 60 percent of the ozone layer will be destroyed by 2050 if the use of CFCs continues to grow at a rate of 4.5 percent per year. In fact, only 2.5 percent increase in CFCs production is enough to deplete the ozone layer by 26 percent.

Recent studies have already shown that over the Antarctica, the ozone layer has thinned out. Some studies show that ozone depletion is 0.15 percent per year from 1970 to 1981. Still, more recent studies show a depletiob of a 5 percent per year.

• The amount of UV light striking the earth will increase with ozone depletion. UV light is not visible to the human eye but its rays are more energetic than those of the visible light.

• Normal UV rays can tan the skin and stimulate the production of vit. D in it. However, excessive UV light can destroy protein an DNA molecule, thus causing sunburn and inducing skin cancer.

• Medical researchers believe that a depletion of 1 percent can increase skin cancer by 2 percent; a rise of 16 percent depletion in the year 2000 would increase skin cancer by 32 percent which means about 100000 to 300000 cases skin cancer each year.

• Light-skinned people are more sensitive to UV radiation. Some chemicals found in drugs, soaps, cosmetics and detergents can make the skin more sensitive to UV rays. Therefore exposure to sunlight can increase cases of skin cancer.

• Ultraviolet light can cause death to plants. Not-so intense UV light can damage leaves, slow down photosynthesis, cause mutations, and inhibit growth in plants. Bacteria can also be killed by UV.

• A 1998 study revealed that there has been a steady drop in the ozone levels by around 2 percent worldwide since 1969. The decline is higher over North America and Europe-by about 3 percent. In the month of December 1987, ozone level dropped as much as 10 percent in Melbourne and Australia.

• This has caused a 20 percent increase in UV Radiation reaching the ground.

*Ozone Phenomenon is a cause for alarm and thus prompted the industrialized countries to act.

*The Montreal Protocol ratified a treaty which would freeze the production of CFCs from July 1, 1989 reduce it by 20 percent from 1992, and cut further by 30 percent in 1998. But the experts think that these are not enough. Further reduction would needed to stabilize the ozone layer.

*Britain and other European communities called for an 85percent reduction in the CFCs. *The EPA of the US called for a complete phasing out of CFCs. And the German Environment Ministry recommended a reduction of 85 to 95 percent by the year 2000.

*There is also a welcome news from industries. Major manufacturers announced that they would phase out production of CFCs. Henceforth, they would only market products which are ozone friendly.

EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH ULTRA-VIOLET LIGHT CAN RESULT IN:• Skin cancer

• Eye damage such as cataracts• Immune system damage• Damage to the DNA in various life-forms

– this has been as observed  in Antarctic ice-fish that lack pigments to shield them from the ultra-violet light (they've never needed them before)

• UV radiation can alter both the time of flowering as well as the number of flowers in certain species.

WHY IS IT THAT OZONE DEPLETION OR OZONE HOLE LARGELY OCCURS IN ANTARTIC REGIONS?

With increasing values in Arctic total ozone during winter, a clear maximum in spring, and decreasing values from summer to fall.In the Antarctic, however, a pronounced minimum in total ozone is observed during spring. The minimum is a consequence of the “ozone hole,” which describes the widespread chemical destruction of ozone by ozone-depleting substances  in spring.In the late 1970s, before the ozone hole appeared each year, much higher ozone values were found in Antarctic spring . Now, the lowest values of total ozone across the globe and all seasons are found every spring in the Antarctic.After spring, these low values disappear from total ozone maps as polar air mixes with lower-latitude air containing much higher ozone values. In the tropics, the total ozone changes through the spring-summer- fall-winter progression of the seasons are much smaller than in the polar regions. This is because seasonal changes in both sunlight and ozone transport are smaller in the tropics than in the polar regions. 

What Is Being Done to Counter the Effects of Ozone Depletion?

• Montreal Protocol (adopted in 1987) – panel of experts was formed to investigate substances responsible for Ozone hole formation– Established policies that prevent future use of

certain types of chemicals – Stipulated that the production and consumption of

compounds contributing towards depletion of ozone in the stratosphere were to be phased out by the year 2000 (2005 for methylchloroform)

Twenty-five years later, the Montreal Protocol is now considered the most successful international agreement, being the only treaty to have been ratified universally – all known countries in the world are signatories, with South Sudan, the world’s newest country, as the latest signatory. The Philippines became a signatory in 1991.

With strict compliance to the Montreal Protocol, the ozone layer is estimated to recover (to the 1980s level) by year 2050. To date, continuing global efforts have led to the worldwide phase-out of 98 per cent of ODS produced. As a result, there has been a decline in atmospheric ODS levels. This translates to millions of cases of skin cancer and eye cataracts avoided, and an equivalent of more than 135 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions averted.

“After 25 years, the ozone is healing, and will continue to heal as long as we all abide by our commitments under the Montreal Protocol,” said Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).  

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• Responsible for enforcing the Montreal Protocol within the U.S.–The EPA has several programs in place;

• Regulating and enforcing on-road car and truck air-conditioning systems

• Regulating most air-conditioning and refrigeration appliances

• Technician certification

Efforts Need to Be Continued• Create reliable models

– To gain a better understanding of the effects ozone depletion has on organisms living within different ecosystems

• Enforcement of Montreal Protocol– To reduce concentrations of chemicals responsible for

ozone depletion• Monitoring chemicals being emitted

• Gain a better overall understanding on just how ozone depletion is affecting our planet

...

It include laws that relate to:• Protection of animals and

plants• Planning for the use and

development of land• Mining, exploration and

extractive industries• Forestry• Pollution• Fisheries• Land and fire management• Agriculture and farming

• Waste management• Climate change and

emissions• Water resource

management (lakes, wetlands, rivers and oceans)

• Chemicals and pesticides• Weeds and invasive species• Marine life• Conservation of natural and

cultural heritage

The general functions of most environmental laws are to:

• set offences and penalties for causing harm to the environment which is not authorised

• assess, control or stop certain activities (such as land use and development) before they are carried out

• set policies and standards for how activities will be controlled and how environmental decisions and approvals will be made

• enable members of the public to take part in environmental decision-making

• create regulatory structures for environmental management, such as regulatory agencies (e.g. the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment)

• create specialist courts and tribunals (e.g. the Lands, Planning and Mining Tribunal)

What is an environmental treaty/protocol?

An environmental protocol is a type of international law, "an intergovernmental document intended as legally binding with a primary stated purpose of preventing or managing human impacts on natural resources.

What is an Environmental policy?

Environmental policy refers to the commitment of an organization to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues and sustainability.

Transboundary Pollution

• Transboundary pollution is the pollution that originates in one country but is able to cause damage in another country’s environment, by crossing borders through pathways like water or air. Pollution can be transported across hundreds and even thousands of kilometers.

PHILIPPINE LAWS

ON ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

Presidental Decree 1151Philippine Environmental Policy

Governs the general policies on the pursuits of a better quality of life for the present and future generations and mandates undertaking the environmental impact assessments for all projects, which may significantly affect the environment.

•

Presidental Decree 1152Philippine Environment Code

• PURPOSE:– To achieve and maintain such levels of air quality

as to protect public health and to prevent to the greatest extent practicable, injury and/or damage to plant and animal life and property, and promote the social and economic development of the country

Environmental Laws and Policies

• P.D. 984 – The Pollution Control Law• P.D. 1181 – ( supplements the provision of PD.

984) – providing for the abatement, control and prevention of vehicular pollution & establishing the maximum allowance emissions of specific air pollutants from all types of vehicles

Environmental Laws and Policies

• P.D. 600 (amended by P.D. 979 )– • The Water Pollution Control

• Prohibits the discharge of oil, noxious liquid substances, and other harmful substances into the country’s inland and territorial waters

Environmental Laws and Policies

• P.D. 825 – prohibits the improper disposal of garbage

• P.D. 856 - Sanitation Code places the responsibility in the local

government units for the solid waste management in his area of production

Environmental Laws and Policies

• P.D. 1144 – Control of Pesticides

• R.A. 8749 - Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999

• R.A. 3720 – Food Additives• R.A. 6425 – Drugs• R.A. 280 - Cosmetics

Environmental Laws and Policies

• P.D. 7160 – Local Government Code of 1991- provides that local government should share

with the national government the responsibility in the management and maintenance of ecological balance within their territorial jurisdiction subject to national policies and other pertinent provisions of the code.

Environmental Laws and Policies

• R.A. 6969 – Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act

- Authorizes the DENR to establish a program to regulate , restrict or prohibit the importation, manufacture, processing, sale, destruction, use and disposal of chemical substances, and mixture that present unreasonable risk and/or injury to health or the environment

ConclusionDevelopment projects should be balance as to maintain, protect and preserve our environment. Our existing legislation also should be reanalyzed as to cope up with present situation that various waste, substance had been produced by industrialist. The law should be more strict and act more active in PREVENTING rather than CONTROLLING not only the pollution but FOCUS on ozone depletion protection and other environmental offences/crime.

Solutions of ozone depletion :

• Many countries have signed treaties and written

laws restricting the use of CFCs.

• Give awareness to the people about the dangers

of ozone depletion .

• Campaigns should also be done to find out the

substitutes of CFCs.

Bibliography:• Environmental Science for Philippine Schools by Melecio C.

Deauna and Salvacion Lindio-Dorado,M PP.240-246• http://edont.org.au/factsheets/what-is-environmental-law/• Ozone Trends Panel (OTP), Report of the international ozone panel, WMO Rep. 18, World Meteorology. Organ., Geneva, 1988.• Staehelin, J.,N.R.P. Harris, C.Appenzeller, and J. Eberhard.

2001. Ozone trends: A review. Review of Geophysics, 39 (2), 231-290.

• www.youtube.com

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Always remember the future generations we are only borrowers of

earth’s resources. Let us use these

resources with responsibility.

GRACE B. VERIDIANO