The ozone layer, also regarded as Ozone shield, is a thin layer comprised of gas in the Earth's stratosphere.
This ozone layer contains a relatively high concentration of ozone (O3) molecules and it plays a crucial role in protecting earth from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays emitted from the sun. Meanwhile, this UV-rays can cause numerous skin diseases like skin cancer. Now, scientists are doing multiple activities to rais awareness about the importance of this ozone layer. Because, in the last couple of years, the ozone layer has depleted rapidly.
The European Heart Journal has published the first evidence that exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) ozone limit is related with marked rise in hospital admissions for heart attack, heart failure, and stroke.
"During this three-year study, ozone was responsible for an increasing proportion of admissions for cardiovascular disease as time progressed," said study author Professor Shaowei Wu of Xi'an Jiaotong University, China. "It is believed that climate change, by creating atmospheric conditions favouring ozone formation, will continue to raise concentrations in many parts of the world. Our results indicate that older people are particularly vulnerable to the adverse cardiovascular effects of ozone, meaning that worsening ozone pollution with climate change and the rapid ageing of the global population may produce even greater risks of cardiovascular disease in the future.”
From the mid-1970s, chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), widely used in aerosols and refrigerators once, were found to be deteriorating the health of ozone layer.
To prevent this, scientists and diplomats came together, which led to the groundbreaking Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987, which is a "landmark multilateral environmental agreement" that helped to regulate the consumption and production of hundreds of man-made ozone-depleting chemicals.
The 1987 Montreal Protocol banned CFCs to close the hole. As per the projection, the ozone layer should be restored to 1980 levels over the Antarctica by around 2066.
“But despite the decline in CFCs, there has not yet been a significant reduction in the area covered by the Antarctic ozone hole,” according to New Zealand researchers behind a new study in the journal Nature Communications.
“The hole in the Antarctic ozone layer has been getting deeper in mid-spring over the last two decades, despite a global ban on chemicals that deplete Earth's shield from deadly solar radiation,” new research suggested Tuesday.
"What might be happening is something else is going on in the atmosphere now -- possibly because of climate change -- and that's masking some of the recovery," Annika Seppala of New Zealand's Otago University said.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) started an initiative named “Cool Coalition” which is a collaborative effort by over 100 governments, organizations, and civil society groups. It supports countries and industry on taking action to prevent growing cooling demand. Scientists are looking for some efficient and climate-friendly cooling processes to look for. A demonstration project named Prāṇa is currently going on to support sustainable cold chains for the agricultural and vaccine supply chain in several rural areas of Tamil Nadu, India.
The Ozone Secretariat also launched “Reset Earth,” which is an innovative educational platform for adolescents. This educates people about the importance of the ozone layer ase well as the Montreal Protocol.
With all these initiatives taking place simultaneously, the big question still lies: “Will Ozone layer ever be healed?”
Once it was imagined if we could patch the ozone hole over Antarctica. Unfortunately, this step is astronomically expensive.
According to the UNEP: “If current policies remain in place, the ozone layer is expected to recover to 1980 values (before the appearance of the ozone hole) by around 2066 over the Antarctic, by 2045 over the Arctic and by 2040 for the rest of the world.”
But the major threat is still climate change and global warming which are increasing rapidly worldwide.
“Protection of the ozone layer is our long-term commitment and responsibility. Each generation must take up the baton to ensure the continued survival of our planet’s protective shield,” said Andrea Hinwood, UNEP’s Chief Scientist.
