CLIMATE CHANGE

Weather and Climate

• Weather consists of short-term changes in atmospheric variables
such as the temperature and precipitation in a given area over a
period of hours or days.
• Climate is determined by the average weather conditions of the
earth or of a particular area, especially temperature and
precipitation, over decades to thousands of years.
Is Climate Change a New Phenomenon?
• Over the past 3.5 billion years, the planet’s climate has been
altered by volcanic emissions, changes in solar input,
continents moving slowly atop shifting tectonic plates,
impacts by large meteors, and other factors.
• Over the past 900,000 years, the atmosphere has experienced
prolonged periods of global cooling and global warming.
These alternating cycles of freezing and thawing are known as
glacial and interglacial periods.
• For the past 1,000 years, the average temperature of the
atmosphere has remained fairly stable but began rising during
the last century when people began clearing more forests and
burning more fossil fuels.
Global Warming
• Global warming is the phenomenon of increasing average air
temperatures near the surface of Earth over the past one to two
centuries.
• The influence of human activities since at least the beginning of
the Industrial Revolution has been deeply woven into the very
fabric of climate change.
IPCC 5th Assessment Report
• In 2013 the IPCC reported that the interval between 1880 and 2012
saw an increase in global average surface temperature of
approximately 0.9 °C.
• The increase is closer to 1.1 °C when measured relative to the
preindustrial (i.e., 1750–1800) mean temperature.
• The IPCC stated that most of the warming observed over the second
half of the 20th century could be attributed to human activities.
• It predicted that by the end of the 21st century the global mean
surface temperature would increase by 0.3 to 5.4 °C relative to the
1986–2005 average.
IPCC 5th Assessment Report
• The IPCC reported that the global average sea level rose by
some 19–21 cm between 1901 and 2010 and that sea levels rose
faster in the second half of the 20th century than in the first half.
• It also predicted that by the end of the 21st century the global
average sea level could rise by another 29–95 cm relative to the
1986–2005 average and that a rise of well over 1 metre could
not be ruled out.
IPCC 5th Assessment Report
• IPCC reported that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and
nitrous oxides in the atmosphere surpassed those found in ice cores
dating back 800,000 years.
• At the beginning of the industrial age in the mid-18th century,
carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere were roughly 280
ppm.
• By the middle of 2014, carbon dioxide concentrations had briefly
reached 400 ppm, and, if fossil fuels continue to be burned at current
rates, they are projected to reach 560 ppm by the mid-21st century—
essentially, a doubling of carbon dioxide concentrations in 300 years.
Greenhouse Effect
• The amount of solar radiation absorbed by Earth’s surface is only a small
fraction of the total solar radiation entering the atmosphere. For every 100
units of incoming solar radiation, roughly 30 units are reflected back to space
by either clouds, the atmosphere, or reflective regions of Earth’s surface.
• This reflective capacity is referred to as Earth’s planetary albedo, and it need
not remain fixed over time.
• The 70 units of solar radiation that are not reflected may be absorbed by the
atmosphere, clouds, or the surface.
• In the absence of further complications, in order to maintain thermodynamic
equilibrium, Earth’s surface and atmosphere must radiate these same 70 units
back to space.
Greenhouse Effect
• Earth’s energy budget is further complicated by the greenhouse
effect. The greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide, methane,
and nitrous oxide — absorb some of the infrared radiation
produced by Earth’s surface.
• Because of this absorption, some fraction of the original 70 units
does not directly escape to space. The net effect of absorption
by greenhouse gases is to increase the total amount of radiation
emitted downward toward Earth’s surface and lower
atmosphere.
Greenhouse Effect
• To maintain equilibrium, Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere
must emit more radiation than the original 70 units.
Consequently, the surface temperature must be higher.
• The presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leads to a
warming of the surface and lower part of the atmosphere
relative to what would be expected in the absence of
greenhouse gases.
Radiative Forcing
The temperature of Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere may be
modified in three ways:
(1) through a net increase in the solar radiation entering at the top of
Earth’s atmosphere,
(2) through a change in the fraction of the radiation reaching the
surface, and
(3) through a change in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere.
Radiative Forcing
• Radiative forcing is a measure of the influence a given climatic
factor has on the amount of downward-directed radiant energy
impinging upon Earth’s surface.
• “Positive forcing” is exerted by climatic factors that contribute to
the warming of Earth’s surface, whereas “negative forcing” is
exerted by factors that cool Earth’s surface.
Greenhouse Gases
Water Vapour
• Water vapour is the most potent of the greenhouse gases in
Earth’s atmosphere.
• The primary role of water vapour is not as a direct agent of
radiative forcing but rather as a climate feedback.
• The warmer the surface, the greater the evaporation rate of
water from the surface.
Carbon Dioxide
• Natural sources of atmospheric CO2 include outgassing from
volcanoes, the combustion and natural decay of organic matter,
and respiration by aerobic organisms.
• These sources are balanced by a set of physical, chemical, or
biological processes, called “sinks,” that tend to remove CO2
from the atmosphere.
Carbon Dioxide
• Human activities increase atmospheric CO2 levels primarily through
the burning of fossil fuels for use in transportation, heating, and the
generation of electrical power—and through the production of
cement.
• Other anthropogenic sources include the burning of forests and the
clearing of land. Anthropogenic emissions currently account for the
annual release of about 7 gigatonnes (7 billion tonnes) of carbon into
the atmosphere.
• Anthropogenic emissions are equal to approximately 3 percent of the
total emissions of CO2 by natural sources, and this amplified carbon
load from human activities far exceeds the offsetting capacity of
natural sinks.
Carbon Dioxide
• CO2 accumulated in the atmosphere at an average rate of 1.4
parts per million by volume (ppmv) per year between 1959 and
2006, and between 2007 and 2017 the rate of CO2 accumulation
increased to roughly 2.25 ppmv per year.
• The growth in atmospheric carbon concentrations has been
fairly linear, but this could change. Certain current sinks, such as
the oceans, could become sources in the future. This may lead
to a situation in which the concentration of atmospheric CO2
builds at an exponential rate.
Carbon Dioxide
• Radiative forcing caused by carbon dioxide varies in an
approximately logarithmic fashion with the concentration of that gas
in the atmosphere.
• The logarithmic relationship predicts that the surface warming
potential will rise by roughly the same amount for each doubling of
CO2 concentration.
• At current rates of fossil fuel use, a doubling of CO2 concentrations
over preindustrial levels is expected to take place by the middle of
the 21st century (when CO2 concentrations are projected to reach
560 ppm).
Carbon Dioxide
• A doubling of CO2 concentrations would represent an increase
of roughly 4 watts per square metre of radiative forcing.
• Given typical estimates of “climate sensitivity” in the absence of
any offsetting factors, this energy increase would lead to a
warming of 2 to 5 °C over preindustrial times. The total radiative
forcing by anthropogenic CO2 emissions since the beginning of
the industrial age is approximately 1.66 watts per square metre.
Methane
• Methane (CH4) is the second most important greenhouse gas.
CH4 is more potent than CO2 because the radiative forcing
produced per molecule is greater.
• However, CH4 exists in far lower concentrations than CO2 in the
atmosphere, and its concentrations by volume in the
atmosphere are generally measured in parts per billion (ppb)
rather than ppm. CH4 also has a considerably shorter residence
time in the atmosphere than CO2.
Methane
• Natural sources of methane include wetlands, methane-oxidizing
bacteria, volcanoes, seepage vents of the seafloor in regions rich with
organic sediment, and methane hydrates trapped along the
continental shelves of the oceans and in polar permafrost.
• The primary natural sink for methane is the atmosphere itself, as
methane reacts readily with the hydroxyl radical (∙OH) within the
troposphere to form CO2 and water vapour (H2O). When CH4 reaches
the stratosphere, it is destroyed.
• Another natural sink is soil, where methane is oxidized by bacteria.
Methane
• Anthropogenic sources currently account for approximately 70
percent of total annual emissions.
• The major anthropogenic sources of atmospheric CH4 are rice
cultivation, livestock farming, the burning of coal and natural
gas, the combustion of biomass, and the decomposition of
organic matter in landfills.
Surface-level Ozone
• Surface O3 is a result of air pollution; it must be distinguished
from naturally occurring stratospheric O3.
• The primary anthropogenic source of surface O3 is
photochemical reactions involving the atmospheric pollutant
carbon monoxide (CO).
Nitrous oxides and fluorinated gases
• Additional trace gases produced by industrial activity that have
greenhouse properties include nitrous oxide (N2O) and
fluorinated gases (halocarbons)
• Halocarbons include sulphur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs), and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
• Nitrous oxides have small background concentrations due to
natural biological reactions in soil and water, whereas the
fluorinated gases owe their existence almost entirely to
industrial sources.
Aerosols
• Aerosols are minute particles suspended in the
atmosphere. When these particles are sufficiently large,
we notice their presence as they scatter and absorb
sunlight. Their scattering of sunlight can reduce visibility
(haze) and redden sunrises and sunsets.
Types of Aerosols
• Volcanic aerosols
• Desert Dust
• Human-Made Aerosol
Aerosols
• Aerosols block a portion of incoming solar radiation, and
this creates a negative radiative forcing.
• Aerosols are second only to greenhouse gases in relative
importance in their impact on near-surface air
temperatures.
• Aerosols are readily flushed out of the atmosphere within
days, either by rain or snow (wet deposition) or by settling
out of the air (dry deposition).
Aerosols
• Aerosols have the ability to influence climate directly by
absorbing or reflecting incoming solar radiation, but they can
also produce indirect effects on climate by modifying cloud
formation or cloud properties.
• Aerosols can be transported thousands of kilometres from their
sources of origin by winds and upper-level circulation in the
atmosphere.
Global Dimming
• Global dimming is defined as the decrease in the amounts of
solar radiation reaching the surface of the Earth.
• Various regions observe different levels of global dimming.
Southern Hemisphere has seen very small amounts of global
dimming while Northern Hemisphere has witnessed more
significant reductions, to the tune of 4-8%.
• Regions such as parts of Europe and North America has
observed partial recovery from dimming while parts of China
and India have experienced increase in global dimming.
Global Dimming
Effects of Global Dimming
• The pollutants causing global dimming also leads to acid
rain, smog and respiratory diseases in humans.
• Water in the northern hemisphere has become colder.
This leads to slower evaporation and generation of lesser
water droplets. This further causes reduction in the
amount of rain reaching certain parts of the globe,
resulting in drought and famine situations.
• Decrease in sunlight or solar radiation will negatively
impact process of photosynthesis in plants.
Deforestation
Deforestation
• Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order
to make the land available for other uses.
• About 300 billion tons of carbon, 40 times the annual
greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, is stored in trees.
• The deforestation of trees not only lessens the amount of
carbon stored, it also releases carbon dioxide into the air.
• Deforestation releases nearly a billion tonne of carbon into the
atmosphere per year, though the numbers are not as high as
the ones recorded in the previous decade.
Deforestation
• Deforestation is the second largest anthropogenic source of
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere (after fossil fuel
combustion), ranging between 6 percent and 17 percent.
• The impact of deforestation on the exchange of water vapour
and carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the
terrestrial land surface is the biggest concern with regard to
the climate system.
• Deforestation has decreased global vapour flows from land by
4 percent. Even this slight change in vapour flows can disrupt
natural weather patterns and change current climate models.
Other Effects of Deforestation
• Loss of species
• Water cycle
• Soil erosion
• Life quality
• The disturbance of native people
• Effect on Carbon Sequestration
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
• Ozone absorbs solar radiation.
• As ozone levels in the stratosphere are depleted, more solar radiation
reaches Earth’s surface.
• As the amount of ozone in the stratosphere is decreased, there is also
less ozone to absorb longwave radiation emitted by Earth’s surface.
• The second effect negates the first and results in a modest negative
radiative forcing of Earth’s surface and a modest cooling of the lower
stratosphere by approximately 0.5 °C per decade since the 1970s.
Role of Oceans in Climate Change
• The world’s oceans help to moderate the earth’s average surface
temperature and thus its climate by removing about 25–30% of the
CO2 pumped into the lower atmosphere by human activities.
• The oceans also absorb heat from the lower atmosphere and use
currents to slowly transfer some CO2 to the deep ocean, where it is
buried in bottom sediments for several hundred million years.
• The solubility of CO2 in ocean water decreases with increasing
temperature. Thus, as the oceans warm up, some of their dissolved
CO2 is released into the lower atmosphere—like CO2 bubbling out of
a warm carbonated soft drink.
Effects of Climate Change
• According to the IPCC, a warming of 2⁰C and its effects
on global climate appears to be inevitable because we
have waited too long to prevent some degree of change.
• Even if greenhouse gas emissions are stopped now, some
effects such as increased drought and a sea level rise will
be felt for at least 1,000 years.
Precipitation Patterns
• Increased precipitation is predicted in the polar and
subpolar regions, whereas decreased precipitation is
projected for the middle latitudes of both hemispheres.
• Precipitation near the Equator is predicted to increase.
• Changes in precipitation patterns are expected to
increase the chances of both drought and flood
conditions in many areas.
Droughts
• Long-term climate change can contribute to prolonged
droughts.
• As drought increases and spreads, the growth of trees and
other plants declines, which reduces the removal of CO2 from
the atmosphere.
• Forest and grassland fires increase, which adds CO2 to the
atmosphere.
• Climate scientists project that these combined effects from
increased drought will speed up the warming of the
atmosphere.
Melting of Ice and Snow
Melting of Ice and Snow
• Light-coloured ice and snow in the polar regions help to
cool the earth by reflecting incoming solar energy.
• The melting of such ice and snow exposes much darker
land and sea areas, which absorb more solar energy.
• This causes polar regions to warm faster than lower
latitudes, and it accelerates atmospheric warming
because less solar energy is reflected away from the
earth’s surface.
Melting of Ice and Snow
• Loss of arctic sea ice affects global air and water circulation
patterns. Thus it could reduce long term average rainfall and
snowfall and affect food production in several areas by
reducing the availability of irrigation water.
• Mountain glaciers play a vital role by storing water as ice
during cold wet seasons and releasing it slowly to streams
during warmer dry seasons.
• During the past 25 years, many of the world’s mountain
glaciers have been melting and shrinking at accelerating rates.
Rising Sea Levels
• The world’s average sea level is most likely to rise 0.8–2
meters during this century. This rise is due to the
expansion of seawater as it warms, and to the melting of
land-based ice, especially mountaintop glaciers.
• A loss of just 15% of Greenland’s ice sheet would cause a
devastating 1-meter rise in sea level that would threaten
millions of people.
Rising Sea Levels
• This projected change could threaten at least one-third of the
world’s coastal estuaries, wetlands, and coral reefs.
• It would also contaminate freshwater coastal aquifers with
saltwater, disrupt many of the world’s coastal fisheries, flood
low-lying barrier islands, and cause gently sloping coastlines
to erode and retreat inland.
• Projected sea level rises would also submerge lowlying islands
around the world. Flooding in some of the world’s largest
cities located on coasts would displace at least 150 million
people.
Extreme Weather
• According to the IPCC, projected climate change will
increase the incidence of extreme weather such as heat
waves and severe droughts in some areas, which could
kill large numbers of people, reduce crop production, and
expand deserts.
• At the same time, because a warmer atmosphere can hold
more moisture, other areas will experience increased
flooding from heavy and prolonged precipitation.
Food Production
• Crop productivity is projected to increase slightly at
middle to high latitudes with moderate atmospheric
warming, but decrease if warming goes too far.
• According to the IPCC, food will be plentiful for a while
because of the longer growing season in northern
regions.
• But the scientists warn that by 2050, some 200–600
million of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people
could face malnutrition and starvation due to the effects
of climate change on agricultural systems.
Health
• Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to
cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year,
from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress.
• The direct damage costs to health is estimated to be
between USD 2-4 billion/year by 2030.
• Areas with weak health infrastructure will be the least
able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond.
Health
Extreme heat
• Extreme high air temperatures contribute directly to
deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory disease,
particularly among elderly people.
• High temperatures also raise the levels of ozone and
other pollutants in the air that exacerbate cardiovascular
and respiratory disease.
• Pollen and other aeroallergen levels are also higher in
extreme heat. These can trigger asthma, which affects
around 300 million people.
Health
Natural disasters and variable rainfall patterns
• More than half of the world's population lives within 60 km of the
sea. People may be forced to move, which in turn heightens the risk
of a range of health effects, from mental disorders to
communicable diseases.
• Increasingly variable rainfall patterns are likely to affect the supply
of fresh water. A lack of safe water can compromise hygiene and
increase the risk of diarrhoeal disease, which kills over 5,00,000
children aged under 5 years, every year.
• Floods are also increasing in frequency and intensity, and the
frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation is expected to
continue to increase throughout the current century.
Health
WHO response

• Partnerships
• Awareness raising
• Science and evidence
• Support for implementation of the public health response
to climate change
Tropical Cyclones
• It appears likely that rising tropical ocean temperatures
associated with global warming will lead to an increase in
the intensity of tropical cyclones.
Ecological Consequences of Global Warming

• A large fraction of plant and animal species are likely to

be at an increased risk of extinction if global average
surface temperatures rise by another 1.5 to 2.5 °C by the
year 2100.
• Species loss estimates climb to as much as 40% for a
warming in excess of 4.5 °C.
• A 40% extinction rate would likely lead to major changes
in the food webs within ecosystems and have a
destructive impact on ecosystem function.
Ecological Consequences of Global Warming

• Surface warming in temperate regions is likely to lead changes

in various seasonal processes.
• In high-latitude ecosystems, changes in the seasonal patterns
of sea ice threaten predators such as polar bears and
walruses; both species rely on broken sea ice for their hunting
activities.
• A combination of warming waters, decreased sea ice, and
changes in ocean salinity and circulation is likely to lead to
reductions or redistributions in populations of algae and
plankton.
Ecological Consequences of Global Warming

• Other likely impacts on the environment include the

destruction of many coastal wetlands, salt marshes, and
mangrove swamps.
• Tropical forests are disappearing as optimal condensation
levels move to higher elevations in response to warming
temperatures in the lower atmosphere.
Ecological Consequences of Global Warming

• Rising ocean temperatures increase the tendency for coral

bleaching and they also raise the likelihood of greater
physical damage by progressively more destructive
tropical cyclones.
• In many areas coral is also under stress from increased
ocean acidification, marine pollution, runoff from
agricultural fertilizer, and physical damage by boat
anchors and dredging.
Ecological Consequences of Global Warming

• Another example of how climate and non-climatic

stresses combine is illustrated by the threat to migratory
animals.
• As these animals attempt to relocate to regions with more
favourable climate conditions, they are likely to encounter
impediments such as highways, walls, artificial waterways,
and other man-made structures.
• Warmer temperatures are also likely to affect the spread
of infectious diseases.
Impact on India
Extreme Heat
• India is already experiencing a warming climate.
• Unusual and unprecedented spells of hot weather are
expected to occur far more frequently and cover much
larger areas.
• Under 4°C warming, the west coast and southern India are
projected to shift to new, high-temperature climatic
regimes with significant impacts on agriculture.
Impact on India
Changing Rainfall Patterns
• A decline in monsoon rainfall since the 1950s has already been
observed. The frequency of heavy rainfall events has also increased.
• A 2°C rise in the world’s average temperatures will make India’s
summer monsoon highly unpredictable. At 4°C warming, an
extremely wet monsoon that currently has a chance of occurring
only once in 100 years is projected to occur every 10 years by the
end of the century.
• An abrupt change in the monsoon could precipitate a major crisis,
triggering more frequent droughts as well as greater flooding in
large parts of India. India’s northwest coast to the south eastern
coastal region could see higher than average rainfall. Dry years are
expected to be drier and wet years wetter.
Impact on India
Droughts
• Evidence indicates that parts of South Asia have become drier since
the 1970s with an increase in the number of droughts. In 1987 and
2002-2003, droughts affected more than half of India’s crop area
and led to a huge fall in crop production.
• Droughts are expected to be more frequent in some areas,
especially in north-western India, Jharkhand, Orissa and
Chhattisgarh. Crop yields are expected to fall significantly because
of extreme heat by the 2040s.
Impact on India
Groundwater
• More than 60% of India’s agriculture is rain-fed, making the country
highly dependent on groundwater. Even without climate change,
15% of India’s groundwater resources are overexploited.
• Falling water tables can be expected to reduce further on account
of increasing demand for water from a growing population, more
affluent life styles, as well as from the services sector and
industries.
Impact on India
Glacier Melt
• Glaciers in the north-western Himalayas and in the Karakoram
range have remained stable or even advanced. On the other
hand, most Himalayan glaciers have been retreating over the
past century.
• At 2.5°C warming, melting glaciers and the loss of snow cover
over the Himalayas are expected to threaten the stability and
reliability of northern India’s primarily glacier-fed rivers,
particularly the Indus and the Brahmaputra.
• The Ganges will be less dependent on melt water due to high
annual rainfall downstream during the monsoon season.
Impact on India
Glacier Melt
• The Indus and Brahmaputra are expected to see increased flows in
spring when the snows melt, with flows reducing subsequently in
late spring and summer.
• Alterations in the flows of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra
rivers could significantly impact irrigation, affecting the amount of
food that can be produced in their basins as well as the livelihoods
of millions of people.
Impact on India
Sea level rise
• With India close to the equator, the sub-continent would see much
higher rises in sea levels than higher latitudes.
• Sea-level rise and storm surges would lead to saltwater intrusion in
the coastal areas, impacting agriculture, degrading groundwater
quality, contaminating drinking water, and possibly causing a rise
in diarrhoea cases and cholera outbreaks, as the cholera bacterium
survives longer in saline water.
Impact on India
Agriculture and food security
• Even without climate change, world food prices are expected to
increase due to growing populations and rising incomes, as well as
a greater demand for biofuels.
• Rice: While overall rice yields have increased, rising temperatures
with lower rainfall at the end of the growing season have caused a
significant loss in India’s rice production. Without climate change,
average rice yields could have been almost 6% higher (75 million
tons in absolute terms).
Impact on India
Agriculture and food security
• Observations show that extremely high temperatures in northern
India - above 34°C - have had a substantial negative effect on
wheat yields, and rising temperatures can only aggravate the
situation.
• Seasonal water scarcity, rising temperatures, and intrusion of sea
water would threaten crop yields, jeopardizing the country’s food
security. Should current trends persist, substantial yield reductions in
both rice and wheat can be expected in the near and medium
term.
• Under 2°C warming by the 2050s, the country may need to import
Impact on India
Energy Security
• Climate-related impacts on water resources can undermine the two
dominant forms of power generation in India - hydropower and
thermal power generation - both of which depend on adequate
water supplies to function effectively.
• The increasing variability and long-term decreases in river flows
can pose a major challenge to hydropower plants and increase the
risk of physical damage from landslides, flash floods, glacial lake
outbursts, and other climate-related natural disasters.
• Decreases in the availability of water and increases in temperature
will pose major risk factors to thermal power generation.
Impact on India
Water Security
• Many parts of India are already experiencing water stress. Even
without climate change, satisfying future demand for water will be a
major challenge.
• An increase in variability of monsoon rainfall is expected to increase
water shortages in some areas.
• Studies have found that the threat to water security is very high over
central India, along the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats, and
in India’s north-eastern states.
Impact on India
Health
• Climate change is expected to have major health impacts in India-
increasing malnutrition and related health disorders such as child
stunting - with the poor likely to be affected most severely. Child
stunting is projected to increase by 35% by 2050 compared to a scenario
without climate change.
• Malaria and other vector-borne diseases, along with and diarrheal
infections which are a major cause of child mortality, are likely to spread
into areas where colder temperatures had previously limited transmission.
• Heat waves are likely to result in a very substantial rise in mortality and
death, and injuries from extreme weather events are likely to increase.
Impact on India
Migration and conflict
• South Asia is a hotspot for the migration of people from disaster-
affected or degraded areas to other national and international
regions.
• The Indus and the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basins are major
trans boundary rivers, and increasing demand for water is already
leading to tensions among countries over water sharing.
• Climate change impacts on agriculture and livelihoods can increase
the number of climate refugees.
Ozone Layer Depletion
• Ozone (O3) is a gas which is present naturally within
Earth's atmosphere.
• It is formed of three oxygen atoms (giving it the chemical
formula, O3). Its structure means that it's much less stable
than oxygen (O2), and is therefore much more reactive;
this means it can be more easily formed and broken down
through interaction with other compounds.
• This reactivity is significant in its interactions described in
the entry below: the ozone layer can be depleted and
broken down through its interaction with man-made
compounds in the upper atmosphere.
Ozone and its impact through the atmosphere

• Ozone plays a different role in atmospheric chemistry at different heights

in the Earth's atmosphere. We can differentiate this profile into two key
zones:
• Tropospheric ozone is that which is present in the lower atmosphere.
Ground-level ozone can form through chemical reactions between local
air pollutants such as nitrous oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and sunlight.
• These air pollutants are emitted from motor vehicle exhausts, industrial
processes, electric utilities, and chemical solvents.
• Ground-level ozone can have negative impacts on human health;
breathing ozone is particularly harmful for the young, elderly and people
with underlying respiratory problems.
• It is therefore commonly referred to as 'bad' ozone.
Ozone and its impact through the atmosphere

• Concentrations of ozone are higher in the stratosphere than in the

troposphere.
• Ozone in the stratosphere plays a very different role to that in the
layer below. In the ozone layer, it is often referred to as 'good'
ozone since it plays a crucial role in absorbing potentially
dangerous ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation from the sun.
• The ozone layer typically absorbs 97-99 percent of incoming UV-B
radiation.
• Higher concentrations of ozone in the stratosphere is therefore
crucial to ensure life (including humans) at Earth's surface are not
exposed to harmful concentrations of UV-B radiation.
Ozone Destruction Mechanism
• Substances such as CFCs that lower the ozone layer do not directly destroy ozone.
First they undergo photolysis, forming hydrogen chloride (HCl) or chlorine nitrate
(ClONO2), molecules that do not react with ozone directly, but slowly decompose,
giving, among other things, a small number of chlorine atoms (Cl) and Of chlorine
monoxide (ClO) molecules that catalyze the destruction of ozone.
• The reactions involved in the processes of destruction are more than 100, but can
be simplified in the following:
Cl + O3 —–> ClO + O2
ClO + O —–> Cl + O2
Net effect: O3 + O —–> 2 O2
Cause of Ozone Layers Depletion
How Ozone Layer Depletion occurs
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
• They are compounds formed by chlorine, fluorine and carbon. They are
often used as refrigerants, solvents, and for the manufacture of spongy
plastics.
• Chlorofluocarbons, the chemicals used as the propellant for aerosol cans
and Bromofluocarbons, Halon, are destroying the earth’s Ozone layer.
These chemicals were used in Freon and for fighting fires.
• When the chemicals reached the earth’s stratosphere, they reacted with
Ultraviolet radiation, which caused them to break down and release
Chlorine and Bromine into the earth’s ozone layer.
Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)
• Compounds formed by H, Cl, F and C. They are being used as
substitutes for CFCs because many of their properties are similar
and are less harmful to ozone by having a shorter half-life and
releasing fewer Cl atoms.
Halons
• They are compounds formed by Br, F and C. Because of their
ability to put out fires are used in fire extinguishers, although
their manufacture and use is prohibited in many countries
because of their ozone-depleting action.
• Their ability to harm the ozone layer is very high because they
contain Br which is a much more effective atom destroying
ozone than the Cl.
Methyl bromide (CH3Br)
• It is a very effective pesticide that is used to fumigate soils and
in many crops. Given its content in Br damages the ozone layer.
Carbon tetra-chloride (CCl4)
• It is a compound that has been widely used as a raw material in
many industries, for example, to manufacture CFCs and as a
solvent.
• It was no longer used as a solvent when it was found to be
carcinogenic.
• It is also used as catalysts in certain processes where chlorine
ions need to be released.
International Agreements
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
• The rapid decline in emissions of ozone-depleting substances
was driven by international agreement to phase out their
production. In 1985 the Vienna Convention for the Protection of
the Ozone Layer was adopted and entered into force in 1988.
• The Vienna Convention, despite not mandating parties to take
concrete actions on ozone protection laid the foundations for
adoption of the Montreal Protocol.
Montreal Protocol
• The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer is arguably the most successful international treaty to
date.
• The Montreal Protocol is an international protocol to the Vienna
Convention, agreed in 1987 before entering into force in 1989.
• Its purpose was to phase-out (reduce and eventually eliminate)
the use of man-made ozone-depleting substances for
protection of the ozone layer.
Impact of the Montreal Protocol
How critical was the Montreal Protocol in reducing ODS consumption and
stratospheric concentrations?
• Under the initial Montreal Protocol, and subsequent London (1990)
amendment, reduction controls and targets would have been too relaxed
to have resulted in a reduction in ODS emissions.
• A reduction or slowdown in emissions relative to a 'no protocol' scenario
would have been achieved but this would be insufficient to lead to an
absolute reduction.
• However, the Copenhagen (1992) and its subsequent revisions greatly
increased controls and ambition in global commitments, leading to a peak
in stratospheric concentrations in the early 2000s and projected declines in
the years afterwards.
Ozone Hole Area
Has the fall of stratospheric ozone concentrations been reflected in an ozone
hole?
• Since 1979 we see a distinct increase in the Antarctic ozone hole area,
reaching a maximum of 30 million km2 in the early 2000s. However, since
the late 1990s, the ozone hole area had approximately stabilised between
20 to 25 million km2. In 2018, the NASA Aura Program published its first
results to shown clear initial signs of ozone hole recovery.
• Full recovery is, however, expected to take until (at least) the second half is
this century.
• Satellite and data imaging of the Antarctic ozone hole from 1979 through
to 2019 can be viewed at NASA's Goddard Media Centre; this provides a
very visual understanding of the growth of the Antarctic ozone hole over
this period.
Why is ozone depletion more severe at high
latitudes?
• Ozone depletion has been most severe over Antarctica because it provides
the unique temperature and chemical conditions for effective ozone
destruction by halogen gases.
• Formation of the 'ozone hole' requires 'polar stratospheric clouds' (PSCs)
to form; this occurs when temperatures fall below their formation
temperature of around -78°C.
• The liquid and solid particles in PSCs allow highly reactive chlorine gas to
be formed when halogen gases and sunlight are present.
• This highly reactive chlorine gas is then very effective in breaking down
stratospheric ozone. It is these unique conditions through the winter and
early spring that result in high ozone destruction over Antarctica.
Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion
1. Effects of the depletion of the ozone layer on human health
1.1 Skin Cancer
• The most common type of skin cancer, called non-melanoma, is the
cause of exposures to UV-B radiation for several years.
• The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) predicts that at an
annual rate of 10 percent ozone loss over several decades, the
increase in skin cancer will be around 250,000 per year.
• The most lethal skin cancer, called melanoma, could also increase its
frequency
Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion
1. Effects of the depletion of the ozone layer on human health
1.2 The Immune System
• It is known that exposure to ultraviolet light reduces the
effectiveness of the immune system, not only relating to
infections to the skin but also to those that can be verified in
other parts of the body.
• Exposure to UV-B radiation may well enable the immune system
to tolerate disease rather than combat it. This could mean the
uselessness of vaccination programs in both industrialized and
developing countries.
Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion
2. Effects on aquatic ecosystems
• The loss of phytoplankton, the basis of the marine food chain, has
been observed as the cause of the increase in ultraviolet radiation.
Under the ozone hole in the Antarctic phytoplankton productivity
decreased between 6 and 12 percent. That disturb the ecosystem.
• UNEP indicates that a 16 percent decrease in ozone could result in a
5 percent loss of phytoplankton, which would mean a loss of 7
million tonnes of fish per year – around 7 percent of global fish
production. 30 percent of human consumption of protein comes
from the sea, this proportion increases even more in the developing
countries.
Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion
3. Effects on terrestrial ecosystems
3.1 Animals
• For some species, an increase in UV-B radiation implies the
formation of skin cancer. This has been studied in goats, cows,
cats, dogs, sheep and laboratory animals and is probably
pointing out that this is a common feature of several species.
• Infections in cattle can be aggravated by an increase in UV-B
radiation.
Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion
3. Effects on terrestrial ecosystems
3.2 Plants
• In many plants UV-B radiation can have the following adverse
effects: alter its shape and damage plant growth; Reduce tree
growth; Change flowering times; Make plants more vulnerable
to disease and produce toxic substances.
• There could even be losses of biodiversity and species.