OZONE LAYER

NAME : SONALI KUMARI

COURSE : BSC(HONS) BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES ( FIRST YEAR )
ROLL NO. : 1319036
 CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION - OZONE
• TYPES OF OZONE
• IMPORTANCE OF OZONE LAYER
• OZONE THREATS AND “THE HOLE”
• STEPS TAKEN TO MINIMIZE OZONE DEPLETION
• OZONE LAYER STATUS
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
 WHAT IS OZONE ?
• Ozone is a gas made up of three oxygen atoms (O3). It occurs naturally in small (trace) amounts
in the upper atmosphere (the stratosphere). Ozone protects life on Earth from the Sun’s
ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) near the Earth’s surface,
ozone is created by chemical reactions between air pollutants from vehicle exhaust, gasoline
vapors, and other emissions. At ground level, high concentrations of ozone are toxic to people
and plants
• Ozone is a colourless or pale blue gas (blue when liquefied), slightly soluble in water and much
more soluble in inert non-polar solvents such as carbon tetrachloride or fluorocarbons, in which
it forms a blue solution.
• Ozone is among the most powerful oxidizing agents known, far stronger than O2. It is also
unstable at high concentrations, decaying into ordinary oxygen. Its half-life varies with
atmospheric conditions such as temperature, humidity, and air movement.
 TYPES OF OZONE
• STRATOSPHERIC “GOOD” OZONE
• TROPOSPHERIC “BAD” OZONE
 STRATOSPHERIC “GOOD” OZONE
• Ninety percent of the ozone in the atmosphere sits in the stratosphere, the layer of atmosphere between about
10 and 50 km altitude. The natural level of ozone in the stratosphere is a result of a balance between sunlight
that creates ozone and chemical reactions that destroy it.
• OZONE FORMATION : Ozone is created when the kind of oxygen we breathe—O2—is split apart by
sunlight into single oxygen atoms. Single oxygen atoms can re-join to make O2, or they can join with O2
molecules to make ozone (O3).

• Ozone is destroyed when it reacts with molecules containing nitrogen, hydrogen, chlorine, or bromine. Some
of the molecules that destroy ozone occur naturally, but people have created others.
• The total mass of ozone in the atmosphere is about 3 billion metric tons. That may seem like a lot, but it is only
0.00006 percent of the atmosphere. The peak concentration of ozone occurs at an altitude of roughly 32
kilometers (20 miles) above the surface of the Earth. At that altitude, ozone concentration can be as high as 15
parts per million (0.0015 percent).
• IMPORTANCE OF STRATOSPHERIC OZONE : Ozone in the stratosphere absorbs most of the
ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Without ozone, the Sun’s intense UV radiation would sterilize
the Earth’s surface. Ozone screens all of the most energetic, UV-c, radiation, and most of the UV-
b radiation. Ozone only screens about half of the UV-a radiation. Excessive UV-b and UV-a
radiation can cause sunburn and can lead to skin cancer and cataract.
 TROPOSPHERE “BAD” OZONE
• Although ozone high up in the stratosphere provides a shield to protect life on Earth, direct
contact with ozone is harmful to both plants and animals (including humans).
• Ground-level, “bad,” ozone forms when nitrogen oxide gases from vehicle and industrial
emissions react with volatile organic compounds .
• In the troposphere near the Earth’s surface, the natural concentration of ozone is about 10 parts
per billion (0.000001 percent).
• According to the Environmental Protection Agency, exposure to ozone levels of greater than 70
parts per billion for 8 hours or longer is unhealthy.
• Such concentrations occur in or near cities during periods where the atmosphere is warm and
stable. The harmful effects can include throat and lung irritation or aggravation of asthma or
emphysema.
 OZONE THREATS AND “THE HOLE”
• In 1974, Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland, two chemists at the University of California, Irvine,
published an article in Nature detailing threats to the ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)
gases. At the time, CFCs were commonly used in aerosol sprays and as coolants in many refrigerators.
As they reach the stratosphere, the sun's UV rays break CFCs down into substances that include
chlorine.
• The groundbreaking research—for which they were awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry—
concluded that the atmosphere had a “finite capacity for absorbing chlorine” atoms in the stratosphere.
• One atom of chlorine can destroy more than 100,000 ozone molecules, according to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, eradicating ozone much more quickly than it can be replaced.
• Molina and Rowland’s work received striking validation in 1985, when a team of English scientists
found a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica that was later linked to CFCs. The "hole" is actually an
area of the stratosphere with extremely low concentrations of ozone that reoccurs every year at the
beginning of the Southern Hemisphere spring (August to October). Spring brings sunlight, which
releases chlorine into the stratospheric clouds.
OZONE DEPLETION EQUATION
 VIENNA CONVENTION FOR THE
PROTECTION OF OZONE LAYER (1985)
• The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is a Multilateral Environmental
Agreement signed in 1985 that provided frameworks for international reductions in the production
of chlorofluorocarbons due to their contribution to the destruction of the ozone layer , resulting in
an increased threat of skin cancer.
• The Vienna convention of 1985 was the starting point of the global cooperation for protection of
ozone layer.
MONTREAL PROTOCOL ON SUBSTANCES
THAT DEPLETE OZONE LAYER
• The Protocol came into force in 1989.
• The protocol set targets for reducing the consumption and production of a range of ozone depleting substances.
• In a major innovation the protocol recognized that all nations should not be treated equally. The agreement acknowledges that certain
countries have contributed to ozone depletion more than others.
• It also recognizes that a nation‘s obligation to reduce current emissions should reflect its technological and financial ability to do
so. Because of this, the agreement sets more stringent standards and accelerated phase-out time tables to countries that have contributed
most to ozone depletion.
• India accepted this protocol along with its London Amendment in September 1992.
• The Ministry of Environment and Forest has established an ozone cell and a steering committee on the protocol to facilitate
implementation of the India country program, for phasing out ozone depleting substances production by 2010 to meet the commitments
India has also taken policy decisions.
• The Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000 were drafted under Environment (protection) Act, 1986.
 AMENDMENT TO MONTREAL PROTOCOL, 2017

• 170 countries have reached a historic deal to phase out Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) after years of protracted and at times
seemingly intractable negotiations in Kigali, Rwanda accepted an amendment to the Montreal Protocol that will see
developed countries reduce their use of HFCs from 2019.
• HFCs are potent greenhouse gases with a significantly higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide and are widely
used as refrigerants, aerosol sprays and in solvents. HFCs have been widely used as an alternative to Chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) since the Montreal Protocol came into effect to prevent ozone depletion.
• Developed countries must reduce HFCs use by 10% by 2019 from 2011-2013 levels, and 85% by 2036.
• A second group of developing countries, including China and African nations, are committed to launching the transition in
2024. A reduction of 10% compared with 2020-2022 levels should be achieved by 2029, and 80% by 2045.
• A third group of developing countries, including India, Pakistan and Arab Gulf states, must begin the process in 2028 and
reduce emissions by 10% by 2032 from 2024-2026 levels, and then by 85% by 2047.
 WORLD OZONE DAY
• WORLD OZONE DAY IS OBSERVED ON SEPTEMBER 16 FOR THE PRESERVATION OF
OZONE LAYER.
• IT COMMEMORATES THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL THAT WAS SIGNED BY 24 UN
MEMBER NATIONS IN 1987 TO LIMIT AND ULTIMATELY PHASE OUT THE
PRODUCTION OF MAN MADE CHEMICALS LIKE CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS(CFCs)
AND 95 OTHER OZONE DEPLETING MATERIALS.
 OZONE LAYER STATUS
• More than 30 years after the Montreal Protocol, NASA scientists documented the first direct
proof that Antarctic ozone is recovering because of the CFC phase-down: Ozone depletion in the
region has declined 20 percent since 2005. And at the end of 2018, the United Nations confirmed
in a scientific assessment that the ozone layer is recovering, projecting that it would heal
completely in the (non-polar) Northern Hemisphere by the 2030s, followed by the Southern
Hemisphere in the 2050s and polar regions by 2060.
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985

1988 1992 1997 2001 2006

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• WIKIPEDIA
• NATIONALGEOGRAPHY.COM
• NASA OZONE WATCH ARTICLE
• OZONEWATCH.COM
• DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM
• SCIENCEDAILY.COM
• EARTHSOBSERVATORY.NASA.GOV