Updates from the Scientific Assessment Panel on the Montreal Protocol (MP) indicates that the ozone layer is recovering, with conditions expected to return to 1980 levels by 2066.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which announced this attributed it to the implementation of the 1989 Montreal Protocol, which required actions to slow down ozone layer depletion.
The EPA Acting Director of Climate Change and Ozone
Joseph Amankwa Baffoe, said research had suggested that the depletion rate slowed since the protocol came into force, 35 years ago.
Furthermore, he disclosed that the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere would peak by the middle of the century if all parties to the Montreal Protocol and its amendments comply with their commitments.
He gave these projections on Friday at a seminar organised by the agency in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the Royal Sanitation and Climate Change Ambassadors of Ahantaman Girls Senior High School at Ketan, near
Takoradi.
The programme was part of campaigns to raise awareness and educate the public on critical issues related to ozone and climate change.
“It’s good for us because we are reducing ozone depletion, and this calls for our collective efforts and collaboration to achieve all the protocols,” Mr Baffoe said.
The ozone layer, he told the students, absorbs most of the harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun and shields plant
and animal life from these radiations, which in high doses can be very damaging.
He added, “Any damage to the ozone layer therefore allows more ultraviolet radiation to reach the Earth’s surface.”
Mr Baffoe explained that ozone was formed when nitrogen oxides react with air pollutants known as ‘volatile’ organic compounds in the presence of heat and sunlight, stating that exposure to ozone comes from the air we breathe.
Sources, he mentioned, included motor vehicle exhaust, industry, and bush fires, explaining that these affect the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, with the elderly, those with lung diseases, and children mostly at risk.
The expert further highlighted that the environmental effects of increased exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays adversely affected the growth, reproduction, and production of phytoplankton—the primary element in the food chain in oceans—thereby reducing fish stocks.
Again, he said, the condition could damage aquatic plants and animal life from these radiations, which in high doses can be very damaging.
He added, “Any damage to the ozone layer therefore allows more ultraviolet radiation to reach the Earth’s surface.”
Mr Baffoe explained that ozone was formed when nitrogen oxides react with air pollutants known as ‘volatile’ organic compounds in the presence of heat and sunlight, stating that exposure to ozone comes from the air we breathe.
Sources, he mentioned, included motor vehicle exhaust, industry, and bush fires, explaining that these affect the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, with the elderly, those with lung diseases, and children mostly at risk.
The expert further highlighted that the environmental effects of increased exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays adversely affected the growth, reproduction, and production of phytoplankton—the primary element in the food chain in oceans—thereby reducing fish stocks.
Again, he said, the condition could damage aquatic plants
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, KETAN
