Research Proposal on "Ozone Layer"

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There are two different types of ozone layers (Baker 2000). These are the stratospheric ozone and the tropospheric ozone. The stratospheric ozone is the "good" ozone, which moves 10-30 miles above the earth. It consists of "good gas," which shields the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. The tropospheric ozone is the bad one, which consists of the by-products of fuel combustion and smog. It is found in the lower atmosphere at roughly 10 miles above the ground. It can damage the lungs permanently and interfere with the plants' functions of producing and storing food. These two types do not collide or mix. The tropospheric ozone cannot ascend into the stratosphere. Increasing bad ozone will not help repair the impaired good ozone layer. It will create more health problems. The lack of science education is deemed still weak at present (Baker).

Recent Trends

Presence of these clouds would significantly disturb chemical balance in the stratosphere, Dr. Harris said (Amodeo 2005). The chemical imbalance would rapidly destroy the ozone layer in the presence of sunlight. If the region's stratosphere remains cold in February and March, substantial loss of ozone can occur as sunlight returns to northern latitudes. Increased levels of ultraviolet radiation can then spill over inhabited areas of Northern Europe (Amodeo), Britain, North America and Russia (Lean 2005). This has not happened because the Arctic does not get as cold as the Antarctic. But lower temperatures and more "polar stratospheric clouds" have been observed a few years back. Polar stratospheric clouds indicate ozone depletion, which is the consequence of pollution on earth. Dr. Harris noted that ozone levels in the Arctic had gone 40% lower than normal in the Arctic region. Scientists have not formed a consensus on the likelihood of a hole developing over the region. If it does, the risks would depend on weather conditions and other local factors, according to Dr. Harris. While clouds shield life from the sun's radiation, sunny days would expose it. At the worst, he said the feared depletion of the ozone layer would not be as critical as that over the Antarctic region. He observed that the cold vortex, which forms the ozone hole, remains in the same place in the Antarctic region. In comparison, that in the Arctic region moves around. The vortex in the Antarctic is over northern Europe, including Britain, at present (Lean). In September 1998, however, the World Meteorological Organization said that the hole was 27 million square miles, larger than North America. It also deeper and could be more threatening to human health than earlier believed (Lean). In October 2000, a major ozone hole was found open for the first time over Punta Arenas, Chile, a thickly populated area (Baker 2000).

Measurement, Policies, Benefits

By the year 2000, more than 173 countries, including the U.S., had signed the Montreal Protocol of 1987 (Baker 2000), in reaction to the fatal environmental threat. It is a global agreement to phase out the use of ozone-depleting chemicals. It consisted of timetables for every country to stop producing CFCs. In the U.S., Congress amended the Clean Air Act to adjust to the goals of the Protocol. In 1987, it called only for a partial phase-out of the chemicals, but upon evaluations in 1989, a total phase-out was found necessary. Evaluations in the 1990s found the need to drastically phase out new chemicals hydrochlorofluorocarbons or HCFCs and methyl bromide. But there stood the crucial problem of time in addressing the global threat on life in the planet (Baker).

Kert Davies, science policy director of Washington DC-based interest group, called Ozone Action, commented on the length of time it took for an international treaty like the Protocol to really move (Baker 2000). By the time it did, scientific updates on ozone depletion had increased. The Protocol's scientists said that, without this global agreement, the world in 2050 would be dismal. Ozone would have been at least 50% at mid latitudes. Surface ultraviolet radiation would be more than double at mild latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere and four times at mild latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere. Approximately 19 million more non-melanoma skin cancer cases and 1.5 million more melanoma skin cancer cases should be expected by the year 2060. Unquantifiable cases of lower immunity to disease, reduced crop productivity and damage to aquatic ecosystems could also be expected (Baker).

There too is a political obstacle to the effective and prompt implementation of Protocol goals. Under the terms of the Montreal Protocol, developing countries have delayed phase-out schedules for ozone-depleting chemicals. Industrialized countries had up to 1996 for CFCs and methyl bromide by 2005. But developing countries' deadlines were 2010 for CFCs and 2015 for methyl bromide. Chief officer Omar El-Arini of the United Nations Multilateral Fund Secretariat in Montreal said that developing countries still consume around 200,000 tons of these toxic chemicals. His group was established in 1990 to help developing countries comply with the terms of the Protocol. He stressed that these countries' cooperation was certainly necessary in the global effort to make the ozone layer recover (Baker).

Costs

There are obstacles in the form of legal violations right at home. One was that by a certain Bert Ammons of Stuart, Florida for smuggling 90 30-pound cylinders of Freon (Baker 2000). Freon contains CFC-12. Environmental Protection Agency officials said that Ammons intended to distribute these items to auto repair shops around Fort Lauderdale. His cargo was worth approximately $68,000. Violations do not end there. It was reported that, between 1994 and 1997 alone, 6,367 tons of CFC-12 and 24 tons of CFC-113 as a fire suppressant were smuggled into the U.S. This was equivalent to $43 million of attempted tax evasion. The EPA Criminal Enforcement Division also said that illegal CFCs were the second most profitable smuggled items. Jack McQuade of the U.S. Customs Service said that smuggling CFCs into the U.S. had become a serious problem. Compounding deleterious consequences, not only did developing countries continue to produce CFCs: they were also quite inexpensive. In Mexico and China alone, CFC-12 $2 sold for only $1 or $2 a pound and could be resold in the U.S. At $20 or $25, depending on the balance of supply and demand (Baker).

The importation of CFCs and other ozone-depleting chemicals were banned in the U.S. In 1996 (Baker 2000). But millions of equipment using CFCs have remained in use. These include most automobiles built before 1994, air-conditioners and refrigeration equipment. Alternatives could cost a few hundreds to thousands of dollars. Furthermore, the U.S. And other industrialized countries allow the business and use of recycled CFCs in order to use existing machinery. It is extremely difficult to recognize new from recycled Freon. As a result, unscrupulous traders could bring in CFCs into industrialized countries as recycled goods or export these to developing countries. The high excise tax a $5.35 per pound encourages illegal trade of CFCs (Baker).

Benefits and Status of Interventions

Former U.S. President Bush set out more radical proposals to abate global warming more than the Kyoto Protocol had intended (Lean 2007). The "greenhouse effect" means the warming of the lower atmosphere (Baker 2000). It traps warm air at the surface. In turn, the upper atmosphere cools. This sets the condition for the depletion of the ozone layer. CFCs both deplete the ozone layer and conduce to global warming (Baker). Former President Bush's government urged for the phase-out of gas emissions, which cause… READ MORE