Important Facts For Prelims
World Ozone Day
- 16 Sep 2019
- 2 min read
Every year, 16th September is observed as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone layer.
- The theme for the year 2019 is ‘32 Years and Healing’.
- It celebrates over three decades of remarkable international cooperation to protect the ozone layer and the climate under the Montreal Protocol.
- It reminds that the world must keep up the momentum to ensure healthy people and a healthy planet.
- In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 16th September the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, commemorating the date of the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
- The Montreal Protocol has led to the phase-out of 99% of ozone-depleting chemicals in refrigerators, air-conditioners and many other products.
- The latest Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion completed in 2018, shows that parts of the ozone layer has recovered at a rate of 1-3% per decade since 2000.
- Ozone layer protection efforts have also contributed to the fight against climate change by averting an estimated 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, from 1990 to 2010.
Ozone
- Ozone (composed of three atoms of oxygen) occurs both in the Earth's upper atmosphere (stratosphere) and at ground level (troposphere). It can be good or bad, depending on where it is found.
- Good Ozone: Ozone occurs naturally in the Earth's upper atmosphere (Stratosphere) where it forms a protective layer that shields us from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.
- Bad Ozone: In the Earth's lower atmosphere (troposphere) near ground level, ozone is formed when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources react chemically in the presence of sunlight.
- Surface level ozone is a harmful air pollutant.
