World Ozone Day 2020: World Ozone Day reveals that international cooperation and action, guided by Science, is the only way to solve major global crises. September 16 is World Ozone Day. The readers would know the mystery of the Creator of science.

World Ozone Day 2020 Highlights

• September 16 is World Ozone Day
• World Ozone Day is celebrated to mark the Vienna Convention
• Success in 35 years due to decisive global response
• The theme is “Ozone for life: 35 years of ozone layer protection.”
• World Ozone Day reveals cooperation, guided by Science, the only way to solve crises
• The small blue and green planet where life exists

What and When Is World Ozone Day?

The world community is celebrating the “World Ozone Day” (WOD) today on September 16. It is to mark the 35 years of the Vienna Convention for the protection of the ozone layer. Today everyone recognizes the importance of the ozone layer and how it helps to protect humans and other beings from harmful UV radiation emitted by the sun.

World Ozone Day 2020 Theme

The theme for World Ozone Day 2020 is “Ozone for life: 35 years of ozone layer protection“. The theme marks the successes in 35 years of the Vienna Convention.

Model of International Cooperation

On the occasion of World Ozone Day, 2020, Executive Director of UNEP Inger Anderson describes the great success of international cooperation. She congratulates all involved in the ozone treaties for the 35 years of success due to their decisive global response to the problem of ozone layer depletion.

Why Is World Ozone Day Observed?

The global community celebrates World Ozone Day in accordance with the Vienna Convention for the protection of the ozone layer. This time the convention completes 35 years.

World Ozone Day Impact

UNEP ED explains, the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol unified the world to reduce the gases responsible for creating a hole in the planet’s ozone layer. The ozone layer is critical in shielding all living beings against deadly UV radiation. Such cooperation proves a positive impact to put the ozone layer on the road to recovery, safeguarding human and ecosystem health.

COVID-19 Pandemic Demands More Unity

Inger Anderson expresses, COVID-19 pandemic demands more unity and international cooperation to resolve issues related to climate change, nature loss, and pollution. There is an immense need to decide on the replenishment of the multilateral fund.

The ozone treaties have a significant role to play in this work, mainly through the Kigali Amendment of the Montreal protocol. More than 100 parties have backed the Kigali Amendment and, fully implemented, will prevent 0.4°C of global warming.

Why Is the Vienna Convention Significant?

As per UNEP, In 1985, the world’s governments approved the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. Under the Convention’s Montreal Protocol, scientists and the industry in close coordination with governments collaborated to reduce 99 percent of all ozone-depleting substances. This way, the Montreal Protocol helped the ozone layer healing. UNEP predicts the ozone layer to return to pre-1980 values by mid-century.

Further, the Kigali Amendment came into force in 2019 in support of the Protocol. As per the Kigali Amendment world community will work towards reducing hydrofluorocarbon (HFCs), greenhouse gases with powerful climate-warming potential, and damaging to the environment.

The Atmosphere and Ozone Layer

The small blue and green planet is perhaps the only one in the solar system and probably in the galaxy where life exists. According to the belief of modern science, life exists in about 15 km deep spherical shell known as the biosphere. It is into three layers – the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), and the lithosphere (rock and soil) where humans, animals, microbes, and plants exist.

■ Also Read: World Earth Day 2020: Earth Day 50th Anniversary

The atmosphere consists of a mixture of gases and particles that surround our planet; upon seeing from elevation, the atmosphere appears as a thin seam of dark blue light on a curved horizon. The atmosphere expands some hundred kilometers in layers that surround the Earth-like rings. Though, 99% of its overall mass remains in two regions, the inner troposphere and the outer Stratosphere within the first 50 km above the Earth’s surface.

What Is Ozone?

Oxygen happens in the atmosphere as oxygen atoms (O), as oxygen molecules (O2), and as Ozone (O3). The ozone layer, as an invisible filter, protects our planet from the sun’s damaging UV (ultraviolet) rays. Ozone absorbs nearly all entering UV radiation and inhibits from moving the surface of Earth. It is the protective effect of ozone that allows life to happen on Earth.

What Is Ultraviolet Radiation?

Ultraviolet radiation is radiant energy from the sun. The sun emits electromagnetic spectrum. Higher the energetic radiation, the shorter the wavelength. Ultraviolet is invisible and occurs next to violet in the visible light spectrum. The three types of UV radiation are:

• UV-A between 320 and 400 nm
• UV-B between 280 and 320 nm
• UV-C between 200 and 280 nm

UV-B & C is highly energetic and dangerous to life on Earth. UV-A is less energetic and not harmful. UV-C is absorbed by oxygen and by ozone in the upper atmosphere. The ozone layer absorbs UV-B in the Stratosphere that enables about 2-3 percent to reach the Earth’s surface. This way, the Ozone layer is valuable to plant and animal life on Earth. The depletion of the Ozone layer would increase UV-B and UV-C radiation on Earth, leading to hazardous effects.

What Is Ozone Depletion?

Ozone depletion occurs when the stratospheric ozone production rate is lesser than the destruction. Scientific reports suggest that the release of Chlorine and the Bromine are the leading cause of a net loss of stratospheric ozone. It is evident from the Antarctic ozone “hole” and seasonal declines in international ozone levels.

What Is Antarctic Hole?

The “Ozone Hole” means the massive and fast decline in a large number of ozone molecules, but of course, still, a big part is left.

The Antarctic “Ozone Hole” happens from September to November. It became alarming when ozone concentrations over Halley Bay, Antarctica, had declined 40% from levels during the 1960s. Scientists have noticed terrible depletion since the late 1970s. UNEP has assessed the impacts of ozone depletion on human health, animals, plants, microorganisms, materials, and air quality.

Effects on Human and Animal Health

UV-B radiation has a profound impact on human health with potential risks of eye diseases, skin cancer, and infectious diseases. UV radiation has a tremendously adverse effect on the eye cornea and lens. Its adverse impact on the immune system causes several infectious diseases and develop nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC).

Effects on Terrestrial Plants and Aquatic Ecosystems

UV-B radiation affects the plants’ developmental process. UV-B hampers the early development stages of fish, shrimp, crab, amphibians, and other animals and their generative ability and harms larval growth.

Effects on Bio-geo-chemical Cycles

Increased UV radiation can affect terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemical cycles. Enhanced UV-B affects aquatic nitrogen cycling through inhibition of nitrifying bacteria and photodecomposition of simple inorganic species such as nitrate. It may also affect the marine sulfur cycle resulting in possible changes in the sea-to-air emissions of COS and dimethyl sulfide (DMS), two gases that are degraded to sulfate aerosols in the Stratosphere and troposphere, respectively.

Effects on Air Quality

Higher penetration of UV-B radiation (due to reduced stratospheric ozone) results in higher photo-dissociation rates of crucial trace gases. These gases control the chemical reactivity of the troposphere. It may increase both formation and destruction of ozone and related oxidants like hydrogen peroxide.

The oxidants have adverse effects on human health, terrestrial plants, and outdoor materials. Variations in the hydroxyl radical (OH) may alter the atmospheric lifetimes of crucial gases such as methane and Chloro Fluoro Carbons (CFCs) substitutes. Increased tropospheric reactivity starts to enhance the formation of particulate matter such as cloud condensation nuclei.

Effects on Materials

Increased levels of UV radiation are known to have adverse effects on synthetic polymers and biopolymers. UV-B radiation speeds up the photodegradation levels of these substances, thus restricting their life expectancy. It damages from discoloration to loss of mechanical integrity.

The chlorine radicals can undergo complex chemical reactions generating chlorine monoxide, which attacks an ozone molecule converting it into oxygen and, in the process, regenerating the chlorine atom again. Thus, the ozone-destroying effect is catalytic, and a small amount of CFC would be destroying a large number of ozone molecules.

Worship The Supreme Who Made Science

The whole world looks at the scientific community for the resolution of any crisis. The people ignore the fact that The Supreme God Kabir made all the universes and creatures. The Supreme can do everything why one should not urge Him for corrective measures.

The people should read the Book Gyan Ganga and listen to Sermons of Saint Rampal Ji Maharaj to know the mystery of the Mundane aspects.

World Ozone Day 2020 Quotes

• The world looks at the scientists, why not pray to The Supreme God who made Science? – Saint Rampal Ji
• Understand the Essence of Word that made everything – Saint Rampal Ji
• The Supreme God made Oxygen and Ozone, He will protect you, just know Him – Saint Rampal Ji
• The ozone layer, a fragile shield of gas, protects the Earth from the harmful portion of the rays of the sun, thus helping preserve life on the planet~un.org
• Ozone constitutes a very small part of our atmosphere, but its presence is nevertheless vital to human well-being~un.org

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