What is Ozone Hole?

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) celebrates 16^th September as “World Ozone Day” since 1995.  The day commemorates the signing of the “Montreal Protocol” – an international treaty to phase out substances that deplete the ozone. The day creates awareness about the ozone layer which protects the earth from possible catastrophic events. It also reminds us about the harm, human activities can cause to the environment of the Earth. 

But what is ozone and who discovered it? The word “ozone” comes from a Greek word ozein which means ”to smell”. It is a naturally occurring gas in the atmosphere. A molecule of ozone consists of three atoms of oxygen and hence its chemical formula is O₃. It was discovered in 1840 by a German-Swiss chemist Christian Friedrich Schoenbein.

Where is it present in our atmosphere? Ozone is present in two regions of our atmosphere. These two regions form 99.99 % of our atmosphere. Let us consider the earth’s atmosphere to be a (say) 140 storied building. Let each storey be one km tall. The region occupied by the first 16 floors is then called troposphere. The region from 16^th floor to 50^th floor is called stratosphere. Approximately 10% of the total ozone resides in the troposphere. The remaining 90% of the ozone lies in the stratosphere. Since most of the ozone resides in the stratosphere, this ozone is often referred as ozone layer.

How is ozone produced and destroyed in the atmosphere? The sources of ozone in the troposphere are burning of fossil fuels and other reactions involving natural gases and atmospheric pollutants. It is destroyed by natural reactions and by human-produced chemicals. In the stratosphere, ozone is produced naturally in two steps. In the first step oxygen molecule (O₂) is broken by sunlight into two oxygen atoms (O + O).  In step two, an oxygen atom (O) reacts with another oxygen molecule (O₂) to form ozone (O₃). This production is balanced by destruction. It could happen naturally when O₃ is broken by sunlight or it reacts with other naturally occurring or human produced chemicals.

Is ozone harmful? An increased amount of ozone in the troposphere can reduce crop yield and forest growth. An inhalation of ozone can cause multiple respiratory diseases, reduce lung capacity, coughing, throat irritation and can lead to death owing to its poisonous nature. It could also increase the temperature of Earth’s surface as it is also a greenhouse gas. Thus it is an atmospheric pollutant whose presence is troposphere is harmful and hence could be termed bad ozone.

On other hand, the stratospheric ozone absorbs the harmful solar rays – in particular the ultra-violet (UV) rays –and prevents them from reaching the Earth. The UV rays can interfere with skin immune system and cause skin cancer, mutate chromosomes, damage cornea, kill single celled organisms, damage macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acid which are the characteristic of a living cell. They can also be harmful to the surface cells of plants. This could result in stunted growth of plants and decrease the crop yield. The UV rays could also destroy the phytoplankton thus harming the base of food chain. Since the stratospheric ozone prevents these events, it could be termed as good ozone.

Is the concentration of ozone same in the atmosphere? NO! It changes with location and time. The concentration is lowest over the equator and maximum at poles.  

But what is ozone hole and who discovered it? “Ozone hole” is the dramatic decrease in the concentration of ozone over the Antarctic stratosphere. The event occurs only in spring when the Sun returns to the Antarctic. The formation of “Ozone Hole” over the Antarctic was first reported in an article in the international journal “Nature” by J. C. Farman, B. G. Gardiner, and J. D. Shanklin. These scientists working for the British Antarctic Survey at their research station at the Halley Bay (76^oS) were keeping a close watch on it since late 1970s and finally reported in “Nature”.

 

How does ozone hole occur? The first step in the formation of ozone hole is emission of ozone depleting gases (Chlorofluorocarbons). These un-reactive gases travel with the atmosphere. The atmosphere moves in loops from equator to poles like an elongated giant wheel. There is one giant wheel of atmosphere for the northern hemisphere and another for the southern hemisphere.  The giant wheels rise in the tropics, travels towards poles and then descends over the poles. After coming down to poles, it moves back to the tropics over the surface.

As the CFCs rise in the stratosphere they are converted into reactive gases by UV radiation and travel towards the poles through the atmosphere. The poles have night for six months and day for 6 months. The winter rules during the night period while summer rules during the day period. During the winter period these gases freeze on clouds of  ice crystals formed due to extremely low temperatures over the Antarctic. As the Sun returns to the Antarctic in the spring the ice crystals melt and these gases now participate in catalytic reactions which starts destroying ozone in large amount- thus causing “ozone hole”. In the recent past similar events have been found to occur over the Arctic stratosphere as well. “Ozone Hole” leads to the flooding of the harmful UV radiations from the Sun to the Earth. It is very similar to a big hole in umbrella, making it useless either for summer or rainy season. Hence it is called “Ozone Hole”.

The ozone hole raised the hackles for it challenged the habitation on this planet. A flurry of scientific research revealed that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were the main culprits causing ozone depletion over the Antarctic. The fluorinated hydrocarbons were developed 1930 by General Motors Research Laboratories in a search for non-toxic, non-flammable refrigerant to replace chemicals that were in use. Freon (Du Pont, US) and Arcton (ICI, UK) are trade names for CFCs. These were termed as revolutionary invention because of they were cheap to produce, easy to store, non-flammable, non-explosive, non-reactive with other gas molecules – in short perfect business product for minting money. CFCs were primarily used as propellants in spray cans, blowers for making soft foams, refrigerants and coolants. Since the atmosphere moves from tropics to poles concerns were raised about their increased usability, especially in the developed countries of the world and immense potential to cause ozone destruction. The scientists proposed that the CFC molecules would be broken in the stratosphere by the high energy sun radiations and the favorable meteorological conditions in the Antarctic (and sometimes the Arctic) during winter and then in spring would lead to a series of catalytic reactions leading to depletion of ozone thus forming an ozone hole. The fears were confirmed with the observation of large ozone depletion in the Antarctic in the 1980s.

Fortunately the international community realized the seriousness of threat due to ozone depletion to the planet Earth. Consequently an agreement was reached in 1987 by the international community in what is known as Montreal Protocol. It came into force in 1989. It called for a systematic phasing out of the halocarbons with large ozone depleting potential in developed as well as developing countries. It is believed that if the international agreement is adhered to, the ozone layer would recover by 2050. Due to its widespread adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an example of exceptional international co-operation with Kofi Annan – former Secretary General of the United Nations quoted as saying that “perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol”. India acceded to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in 1991 and ratified the Montreal Protocol in 1992.

The treaty has set milestone years for phasing out of the chemicals causing ozone depletion. For Example - The year 2010 was the final dead line year all the countries to phase out the CFCs in their respective lands. The CFCs have been replaced by other chemicals which do have ozone depleting potential albeit less than CFCs. The protocol calls for phasing out of the new chemicals as well without being discriminatory to the developing world by 2030. Hopefully the Kyoto Protocol (to limit green house has emissions) will see the light of the day and become as successful as Montreal Protocol. Amen!!

The Kyoto Protocol- A Quick Review

The United Nations Climate Change Conference is being held in Cancun, Mexico, from 29th November to 10th December, 2010 to discuss future commitments for industrialized countries under the Kyoto Protocol. The “Kyoto” is a widely referred word in the “climate change reporting in electronic and print media” and brings variety of interpretations related to buzz words - global warming and climate change- in the minds of the general masses. This article is an attempt to list the chronology of the conferences/events on the world stage which eventually lead to Kyoto Protocol – the future of which will be negotiated at Cancun, Mexico.

The first of the major conferences was held under the aegis of the UN at Rio de Janerio, Brazil from 3 June to 14 June 1992. It was called The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference, or more popularly the Earth Summit. An important achievement of the Earth Summit was showcasing of an international treaty: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The objective of the treaty is to stabilize greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations (which are responsible for global warming) in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system. Neither does the treaty specify any mandatory limits to be complied by the countries joining it nor does it set any enforcement mechanisms. The UNFCCC was opened for signature on May 9, 1992, after an intergovernmental negotiating committee produced the text of the framework convention as a report following its meeting in New York from April 30 to May 9, 1992. It entered into force on March 21, 1994. India signed the UNFCCC on 10 June 1992 and ratified it on 1 November 1993. Currently, the UNFCCC has 194 parties as signatories. The parties ratifying the treaty are called - “parties to the convention”. The parties have been divided in three categories according to differing commitments:

1. Annex I countries: industrialized countries and economies in transition

2. Annex II countries: Developed countries which pay th1e cost of developing countries

3. Non-Annex countries: Developing countries

Since 1995, the parties to the convention started conducting regular annual meetings in what has come to be known as Conference of the Parties (COP). It was in COP 3 at Kyoto, Japan that after the intensive negotiations an international and legally binding agreement– The Kyoto Protocol (KP) – was adopted on 11 December 1997. The KP came into force on 16 February, 2005 after detailed rules and regulations were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh (Morocco) in 2001- the so called Marrakesh Accord. The major features of the KP is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European Union to reduce its GHG emissions by five percent against the 1990 levels during the five year period from 2008-2012.

How are these countries achieving these targets? They are supposed to meet these targets through their nationally appropriate mitigation action (NAMA). The KP proposes three market based mechanisms to help these countries achieve their targets. The mechanisms are as follows:

1. Emissions trading: This is also popularly known as carbon trading. This has made GHG emissions a new market commodity. As mentioned above, the industrialized countries have accepted the targets of reducing their GHG emissions over the period of 2008-2012. They have been given the Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) meaning the level of allowed emission during the period of commitment. If a country has spare AAUs – that is emissions permitted but not used- then the country can trade the extra AAUs with a country or countries which are over their targets. The trading of these of these units is done through the registry system developed under the KP.

2. Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM): This mechanism allows the private/public organization in Annex I countries to invest in GHG reduction projects in developing countries. In return the investing parties earn a saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2 which can be counted towards meeting the Kyoto targets.
An example of CDM project is Hybrid renewable energy project in Rajasthan implemented by Australia. It constructed world's largest solar steam cooking system for preparing meals for around 10,000 people has been installed at Taleti, near Mount Abu, Rajasthan, by the Brahmakumari's organization (Brahmakumari's Academy for a Better World) under a special demonstration project of the MNES, Government of India. The system employs automatic tracking solar dish concentrators, which convert water into high-pressure steam. The steam thus generated is being used for cooking purposes in the kitchen of the ashram

3. Joint Implementation(JI): JI allows a country with emission reduction commitment to earn emission reduction units from emission reduction project in another Annex I party each equivalent to one tonne of CO2 which can be counted towards meeting the Kyoto targets.

The commitment period of the KP viz. 2008-2012 is soon approaching to an end and hence the importance of the meetings held at Copenhagen in 2009 and the one which is going on in Cancun (Mexico) and those which will be held in Durban (South Africa) in 2011, and Qatar or South Korea in 2012.

The COP 15 was at Copenhagen, Denmark from 7-18 December, 2009 to discuss on various questions like should the KP be extended further for the second commitment period? Should the new treaty be a under the aegis of the UNFCCC which also addresses the emission targets of the countries which are not party to the KP? What about the role of the developing countries and emerging economies like Brazil, South Africa, India, and China? The meeting at Copenhagen was always intended to be to resolve the post 2012 scenario – a view reflected in unofficial slogan for the conference, “seal the deal”. However it saw all the colors of environmental politics which has resulted in just two and a half page political accord rather than a legal one. The Cancun meeting is planned to resolve the post 2012 deadlock.

The key points in the Copenhagen accord are as follows: The accord recognizes climate change as one of the greatest challenges of our time and emphasizes on strong political will to combat climate change through common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities to achieve the ultimate objective to stabilize green house gas concentration in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent “dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system”. The accord does subscribe to the scientific view that the increase in the temperature should be below 2oC and agrees on the fact that “deep cuts” in global emissions are required as mentioned in the IPCC report but there is no quantitative mention of the “deep cuts” in the level of emissions those are to be achieved, to meet the challenge of keeping the temperatures below 2oC. The COP 15 also received strong objection from the developing countries to setting the target date for the peaking of their emissions as proposed in the COP 13 (known as Bali Action Plan) and also received resistance to the adoption of global emission targets as this would have direct impact on their economies.

The Copenhagen accord gives leverage to the Annex I parties (developed countries and economies in transition) to define its own target levels, base year, and accounting rules and submit the targets to the UNFCCC secretariat in a prescribed format. This commits them to implement the prescribed targets subject to international monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV). As far as developing countries are concerned the NAMA is also subject to international measurement, review, and verification. There is also a proposal to establish a “matching mechanism” to link developing countries proposal to the financial support by the developed countries.

The accord has very briefly touched other issues such as financial assistance to be given to developing countries to reduce GHG emission, forestry, adaptation, MRV. However it failed in taking the legal form. Hence it continues to be legally non binding accord. The countries were given the option to associate themselves with accord by informing the UNFCCC secretariat for inclusion in the list of the chapeau. Till today 114 parties have agreed to the Copenhagen Accord and another 26 countries have shown their wish to be listed in the chapeau.

There are many loopholes to be fitted in the Copenhagen Accord – the most important being the legal binding of the protocol. It is to sort out the differences and discuss future commitments for industrialized countries under the Kyoto Protocol the world is looking at the Cancun conference.

Reference:
1. http://unfccc.int

2. The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference: A Post, Mortem by Daniel Bodansky

Nirmal Diary - Part 5

The Primary Colour of Democracy - Elections

It comes once in five years. And when it arrives, it creates an air of excitement in the entire country. The entire media (electronic as well as the print) is in cut throat competition to report as things happens. And it is back again- The Kumbh Mela of Democracy. The elections to the 15^th Lok Sabha and to some state assemblies are going to be held in April and May with the decision on 16^th May 2009.

I am in Nirmal (AP). It is small town with a population around 1 lakh. The villages surrounding Nirmal are arguably some of the smallest units of the country and I am witnessing how election drama actually happens at this base level. There is an assembly election here along with the Lok Sabha polls. As far as the assembly election is concerned we have a triangular fight between the Congress, The Telangana Rashtra Samiti + Telugu Desam Party (Mahakutami – the grand alliance - as it is called) and new entrant Praja Rajyam Party – recently established by the south Indian superstar Chiranjeevi. The candidates are Mr. Allola Indrakaran Reddy (Congress), Mr. Sri Hari Rao (TRS + TDP) and Mr. M. Reddy (PRP).

While the selection of the congress candidate was obvious, the declaration of the other two candidates was a big drama with Mr. M. Reddy as well as Mr. Sri Hari Rao both vying a ticket from the TDP and TRS respectively. But as the two parties are in alliance only one had to get it. It so happened that in the seat sharing arrangement between the two parties – Nirmal – was granted to TRS and hence the seat went Mr. Sri Hari Rao. Mr. Reddy subsequently joined PRP and got the ticket. Of course the story of Mr. Reddy and Mr. Rao is not as simple as it is appearing. The politics runs far deeper as is being discussed among the locals here in Nirmal. Mr. Chandrababu Naidu – the TDP Boss- had promised a ticket to Mr. Reddy. The primary reason why a young leader like Mr. Reddy was denied the ticket by the TDP was the senior TDP leader who does not want a threat to emerge challenging his own existence in the local politics. In fact, I read in the Times of India that the joint committee formed by the TDP and TRS to discuss the seat sharing arrangement had this senior leader as team member. So it is obvious that he played his role with clinical precision to give Nirmal seat to TRS.

The elections are going to be held on 16^th April, 2009 here and the excitement is reaching its peak. All the old techniques (which have been part and parcel of the game since 1952) are being employed. It will be worth to watch the entire drama till 16 April, 2009 and then the final result on 16 May, 2009. It indeed is a great experience.

While I watch the intelligent (?) debates on various channels between different political leaders the vast difference between these debates and the ground reality does not escape my mind.

Nirmal Diary - Part 4

Finally we were able to plant the trees on our campus in the month of December 2008. On 13 December, 2008 we organized a small function of tree plantation. It was decided that each class would adopt a tree, plant, and water it everyday. We included classes from UKG to X in this activity. The programme has been quite successful. The students had fun and have been watering the plants regularly. The survival rate has been almost 99 percent.

Some interesting incidents have been happening. A 1^st class student called Bharath (Village: Dyangapur) did pluck the leaves of couple of plants and root out one plant. So the secondary section students caught him and brought him to me. They also told me that he was telling his friends that he would come to school on one Sunday (his village is just 500-700 m away from school campus) and root out all the plants. So I asked him if he did not like trees. He said he did. Then I asked him then why did he pluck the leaves. He had no answer. So I decided that we would make him plant a tree and he would water all the trees planted by the students for next two weeks along with his friends. After that incident there was one two more cases but then it has stopped and the trees are growing well. I guess we will have to take care of these trees for at least one summer. We have also planted trees along the fencing. They have also been growing well. All in all I would say the campus would start looking more beautiful in an years time.

The trees we have planted are

1. Gulmohar (Delonix (or Poinciana) regia)
2. Neem (Azadirakhta indica)
3. Peepal (Ficus religiosa)
4. Rain tree (Enterolobium saman or Samanae saman)
5. Ashoka (Polyalthia longifolia)
6. The bio-diesel plant

All the trees are showing a good growth. We have been using the organic manure once a month and sprayed a chemical in order to prevent the parasites from attacking the plants. I am looking forward to the annual phenomenon of monsoon.

पुष्प की अभिलाषा - माखनलाल चतुर्वेदी

चाह नही, मैं सुरबाला के गहनों में गुथा जाऊँ,

चाह नहीं , प्रेमी माला में बिंध प्यारीं को ललचाऊ ,

चाह नही , सम्राटो के शव पर हे हरी डाला जाऊँ,
चाह नही, देवों के सीर पर चढूँ भाग्य पर इठलाऊं,
मुझे तोड़ लेना बनमाली, उस पथ पर देना फेंक,
मातृभूमि हित शीष चढाने, जिस पथ जावें वीर अनेक

That inspirational poem from Dr. Harivanshrai Bacchan

अग्निपथ

अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ,

वृक्ष हो भले घने, हो घने, हो बड़े,

एक पत छाँव की मांग मत, मांग मत, मांग मत,

अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ

तू ना थकेगा कभी, तू ना थमेगा कभी, तू ना मुडेगा कभी,

कर शपथ, कर शपथ, कर शपथ,

अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ

यह महान दृश्य है, चल रहा मनुष्य है,

आश्रू श्वेत रक्त से लथपथ, लथपथ, लथपथ,

अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ, अग्निपथ

Nirmal Diary - 3

It is 26 January, 2009 today. Our 60th republic day. The celebration in the school was short and sweet affair. The 10th class student solved their 1st paper of hindi. The progress of these guys have been good, especially the weaker ones. The weaker ones are not at fault. The fault is of their idiot teachers who groomed them the way they themselves were groomed by their idiot teachers who…..and so on….. the chain reaction. These were/are the people who chose/have chosen the teaching profession because they could not do anything else and this profession was/is helping to meet the ends. Anyway the story is going to be same till we make the profession more attractive “money-wise”. But hopefully not the “Satyam way”. Hey I just remember a funny poem forwarded by a dear friend of mine Dr. Shirisha Sathe…..

Raju…Raju….
Yes Papa…
Eating money….
No papa….
Telling lies….
No papa….
Open the balance sheet…
Ha ha ha…..

Another news from Nirmal is that the chief minister Dr. Y.S.R. Reddy is visiting Nirmal tomorrow. I often had heard the words especially in Doordarshan news,”Khabar milte hi prashasan harkat mein aayaa”. I have been actually experiencing these words since last 3-4 days. The road is being repaired. The government buildings are being painted with that typical brownish color. The town appears to have come to life. The roads are being policed by the force. I wish he visits Nirmal regularly.

As I am typing this post, I am also watching the marathi Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. It is 26 January special. I must confess that the kids who are singing the songs are the blessed ones. Pandit Hridaynaath Mangeshkar is the special guest. Parents of the martyrs have also come and its truly amazing to hear the stories of all those who have and are making our life safe in this country.

I am remembering the lyrics of the song which has now become my all time favourite and which had helped me to take the decision to return back….

Yeh jo des hai tera…
Swades hai tera…tuzhe hai pukaraa….
Yeh woh bandhan hai jo kabhi toot nahi sakta….