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Ozone Layer Depletion - revised

The document discusses ozone layer depletion, highlighting its causes, particularly the role of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) like CFCs. It explains the harmful effects of UV radiation on health and the environment, and outlines mitigation measures such as the Montreal Protocol aimed at reducing ODS production. The document concludes that while ozone layer depletion will persist for decades, full implementation of recommended actions could restore the ozone layer by 2050.

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15 views

Ozone Layer Depletion - revised

The document discusses ozone layer depletion, highlighting its causes, particularly the role of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) like CFCs. It explains the harmful effects of UV radiation on health and the environment, and outlines mitigation measures such as the Montreal Protocol aimed at reducing ODS production. The document concludes that while ozone layer depletion will persist for decades, full implementation of recommended actions could restore the ozone layer by 2050.

Uploaded by

akshaynawlia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MACRO Environmental Issues

BABU ALAPPAT
DEPT OF CIVIL ENGG

alappat@iitd.ac.in
Ozone Layer Depletion
• Pioneering investigations by Sherwood
Rowland and Mario Molina in early
seventies (1974).
• Soon it was established to be ‘true’
• Our atmosphere consists of :
– Troposphere (0 to 15km)
– Stratosphere (extends up to 60 km)
– Mesosphere
– Thermosphere
• O3 in troposphere is a pollutant,
– helps in formation of smog,
– capable of rapidly removing vitamin E from
skin
– Can cause corrosion problems
– Damage vegetation
– Can cause mutation in DNA

When troposphere ozone layer reaches 50ppb,


plant growth reduces by about 15%
Ozone in the stratosphere
• O3 in the stratosphere is a blessing as it
shields the passage of dangerous solar
UV-B radiations to the earth.
• O3 absorbs these radiations (range 280 –
310 nm)
• UV-B radiations can cause skin cancer
Effect of UV radiation in Troposphere
UV - C UV - B UV - A Visible

200 nm 280 320 400 700 nm

Reddening of skin – Erythema


Reduction in Vitamin – D synthesis
Skin cancer,
Cataracts, and
Damage to the immune system
Slowed plant growth

Synthesis of Vitamin – D
Ozone Layer depletion
• Patches in the Stratosphere where the
Concentration of Ozone is very Low
• In fact O3 is continuously formed in natural
processes
• But the rate of formation is considerably
lesser than the rate of destruction
• CFCs are the dominant source of
Chlorine which destroys the ozone
molecules
Natural reactions

• O3 + UV light → O + O2

• O + O2 → O3
Reactions when CFC is there
• Cl2CF2 + UV light → ClCF2 + Cl

• Cl + O3 ---→ ClO + O2

• ClO + O3 --→ Cl + O2

• Cl is regenerates and it keeps on reacting


with O3
Ozone Layer Depletion
• Chlorine is regenerated in the reaction.
Theoretically one chlorine atom can destroy
infinite Ozone molecules (about 1,00,000)

• As a result, global ozone amount was


decreasing @ 1% per year (reports in mid
nineties)

• 1% per depletion leads to 1.3 to 1.8% increase


of UV radiations reaching earth’s surface.
Amount of O3 in the atmosphere
• It varies geographically and seasonally
• It is less than about 260DU in equatorial
latitudes and about 400 DU at the poles
• It is less in Sept and more in Dec (with a
difference of about 150 DU)
DU = Dobson unit
1 DU = 2.69 x 1020 O3 molecules / m2 air
column
300 DU corresponds to 3 mm thick layer
Distribution of
Ozone in
Stratosphere

In the 1920s, G.M.B. Dobson developed


a spectrometer that could measure
small concentrations of ozone.

If vertical column of Ozone is brought


to surface atmosphere at 0 OC, its
thickness will be 4mm = 400 DU

1 mm = 100 Dobson Unit


(After Dr. D.M.B. Dobson)
The Culprits (ODS – Ozone
Depleting Substances)
• O3 is depleted by the reactions involving a
variety of compounds reaching the
stratosphere

• Important ODSs are : CFCs, Halons, CCl4,


etc
• CFC-11 and 12 (Freon 11 and 12) are the
most dangerous ones.
CFCs
• They take about 6 years to reach the
stratosphere (poles)
• CFCs break down in the stratosphere by
UV-radiations releasing Cl.
• The catalytic chain reactions initiated by Cl
atoms, involving ClO, deplete the O3 layer
• ClO is the main destroyer of ozone
• ClO concentration is about 0.5 to 1.0 ppbV
• Polar regions are more prone to O3
depletion as polar regions collect more
dust and CFCs
• In darkness, tiny ice crystals are formed in
the polar stratosphere facilitating the O3
depletion when sun appears to trigger the
reactions.
CFCs
• Developed in 1930s as a safe alternative
to NH3 and SO2 refrigerants
• They were one of the most useful class of
compounds ever developed because of:
chemical stability, non-inflammability, non-
corrosiveness, low toxicity, etc.
• In fact inertness & stability creates the problem of
ozone layer depletion
• They remain for 55 to 116 years in the atmosphere
• CFCs are accumulating in the
stratosphere about 5 times faster than
they could be destroyed by UV radiations
• CFC concentration in the atmosphere
increased from 0 (pre-industrial era) to
0.88 ppbV (1990 report) at an annual
growth rate of 4%.
• Prediction: by 2010: 205 million kg of CFC
11 and 420 million kg of CFC 12.
How Ozone is the destroyed in the Stratosphere

1. The polar winter leads to the formation of the polar vortex which isolates the air
within it.

2. Cold temperatures form inside the vortex; cold enough for the formation of Polar
Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs). As the vortex air is isolated, the cold temperatures and
the PSCs persist.

3. Once the PSCs form, heterogeneous reactions take place and convert the inactive
chlorine and bromine reservoir species to more active forms of chlorine and bromine.

4. As sunlight returns to the air inside the polar vortex, the production of active chlorine
and catalytic ozone destruction cycle begins. Ozone loss is rapid.
CFC – Lovelock’s experiment
From London to North Atlantic, Lovelock found CFC-11 in every air sample he
collected. This unexpected discovery prompted Lovelock to do further studies.
Accordingly, he asked the British government for a modest sum of money to place
his apparatus on board a ship travelling from England to Antarctica. His request was
rejected; one reviewer commented that even if such a measurement succeeded, he
could not imagine a more useless bit of knowledge than finding the atmospheric
concentration of CFC-11.

But Lovelock persisted. Using his own money, he put his experiment aboard the
research vessel Shackleton in 1971. Two years later the British researcher reported
that his shipboard apparatus had detected CFC-11 in every one of the more than 50
air samples collected in the North and South Atlantic. Lovelock correctly concluded
that the gas was carried by large-scale wind motions. He also stated that CFCs were
not hazardous to the environment, a conclusion soon to be proven wrong.
CFC – Passage to Stratosphere

In 1972, the life of atmospheric scientist F. Sherwood Rowland took a critical turn when he
heard a lecture describing Lovelock's work. Like other researchers at the time, Rowland had
no inkling that CFCs could harm the environment, but the injection into the atmosphere of
large quantities of previously unknown compounds piqued his interest. What would be the
ultimate fate of these compounds? Rowland, joined by Mario Molina, a colleague at the
University of California, Irvine, decided to find out.

Most molecules that are propelled into the atmosphere are removed within a few hours to a few
weeks by three general processes.

1. Photolysis, which is when the molecule absorbs sunlight.


2. Dissolution in water, or rainout.
3. Molecules are removed through a reaction with the hydroxyl radical (HO) or
ozone, a process called oxidation.

CFC molecules differ from most molecules in that they are transparent to sunlight, are insoluble
in water, and are chemically inert to oxidizing agents. Therefore the aforementioned processes
will not remove them from the atmosphere. The molecules can remain in the lower atmosphere
for a long time before being pushed into the stratosphere by powerful storms at the equator
Mitigation Measures

• Montreal Protocol – adopted in 1987 and


enforced in 1989
• All developed nations stopped production
& Consumption of ODSs by 1996.
• For developing nations it is by 2010
• Montreal protocol compels the countries
producing ODS > 300 mg/capita/year to
fund the fight against the O3 depletion
• Consumption of ODS in India: 10
mg/capita/year
• Hence India is receiving special funds to
switch over to CFC-free technologies
Alternatives for dangerous CFCs
• HFCs (Hydrofluorocarbons) – for refrigeration
applications

• HCFCs (Hydrochlorofluorocarbons) – for cleaning and


foam manufacture applications

• These will not reach the stratosphere as they contain H


atoms (which react with hydroxyl radicals of the lower
atmosphere lowering their life span)
• These compounds are global warming gases
• These compounds will generate more O3 in the lower atmosphere
causing smog
Repairing the O3 holes
• Releasing large quantities of ethane and
propane in the stratosphere
• These compounds can bind to the free Cl
preventing them from attacking O3 layer.

• September 16th: international day for the


preservation of O3 layer – UN general assembly
• CFC release has reduced considerably
• Troposphere Cl peaked in late nineties
• Stratospheric Cl must have peaked by
2004
• Ozone layer depletion will continue for a
few more decades.
• By 2050, no ozone layer depletion will be
there if all recommendations (Montreal
protocol) are implemented in its tue spirit.

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