Ozone Layer Depletion And Global Warming: Important Sustainability Issues

Ozone Layer Depletion and Global Warming

Selection and explanation of Important Sustainability Issue (Global warming and Ozone layer depletion)

Discuss about the Ozone Layer Depletion and Global Warming.

Ozone layer is the blanket of Ozone (O3) present at the topmost layer of the Earth that protects the Earth from the hazardous Ultraviolet rays of the Sun. Due to excessive pollution of the atmosphere of the Earth; the Ozone layer gets depleted from the topmost layer of the atmosphere. Due to the reduction of Ozone layer, the climatic temperature have increased from the average temperature and resulted in the sustainability issue of Global warming (Wallace et al. 2014). The CFC plays an important role in the depletion of the Ozone layer which hereby has caused raise in the overall temperature of the Earth. Hence, Global warming and Ozone layer are a major sustainability issue of the world.

Figure 1: Global Warming

(Source: Wallace et al. 2014, pp-730)

Figure 2: Ozone Layer Depletion

(Source: Bolaji and Huan 2013, pp-53)

The environmental elements or factors responsible for Ozone layer depletion are the natural phenomenon like the stratospheric winds and the Sun spots (Bolaji and Huan 2013). The Stratospheric winds of the Earth’s atmosphere have resulted in the depletion of the ozone layer. The CFC gas present in atmospheric stratosphere layer gets pushed to the ozonosphere layer of the atmosphere where the chemical reaction of hydrogen and ozone occurs in presence of sunlight causing formation of water vapor and reduction of ozone to oxygen gas (Santer et al. 2013). Hence, the ozone layer gets depleted and causes the global warming sustainability issue.

The volcanic eruptions play an indirect role in increasing the depletion of the ozone layer on the Earth’s surface. The various toxic gases that gets erupted from the volcanic activities causes toxicities in the Earth’s atmosphere that results in the pollution of the atmosphere. The polluted atmosphere results in the ozone layer depletion (Bolaji and Huan 2013). The global warming is the result of the increased solar radiation infiltrations of the Sun on the Earth’s surface. Because of the increased solar rays the atmosphere gets heated resulting in the increase of the atmospheric temperature. However, the natural factors that result accounts to only 2% of the total ozone layer depletion and global warming (Santer et al. 2013).

Figure 3: Ozone layer depletion by Volcanic Eruption

(Source: Kelly et al. 2013, pp-331)

The social elements and factors that result in the depletion of the Ozone layer and global warming are increased lifestyle of the humans and using CFC prone instruments. The increased life style of the humans is an important reason behind the depletion of ozone layer in the atmosphere (Brune 2015). The humans have developed different tools for technology that emits CFC in the atmosphere like; Refrigerator, Air Conditioners etc. They use the coolants that emit CFCs and harm the ozone layer when these emitted CFC reaches the atmosphere.

Environmental Elements of Ozone layer depletion and Global warming

CCL2F2 (g) + O3 (g) àCL2 (g) + O2 (g)

Figure 4: CFC attack on Ozone layer

(Source: Brune 2015, pp-83)

The above reaction shows that the ozone gets depleted to oxygen gas when reacted with CFC in presence of ultraviolet rays as a catalyst generating chlorine as the by product. Hence, the quantity of the ozone in the atmosphere gets reduced. The general activities of human like cooing, burning fuel for producing energy and fireworks also causes the production of carbon and it affects the global warming on a small scale.

The economic activities of the human contribute a lot for the ozone layer depletion and global warming. Ozone layer is depleted because of the CFC generated produced from the tools and instruments (Desmet and Rossi-Hansberg 2015). Various companies use the less costly techniques for producing the coolant products like refrigerator and air conditioners. These equipments emits considerable amount of CFCs that is hazardous for the ozone layer. The company uses these parts for reducing the cost for manufacturing the equipments. In this way, they gain more profit. However, it results in harming the environmental stability by depletion of the Ozone layer.

Carbon emission by various tools and equipments used in manufacturing industries also contribute to the global rise in the temperature (Jakob and Marschinski 2013). Carbon has dense gaseous particles that entrap the heat rays of the Sun in the atmosphere. It results in increasing the average temperature of the earth. Hence, the global warming is induced in the atmosphere. All the economic activities of the world depend on the production of the energy and the main source of the energy is coal. For production of energy the coal is burnt and it increases the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Therefore, the economic activities of the human have resulted in depletion of the ozone layer and increasing the global warming on the earth and it accounts to 82% of the total ozone layer depletion and global warming (Desmet and Rossi-Hansberg 2015).

Figure 5: CO2 emission in different activities

(Source: Jakob and Marschinski 2013, pp-23)

The main ethical dilemmas because of Ozone layer depletion are affecting of exposure to the UV rays on the ecosystem and its components and diseases caused by it. The ozone layer acts as a shielding layer for the earth and its ecosystem from the harmful ultra violet (UV) rays of the sun. The depletion of the ozone layer has facilitated the entering of these rays in the earth’s atmosphere. These rays when come in direct contact with the skin of human or animal (birds and fishes included) or the body of the plants causes decaying of the part (Calkins 2013). Hence, the part of the body (or skin) becomes dead and unusable.

Social Elements of Ozone layer depletion and Global warming

The global warming has resulted in increase of the overall temperature of the earth’s surface. The increase in the temperature have resulted in unfavorable climate for production of crops and doing work. The seasonal crops could not be grown because of the increased temperature of the earth (González-Varo et al. 2013). The global warming has resulted in melting the polar caps and increasing the water level of the earth. It has been estimated that if the global warming continues to grow at the present rate, very soon the 30% land part of the earth would get submersed in the increased water level.

Figure 6: Effects of global warming

(Source: González-Varo et al. 2013, pp-530)

The two principle issues of Ozone layer depletion and Global warming are radiation effects and melting of the polar caps.

The radiation of the UV rays can cause several types of diseases like Erythema, Skin cancer, Suppression of immune system, etc (Pérez-Sánchez et al. 2014). These are the radiation effects because of UV rays on humans. In plants, the ultraviolet rays affect the plants growth, reduction in the area of the leaf, diminishing the size of the stem and affecting the cell structure of the plants. The effect of UV rays in plants can be seen at both molecular and cellular levels. The reproduction system and photosynthesis process of the plants are also affected by the harmful rays of the Sun.

Melting of the ice caps at the polar region is the major ethical issue faced due to the global warming. The ice caps at the Polar Regions are melting slowly that has resulted in increasing the water level by a considerable amount every year (Hansen et al. 2016). It has been seen that the average temperature of the earth increases by 0.76º Celsius (or 1.36º Fahrenheit). It has already been observed that the Ice shelves of Larsen and Ayles have been broken up due to the global warming.  

Figure 7: Melting of Ice due to global warming

(Source: Hansen et al. 2016, pp-3812)

The ozone layer depletion and global warming have severe affect on the economic activities of the earth. The ozone layer depletion and global warming have affected the economy by destructing the infrastructure and property, decreasing the productivity, massive migration, increases in the cost of cropping, and security threats to the economic activities.

Destructing the property and infrastructure- The ozone layer depletion and global warming has caused a number of hindrance factors for the economic growth like; floods, rise in the sea level, draught, wild fires, and storms. These have damaged the infrastructure and property causing the decrease in the financial condition of the affected areas (Nelson et al. 2014).

Economical Elements of Ozone layer depletion and Global warming

Decreased productivity- The ozone layer depletion and global warming has resulted in decreasing the productivity of the activities. Due to severe hindrance like storms, heavy rains, and climatic change, the economical activities like agriculture, transportation, fisheries, tourism and energy production are halted occasionally. The health issues due to climatic change also hinder the productivity of the economic activity.

Massive migration- Due to the various climatic situations of the places, the people has been forced to migrate to some other places for seeking the favorable conditions (Farber 2015). It causes decrease in the economic activities of the place.

Increased coping cost- Due to these calamities of the ozone layer depletion and global warming, the damages in the society would require a considerable cost for coping with the situation (Farber 2015). It would result in decreasing the financial stability of the place, hence, ceasing the economic activity of the place.

Security threats- The climatic conditions due to ozone layer depletion and global warming become unfavorable for secure living. It results in expenses for managing the security options to overcome the threats.

Figure 8: Effects of global warming on Agriculture

(Source: Nelson et al. 2014, pp-3279)

The ozone layer depletion and global warming can be solved by following some steps;

Solution to Ozone layer Depletion

Ozone layer depletion can be solved by reducing the use of CFC emitter products. If the CFC generation is reduced, then the depletion of Ozone by CFC action can be reduced (Coldeweyâ€ÂEgbers et al. 2014). Apart from it, if the bromine and chlorine gas in the atmosphere is reduced, the reaction can be controlled too. The companies should use the equipments that checks and controls the CFC emission in the atmosphere. The Montreal protocol should be made active in all the companies that focus on the reduction of the CFC emission products.

Figure 9: Protecting ozone layer

(Source: Coldeweyâ€ÂEgbers et al. 2014, pp-4372)

Global warming can be checked by decreasing the carbon emission in the atmosphere. Gaseous carbon entraps the solar radiation and causes the rise in temperature. So minimizing the carbon content in the atmosphere would decrease the effect of global warming (Jang and Hart 2015). It can also be reduced by managing the forestry and agriculture. Utilizing the concept of eco friendly and go green in all activities can result in controlling the hazards to environment. The global warming and ozone layer depletion can be managed and controlled by reducing the emission of CFC and other heat entrapping gases in the atmosphere.

Ethical Dilemmas because of Ozone layer depletion and Global warming

Figure 10: Solutions to global warming

(Source: Jang and Hart 2015, pp-16)

Apart from these stopping the misuse of the resources, utilizing public transport mostly, using energy efficient and less CFC emitting equipments and making people aware of the affects of the ozone layer depletion and global warming and their solutions can be used individually for reducing the hazards of ozone layer depletion and global warming on the Earth.

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References

Bolaji, B.O. and Huan, Z., 2013. Ozone depletion and global warming: Case for the use of natural refrigerant–a review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 18, pp.49-54.

Brune, W.H., 2015. The ozone story: A model for addressing climate change?. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 71(1), pp.75-84.

Calkins, J. ed., 2013. The role of solar ultraviolet radiation in marine ecosystems (Vol. 7). Springer Science & Business Media.

Coldeweyâ€ÂEgbers, M., Loyola, R., Diego, G., Braesicke, P., Dameris, M., Roozendael, M., Lerot, C. and Zimmer, W., 2014. A new health check of the ozone layer at global and regional scales. Geophysical Research Letters,41(12), pp.4363-4372.

Desmet, K. and Rossi-Hansberg, E., 2015. On the spatial economic impact of global warming. Journal of Urban Economics, 88, pp.16-37.

Farber, D.A., 2015. Coping with Uncertainty: Cost-Benefit Analysis, the Precautionary Principle, and Climate Change. Available at SSRN 2637105

González-Varo, J.P., Biesmeijer, J.C., Bommarco, R., Potts, S.G., Schweiger, O., Smith, H.G., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Szentgyörgyi, H., Woyciechowski, M. and Vilà, M., 2013. Combined effects of global change pressures on animal-mediated pollination. Trends in Ecology & Evolution,28(9), pp.524-530.

Hansen, J., Sato, M., Hearty, P., Ruedy, R., Kelley, M., Masson-Delmotte, V., Russell, G., Tselioudis, G., Cao, J., Rignot, E. and Velicogna, I., 2016. Ice melt, sea level rise and superstorms: Evidence from paleoclimate data, climate modeling, and modern observations that 2 C global warming could be dangerous. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 16(6), pp.3761-3812.

Jakob, M. and Marschinski, R., 2013. Interpreting trade-related CO2 emission transfers. Nature Climate Change, 3(1), pp.19-23.

Jang, S.M. and Hart, P.S., 2015. Polarized frames on “climate change” and “global warming” across countries and states: evidence from twitter big data.Global Environmental Change, 32, pp.11-17.

Kelly, P.J., Kern, C., Roberts, T.J., Lopez, T., Werner, C. and Aiuppa, A., 2013. Rapid chemical evolution of tropospheric volcanic emissions from Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, based on observations of ozone and halogen-containing gases. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 259, pp.317-333.

Nelson, G.C., Valin, H., Sands, R.D., Havlík, P., Ahammad, H., Deryng, D., Elliott, J., Fujimori, S., Hasegawa, T., Heyhoe, E. and Kyle, P., 2014. Climate change effects on agriculture: Economic responses to biophysical shocks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(9), pp.3274-3279.

Pérez-Sánchez, A., Barrajón-Catalán, E., Caturla, N., Castillo, J., Benavente-Garcia, O., Alcaraz, M. and Micol, V., 2014. Protective effects of citrus and rosemary extracts on UV-induced damage in skin cell model and human volunteers. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology,136, pp.12-18.

Santer, B.D., Painter, J.F., Bonfils, C., Mears, C.A., Solomon, S., Wigley, T.M., Gleckler, P.J., Schmidt, G.A., Doutriaux, C., Gillett, N.P. and Taylor, K.E., 2013. Human and natural influences on the changing thermal structure of the atmosphere. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,110(43), pp.17235-17240.

Wallace, J.M., Held, I.M., Thompson, D.W., Trenberth, K.E. and Walsh, J.E., 2014. Global warming and winter weather. Science, 343(6172), pp.729-730.