Twenty Years of Ozone Decline

ISBN 10: 9048125359 / ISBN 13: 9789048125357

Published by Springer, 2009

pp. 484. Seller Inventory # 372097229

Synopsis:

Homer speaks of lightning bolts after which ‘a grim reek of sulphur bursts forth’ and the air was ‘?lled with reeking brimstone’. (Homer 3000 BC). The odour was not actually the smell of sulphur dioxide associated with burning sulphur, but rather was the ?rst recorded detection of the presence of another strong odour, that of ozone (O ) in Earth’s atmosphere. These molecules were formed by the passage of 3 lightning through the air, created by splitting the abundant molecular oxygen (O ) 2 molecules into two, followed by the addition of each of the free O atoms to another O to form the triatomic product. In fact, most of the ozone molecules present 2 in the atmosphere at any time have been made by this same two-step splitti- plus-combination process, although the initiating cause usually begins with very energetic solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation rather than lightning. Many thousands of years later, the modern history of ozone began with its synthesis in the laboratory of H. F. Schonbein in 1840 (Nolte 1999), although the positive con?rmation of its three-oxygen atom chemical formula came along sometime later. Scienti?c interest in high-altitude stratospheric ozone dates back to 1881 when Hartley measured the spectrum of ozone in the laboratory and found that its ability to absorb UV light extended only to 293nm at the long wavelength end (Hartley 1881a).

From the Back Cover:

This book includes articles presented by leading scientists in the ozone field at the Symposium for the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, jointly organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Ozone Commission (IO3C), the Academy of Athens and the Mariolopoulos-Kanaginis Foundation, held in Athens in September 2007.

His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, recently stated:

"The success of the Montreal Protocol shows us that there are global instruments that can help curb the impact of human activities on the global environment. We should draw lessons from this experience, and strive to replicate it."

This book responds by including the history, science and lessons learned by the application of the Montreal Protocol over the past twenty years. Expressed views come from three Nobel laureates, sixty scientists and representatives of international organizations and industry. Many interesting aspects of ongoing ozone research are also presented, including comparisons of what has been achieved versus what would have been the state of ozone, climate and UV in the environment if the Protocol had never been in use.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Twenty Years of Ozone Decline
Publisher: Springer
Publication Date: 2009
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: New