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. To raise awareness about the layer and its importance, ‘World Ozone Day’ is celebrated every year on September 16, at the international level.
The ozone layer or ozone shield is present in the atmosphere at the stratosphere level. It absorbs 97 to 99 percent Ultra-Violet (UV) rays emitted by the sun.
World Ozone Day 2021: Theme
This year, ‘World Ozone Day’ would be celebrated under the theme – Montreal Protocol – “Keeping us, our Food and Vaccines Cool”.
This year’s World Ozone Day seeks to highlight, the Montreal Protocol does so much more – such as slowing climate change and helping to boost energy efficiency in the cooling sector, which contributes to food security, as per the United Nations.
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Montreal Protocol: The principal aim of the Montreal Protocol is to protect the ozone layer by taking measures to control total global production and consumption of substances that deplete it, with the ultimate objective of their elimination based on developments in scientific knowledge and technological information.
World Ozone Day 2021: History
In 1985, the world's governments adopted the Vienna Convention to protect the ozone layer.
Montreal Protocol, on substances that deplete the ozone layer, was signed in 1987.
The first Ozone Day was celebrated on 16th September 1995 and since then this day has been celebrated continuously. The special day was designated by the United Nations General Assembly on 23rd January 1995 under adopted resolution 49/ 114.
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World Ozone Day 2021: Facts
Ozone was first discovered in 1839 by Swiss chemist Christian Schonbein when he was studying electrical discharges.
Ozone gas is of two types – Good Ozone and Bad Ozone, Good Ozone is naturally produced after the photochemical reactions in the stratosphere and Bad Ozone occurs near the earth's surface in a layer called the troposphere.
A satellite instrument called “Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer” is used for measuring ozone.
The main culprit behind the depletion of the Ozone layer was CFC and HCFC – chlorofluorocarbon and hydrochlorofluorocarbon, which are also known as greenhouse gases.
The ‘Ozone hole’ found near Antarctica was more than 29 million square kilometers, China and Russia combined.
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World Ozone Day 2021: Quotes
- “If you don’t know how to fix it, please, stop breaking it.” – Severn Cullis-Suzuki
- “If you want a higher power, go to the goddamn sun. Just go to the sun - and stop destroying the ozone layer.” – Susan Powter
- “So I'm going to go on and work on preserving the ozone layer, encouraging everyone to recycle.” – Dean Stockwell
- “Language is the soul’s ozone layer and we think it at our peril.” – Sven Birkerts
- “Global warming is a scientific fact as much as the hole in the ozone layer or Earth's orbit around the sun.” – Johan Rockstrom