| Titre : |
Stratospheric ozone : rapport n° 41 february 2000 |
| Type de document : |
texte imprimé |
| Auteurs : |
Mégie, Gérard, Auteur |
| Editeur : |
Technique & documentation |
| Année de publication : |
2000 |
| ISBN/ISSN/EAN : |
274303731 |
| Langues : |
Anglais (eng) |
| Index. décimale : |
360 Problèmes et services sociaux. Associations |
| Résumé : |
In the past three decades, stratospheric ozone has evolved from a simple scientific hypothesis to that of a real large-scale global environmental problem. Although its effects on the equilibrium of biological ecosystems are not quantifiable even today, the economic consequences of acknowledging this problem are of great importance. The emission of organic chlorine compounds has been totally banned because they have been judged responsible for affecting the global equilibrium of the atmosphere.
The problem of stratospheric ozone is an example of how uncertainty regarding environmental problems is managed. Primarily, it demonstrates that the most important effects do not necessarily occur where they are expected. It also illustrates the fact that when a perturbation exceeds a certain limit, the response of the atmospheric system can suddenly be amplified under the influence of novel processes. These new processes could not have been foreseen since thresholds have not been previously exceeded and detected. Finally, scientific knowledge has progressed greatly through new discoveries and the realization of the vast complexity of the phenomena. However, this progress has not always led to reduction in uncertainties and better economic and political policymaking.
This report was written in 1996 by the committee on the environment of the French academy of sciences to summarize the state of knowledge regarding the stratospheric ozone layer and its projected evolution over the next decades.
The aim of the report was to clearly state domains of certainty and uncertainty in order to avoid controversies which could potentially mask the reality of phenomena involving the equilibrium of the higher atmosphere. The stratospheric ozone problem is coupled to other issues regarding the global environment on which the committee has previously reported, concerning the additional green-house effect (académie des sciences, 1990 and 1994) and the increase in oxidative properties of the troposphere (académie des sciences, 1993).
The present report explores the main mechanisms which are responsible for stratospheric equilibrium, the theoretical and experimental tools which have been developed in the past twenty-five years to study the atmosphere, the evolution of the ozone layer, the regulatory measures taken at the international level, the consequences of changes in ozone content on atmospheric radiation, man and the biosphere. An assessment of the certainties and uncertainties is made and recommendations are put forward to policymakers regarding scientific research. |
Stratospheric ozone : rapport n° 41 february 2000 [texte imprimé] / Mégie, Gérard, Auteur . - Technique & documentation, 2000. ISSN : 274303731 Langues : Anglais ( eng)
| Index. décimale : |
360 Problèmes et services sociaux. Associations |
| Résumé : |
In the past three decades, stratospheric ozone has evolved from a simple scientific hypothesis to that of a real large-scale global environmental problem. Although its effects on the equilibrium of biological ecosystems are not quantifiable even today, the economic consequences of acknowledging this problem are of great importance. The emission of organic chlorine compounds has been totally banned because they have been judged responsible for affecting the global equilibrium of the atmosphere.
The problem of stratospheric ozone is an example of how uncertainty regarding environmental problems is managed. Primarily, it demonstrates that the most important effects do not necessarily occur where they are expected. It also illustrates the fact that when a perturbation exceeds a certain limit, the response of the atmospheric system can suddenly be amplified under the influence of novel processes. These new processes could not have been foreseen since thresholds have not been previously exceeded and detected. Finally, scientific knowledge has progressed greatly through new discoveries and the realization of the vast complexity of the phenomena. However, this progress has not always led to reduction in uncertainties and better economic and political policymaking.
This report was written in 1996 by the committee on the environment of the French academy of sciences to summarize the state of knowledge regarding the stratospheric ozone layer and its projected evolution over the next decades.
The aim of the report was to clearly state domains of certainty and uncertainty in order to avoid controversies which could potentially mask the reality of phenomena involving the equilibrium of the higher atmosphere. The stratospheric ozone problem is coupled to other issues regarding the global environment on which the committee has previously reported, concerning the additional green-house effect (académie des sciences, 1990 and 1994) and the increase in oxidative properties of the troposphere (académie des sciences, 1993).
The present report explores the main mechanisms which are responsible for stratospheric equilibrium, the theoretical and experimental tools which have been developed in the past twenty-five years to study the atmosphere, the evolution of the ozone layer, the regulatory measures taken at the international level, the consequences of changes in ozone content on atmospheric radiation, man and the biosphere. An assessment of the certainties and uncertainties is made and recommendations are put forward to policymakers regarding scientific research. |
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Stratospheric ozone
