Stratospheric Ozone Research And Effects

Peter Fabian and Martin Dameris provide a concise yet comprehensive overview of established scientific knowledge about ozone in the atmosphere. They present both ozone changes and trends in the stratosphere, as well as the effects of overabundance in the troposphere including the phenomenon of photosmog. Aspects such as photochemistry, atmospheric dynamics and global ozone distribution as well as various techniques for ozone measurement are treated. The authors outline the various causes for ozone depletion, the effects of ozone pollution and the relation to climate change. The book provides a handy reference guide for researchers active in atmospheric ozone research and a useful introduction for advanced students specializing in this field. Non-specialists interested in this field will also profit from reading the book. Peter Fabian can look back on a life-long active career in ozone research, having first gained international recognition for his measurements of the global distribution of halogenated hydrocarbons. He also pioneered photosmog investigations in the metropolitan areas of Munich, Berlin, Athens and Santiago de Chile, and his KROFEX facility provided controlled ozone fumigation of adult tree canopies for biologists to investigate the effects of ozone increases on forests. Besides having published a broad range of scientific articles, he has also been the author or editor of numerous books. From 2002 to 2005 he served the European Geosciences Union (EGU) as their first and Founding President. Martin Dameris is a prominent atmospheric modeler whose interests include the impacts of all kinds of natural and man-made disturbances on the atmospheric system. His scientific work focuses on the connections between ozone and climate changes. For many years he has been an active contributor to the WMO scientific ozone depletion assessments, which have been used to monitor the depletion and recovery of the ozone layer in accordance with the Montreal Protocol.

A balanced assessment based on currently available scientific knowledge of the effects that climate change may have on the environment in Europe and the health of its populations. Written in non-technical language the book responds to growing public and political concern about the consequences of such widely publicized phenomena as global warming and stratospheric ozone depletion. The book also responds to evidence that recent warming trends in Europe have already affected health. The book opens with a brief explanation of the causes of climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion followed by an overview of recent European and global initiatives aimed at monitoring trends and assessing their impact on health. The first main chapter on climate change in Europe summarizes currently documented trends and provides a scenario of possible changes throughout the rest of this century. The second and most extensive chapter reviews scientific evidence on specific health consequences. These include effects related to increased episodes of thermal stress and air pollution; changes in foodborne water-related vector-borne and rodent-borne diseases; mortality from floods and other weather extremes; and changes in the production of aeroallergens associated with respiratory disorders including asthma. Chapter three considers health effects linked to stratospheric ozone depletion giving particular attention to adverse effects on the eye and immune system and skin cancer. The remaining chapters discuss health effects expected in the next decade and outline actions urgently needed in the areas of policy monitoring and surveillance and research.

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).