Twenty Questions And Answers About The Ozone Layer

Pioneers, troublemakers, discoveries. The resort of Arosa became a world-renowned research centre. This book tells the story of the world's longest series of ozone measurements and the Earth's vital protective envelope. Where the Grandhotel Tschuggen now stands in Arosa was once the Arosa Sanatorium. In those days thousands travelled to the resort to recover from tuberculosis, a disease that was widespread at the time. The German physicist Paul Götz launched his career on the roof of the sanatorium. At the request of the Arosa Resort and Tourism Association (Kur- und Verkehrsverein Arosa) he established the Light Climatic Observatory LCO (Lichtklimatisches Observatorium LKO) in 1921 to provide scientific validation of Arosa's reputation as a high altitude health resort. To this end Götz studied solar radiation, in which the ozone layer in the atmosphere played an important role. This gave rise to the world's longest series of ozone measurements, and it remains important for international research to this day. The observatory only survived for just under a century thanks to the strong personalities of those involved. Since 1988 it has been run by MeteoSwiss. This richly illustrated book chronicles some of the history of research and the environment. It considers the pioneers of ozone research and looks at the current risks caused by the hole in the ozone layer and climate change. The book tells the story in chronological order, but each chapter can be read in isolation.

Thoroughly updated new edition of this undergraduate textbook examines environmental pollution from our homes to the global environment.

This groundbreaking study of environmental assessment “provides an essential examination of the factors that shape and dictate our climate policy” (Choice). Discerning Experts reexamines the assessments that many governments rely on to help guide environmental policy and action. Through their close look at reports involving acid rain, ozone depletion, and sea level rise, the authors explore how experts deliberate and decide on the scientific facts about problems like climate change. They also seek to understand how the scientists involved make the judgments they do, how the organization and management of assessment activities affects those judgments, and how expertise is identified and constructed. Discerning Experts uncovers factors that can generate systematic bias and error, and recommends how the process can be improved. As the first study of the internal workings of large environmental assessments, this book reveals their strengths and weaknesses, and explains what assessments can—and cannot—be expected to contribute to public policy and the common good.

This book underscores the re-emergence of the ozone hole problem and deals with it in its current context of exacerbating global warming. It traces the history of the ozone hole from the stage of formation of the stratospheric ozone ‘layer’, millions of years ago, into the late 20th century when the anthropogenic destruction of that ozone was discovered. The chapters are written to bring the the reader up to the present day. Factors that influence stratospheric ozone are discussed and the ways to halt ozone depletion are cataloged. And more complex interrelationships are being discovered between ozone depletion and two other global concerns: climate change and ocean acidification. This book sheds light on the intricacy of the situation and its portants. The book will be useful to students and researchers looking for a current overview of the ozone hole problem. div