Chau Vu, Yen Ho, Diem Le
16 April 2014
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
Ozone Depletion
Sections
SECTION 1 – Ozone
Depletion
M
Montreal Protocol
Ground-level Ozone vs.
Stratospheric Ozone
Solutions to ground level ozone
Solutions to the hole in the ozone
SECTION 2 - Causes of Global
Climate Change
Ground-level Ozone vs. Stratospheric
Greenhouse Gasses
Ozone
EPA’s regulated air pollutants
El Nino & La Nina
Major Types of Fuel Types
SECTION 3 - Effects of Global
Climate Change
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone Layer was adopted in 1987 as an international treaty
to eliminate the production and consumption of ozonedepleting chemicals. A subsequent amendment created the
Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal
Protocol, becoming the first of the multilateral environmental
agreements to establish a financial mechanism for
implementation.
The Montreal Protocol's ultimate success will be based on
having created an enduring global commitment to stop
producing and consuming substances that deplete the ozone
layer. This commitment must be maintained across
boundaries and by all peoples of the world. The
sustainability of our efforts requires empowered partners for
technical innovation, policy implementation and project
management.
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Climate Change (example of
Positive Feedback Loops)
Industrial vs. Photochemical
Smog
Temperature Changes
Changes in Precipitation
Sea Level Changes
Changes in Global Ice
Changes in Biota
Proxy Indicators
SECTION 4 - Solutions to Climate
Change
Kyoto Protocol
Carbon Offsets
Major Types of Renewable Fuel
Types
Chau Vu, Yen Ho, Diem Le
16 April 2014
Ground-level Ozone vs. Stratospheric Ozone
Stratospheric
In the stratosphere the protective
natural layer of ozone is formed by
oxygen (O2) in the presence of
ultraviolet radiation. Most of the
ozone in the upper atmosphere is in a
20-kilometre-thick layer lying
between 15 km to 35 km above the
earth's surface. Even at this height,
industrial pollutants are reaching and
depleting the ozone. The major
ozone-depleting substances are
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons,
methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide
(N2O). Chlorofluorocarbons are used in
refrigeration, foam blowing, solvents
and specialized aerosol propellants.
Halons are similar to
chlorofluorocarbons and are used in fire
extinguishers. Methane is a product of
agricultural, industrial and mining
activities while nitrous oxide is from
combustion and fertilizer use. In the
stratosphere the ozone layer absorbs and
filters the sun's ultraviolet rays,
protecting the earth from harmful
radiation. Scientists report a thinning of
this shield. In some areas, such as in the
Antarctic, "holes" have appeared. As the
ozone shield thins, more ultraviolet rays
will penetrate causing a variety of
concerns. Many crops, including most of
the world's major food sources - wheat,
rice, corn and soya beans - are particularly
sensitive to ultraviolet radiation and will
be damaged. In the oceans, aquatic life
near the surface, including fish, will be
damaged. Even industrial materials such as
plastics and paints are susceptible,
becoming yellow and brittle. Increased
ultraviolet radiation affects humans too,
causing sunburn, skin cancer, eye aging
and suppression of the immune system. If
stratospheric ozone is depleted, more
ultraviolet radiation will reach ground
level to add to and increase undesirable
ground-level ozone and photochemical
smog.
Ground Level
At ground level, ozone is formed when
nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) react in the presence
of sunlight. Burning of fossil fuels is a
major man-made cause of nitrogen oxides,
while use of motor vehicles, solvents, and
industrial processes in the petrochemical
industry are sources of volatile organic
compounds.
These man-made emissions are more
concentrated in urban and industrialized
areas. Some ground-level ozone is actually
transported down from the stratosphere;
some comes from reactions of naturally
occurring volatile organic compounds and
nitrogen oxides in sunlight. Smog has wideranging effects. This brown haze has the
greatest impact on the air quality in urban
areas. It can affect human health and corrode
buildings and machinery. Smog produces
eye, nose and throat irritations and in the
short term can cause coughing, chest pain
and other respiratory discomforts. Over the
long term, continuous exposure to groundlevel ozone can damage lung tissue and
contribute to chronic lung disease and reduce
life expectancy. Agricultural crops such as
wheat, alfalfa, corn and beans are also prone
to damage from smog when concentrations
are consistently above the Canadian
objective level. Leaves are damaged and
growth reduced; susceptibility to insects and
disease increases. Smog also accelerates the
deterioration of rubber products. Groundlevel ozone is a greenhouse gas and part of
the complex inter-relationship affecting air
quality. Higher concentrations will contribute
to global warming and, in time, a warmer
climate might lead to even greater ozone
production.
SOLUTIONS
 You have a role to play to avoid any catastrophic outcomes. Each
one of us is expected to follow the following guidelines.
 Electronic appliances emit CFC even when they are not in use. So
always unplug the electronic instruments when they are not in use.
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
Prefer to walk and as far as possible, avoid using vehicles. Simple
measures like using public transportation instead of your own
private vehicle or carpooling will help in the long run.

Prefer buying energy-efficient appliances like fluorescent bulbs.

Plant trees, as they absorb UV rays greatly and thus protect the
environment.

Replace your old refrigerators and air conditioners as they are the
major contributors of CFC in the atmosphere.

Avoid or restrict the use of insecticides and pesticides.
Chau Vu, Yen Ho, Diem Le
16 April 2014
Effects of Global Climate Change
Climate Change as an example of Positive Feedback
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Climate Change is the change in global climate patterns
apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards,
attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric
carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.
Scientists are aware of a number of positive feedbacks
loops in the climate system. One example is melting ice.
Because ice is light-colored and reflective, a large
proportion of the sunlight that hits it is bounced back to
space, which limits the amount of warming it causes. But
as the world gets hotter, ice melts, revealing the darkercolored land or water below. The result is that more of
the sun's energy is absorbed, leading to more warming,
which in turn leads to more ice melting and so on.
Industrial vs. Photochemical Smog
Industries are economic activity that is concerned with
the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods
in factories. Industries are a particular form or branch of
commercial or economic activity. Industries include all
types of businesses in any region or area. Industry is a
blanket term for groups of businesses. Examples of
industries are agriculture, legal, health care, education,
sports, and banking. Other industries include defense,
department stores, gas stations, manufacturing, retail,
entertainment, and technology. Smog is a type of air
pollution. Smog is a mixture of smoke and fog. Smog
usually forms when smoke from pollution mixes with
fog. For example, London, England, is often very foggy.
Most people in London used to heat their homes by
burning coal. The coal made lots of smoke, which mixed
with fog to form smog. London used to have a lot of
smog.
Temperature Changes
One of the most common temperature changes in a real
world is our body temperature. When we have some
infections or viral infections, our cells reacts to the
foreign substance and fighting it in order to maintain the
homeostasis. As a result, the immune system will signal
the brain to increase the body temperature thus causing us
to be warmer. Antipyretics on the other hand are
medicine used to lower down the temperature of the
body. Antipyretics will signal the hypothalamus to
control the increased in temperature thus making the
fever goes down.
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Chau Vu, Yen Ho, Diem Le
Changes in Precipitation
There is a direct influence of
global warming on precipitation.
Increased heating leads to
greater evaporation and thus
surface
drying,
thereby
increasing the intensity and
duration of drought. However,
the water holding capacity of air
increases by about 7% per 1°C
warming,
which
leads
to
increased water vapor in the
atmosphere. Hence, storms,
whether
individual
thunderstorms,
extratropical
rain or snow storms, or tropical
cyclones,
supplied
with
increased moisture, produce
more
intense
precipitation
events. With warming, more
precipitation occurs as rain
instead of snow and snow melts
earlier, there is increased runoff
and risk of flooding in early
spring, but increased risk of
drought in summer, especially
over continental areas. However,
with more precipitation per unit
of upward motion in the
atmosphere, i.e. ‘more bang for
the
buck’,
atmospheric
circulation weakens, causing
monsoons to falter. In the tropics
and subtropics, precipitation
patterns are dominated by shifts
as sea surface temperatures
change, with El Niño a good
example.
Changes in Global Ice
Global climate change has
already had observable effects
on the environment. Glaciers
have shrunk, ice on rivers and
lakes is breaking up earlier plant
and animal ranges have shifted
and trees are flowering sooner.
Effects
that
scientist
had
predicted in the past would
result from global climate
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16 April 2014
change are now occurring: loss
of sea ice, accelerated sea level
rise and longer, more intense
heat waves. Scientists have high
confidence
that
global
temperatures will continue to
rise for decades to come, largely
due to greenhouse gasses
produced by human activities.
The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), which
includes more than 1,300
scientists from the United States
and other countries, forecasts a
temperature rise of 2.5 to 10
degrees Fahrenheit over the next
century. These drivers in turn
affect the environment and biota.
Globally, it is expected that
climate change will have impacts
on productivity, distribution and
the timing of seasonal events.
Warmer water cannot hold as
much oxygen. When levels of
dissolved oxygen become too
low for biota, the condition is
called hypoxia, and that lower
threshold depends on the
species.
Changes in Biota
For example, there is an impact
on growth and abundance of cod
below 70% oxygen saturation
level (Ekau et al. 2010; see refs in
Gilbert et al. 2005. Warmer water
cannot hold as much oxygen.
When levels of dissolved oxygen
become too low for biota, the
condition is called hypoxia, and
that lower threshold depends on
the species. For example, there is
an impact on growth and
abundance of cod below 70%
oxygen saturation level (Ekau et
al. 2010; see refs in Gilbert et al.
2005. For example, the 1950s was
one of the warmest decades in
the 20th century for air and
ocean temperature in the Scotia
Shelf region while the 1960s was
one of the coldest.
Sea Level
Changes
It is not only small island
states that need to worry
about sea level rise. Sea
level rise increases the
risk of both temporary
and permanent flooding
of coastal lands. Around
23% of the worlds’
population lives in the
near coastal zone with
population
densities
about three times higher
than the global average.
Chau Vu, Yen Ho, Diem Le
Trends estimated from time series starting in the 1950s
may be very different from those estimated from those
starting in the 1960s. Caution needs to be used in
interpretations of the limited existing ocean datasets with
regard to their implications for future change.
Ocean sediment
Ocean sediments also offer high-resolution archives of
climate, applying similar methods as those used in lake
sediments. However, annually laminated sediments are
not usual. Otherwise, sedimentation rates may still be
enough to provide information on a century or millennial
scale, based on radiocarbon or other external dating,
such as volcanic ash shards. The range of variables that
can be determined in marine beds is similar to that of
continental lakes: sedimentology, stable isotopes in
shells and organic matter, chemical analysis, pollen
records.
16 April 2014
since the onset of agriculture. Thus, during great part of the
Holocene, pollen data might have too human-derived noise to
provide reliable climatic information, although still giving
useful information about the landscape (Committee on abrupt
climate change 2002; Lebreton et al. 2004). Indeed, most
pollen assemblages for the last two millennia reveal clear
symptoms of anthropogenic disturbance, such as the
abundance of pollen from cereals and other crops, and the
spread of ruderal species.
Coral
Annual growths of coral skeletons provide palaeo
environmental information for tropical and sub-tropical
oceans and atmosphere. For example, they have the
potential to sample variations in regions sensitive to El
Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) which can be useful
to resolve large-scale patterns of climate (Folland et
al. 2001). Accurate age estimates are possible for most
sites using a combination of annual variations in skeletal
density
and
geochemical
parameters.
Palaeo
environmental reconstructions from corals rely mostly
on geochemical variables, such as trace elements or
stable isotopes.
Pollen
The particular biochemical composition of pollen grains
makes them relatively resistant to chemical, biological
and physical damage. Consequently, pollen grains may
survive millions of years in a large variety of
sedimentary environments: peat bogs, lake and marine
beds, several kinds of loose terrestrial sediments, and
even in consolidated rocks (for example in stalagmites).
As pollen deposition, for a given species, is expected to
be proportional to its abundance, palynologists are able
to reconstruct past vegetation from the study of fossil
pollen assemblages. Furthermore, and provided a good
knowledge of the ecological range of a given taxa,
functional group or plant community, it has been
possible to derive climatic information from pollen data
(Lebreton et
al. 2004;
López-Sáez et
al. 2003).
Nevertheless, it should be noted that anthropogenic
influence on vegetation has increased exponentially
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Chau Vu, Yen Ho, Diem Le
The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the
United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate
Change
(UNFCCC),
an
international treaty intended to bring
countries together to reduce global
warming and to cope with the effects of
temperature increases that are unavoidable
after 150 years of industrialization. The
provisions of the Kyoto Protocol are legally
binding on the ratifying nations, and
stronger than those of the UNFCCC.
16 April 2014
Cons
Arguments against the Kyoto Protocol generally fall into three
categories: it demands too much; it achieves too little; or it is
unnecessary.
In rejecting the Kyoto Protocol, which 178 other nations had accepted,
President Bush claimed that the treaty requirements would harm the
U.S. economy, leading to economic losses of $400 billion and costing
4.9 million jobs. Bush also objected to the exemption for developing
nations. The president’s decision brought heavy criticism from U.S.
allies and environmental groups in the U.S. and around the world.
Countries that ratify the Kyoto Protocol
agree to reduce emissions of six greenhouse
gases that contribute to global warming:
carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs and PFCs. The
countries are allowed to use emissions
trading to meet their obligations if they
maintain or increase their greenhouse gas
emissions. Emissions trading allow nations
that can easily meet their targets to sell
credits to those that cannot.
Pros
Advocates of the Kyoto Protocol claim that
reducing greenhouse gas emissions is an
essential step in slowing or reversing global
warming, and that immediate multinational
collaboration is needed if the world is to
have any serious hope of preventing
devastating climate changes.
Scientists agree that even a small increase in
the average global temperature would lead
to significant climate and weather changes,
and profoundly affect plant, animal and
human life on Earth.
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Chau Vu, Yen Ho, Diem Le
16 April 2014
Carbon Offsets
A carbon offset is a credit for greenhouse gas reductions achieved by one party that can be
purchased and used to compensate (offset) the emissions of another party. Carbon offsets are
typically measured in tonnes of CO2-equivalents (or CO2e) and are bought and sold through a
number of international brokers, online retailers and trading platforms. Because it can be difficult
for offset buyers to get clear answers to each of the above questions, a good way to ensure that
your offset purchase is making a positive contribution to the climate is to purchase offsets that
meet recognized standards. Just as consumers can feel confident when purchasing food products
that meet strict third-party standards for organic agriculture, standards for carbon offsets provide
assurance that certain criteria are met when the offset is developed and sold. The Gold Standard
is restricted to offset projects in countries that don't have emission reduction targets under the
Kyoto Protocol, primarily developing countries. Supporting offset projects that meet The Gold
Standard therefore helps these countries leapfrog developed countries technologically so they
don't go down the same fossil-fuel path, which would be disastrous for the climate.
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