Case Study: Ozone Depletion

Beyond being a concern of scientists, stratospheric ozone depletion has been a topic of great interest to others. In the case of the general public, few scientific issues have so thoroughly become a topic of household conversation and classroom study. Stratospheric ozone turned out to be the issue upon which the leaders of the world's governments would "cut their teeth" when it came to addressing global scientific concerns.

At every step of the way, Aeronomy Laboratory scientists have been there: "doing the science," helping to assess the state of scientific understanding from the many studies of the international community of researchers, and communicating the scientific findings to those who want and need the information. The entire process can best be described as "science in the service of society..."

The Process of Providing "End-to-End Service" at the Aeronomy Laboratory:

Laying the Scientific Foundation
Helping Assess the "State of the Science"
Communicating Scientific Information to the Customer

Laying the Scientific Foundation

Among the hundreds of researchers around the world who have studied the stratosphere, Aeronomy Laboratory scientists have played prominent roles in understanding the connection between the health of the ozone layer, 15 miles above our heads, and the activities of humankind.

In research spanning three decades, the Aeronomy Lab has studied the chemistry and physics of the Earth's stratosphere. A large fraction of that work has been concerned with the study of the ozone layer and the processes by which it is being depleted. The work has involved many individual scientists and has yielded many significant scientific accomplishments, among them:

identification, in laboratory and theoretical modeling studies, of the key reactions that occur in the atmosphere and that influence stratospheric ozone
design and construction of instruments for making observations of the important trace gases that affect the ozone layer, including the first observations of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the stratosphere
formulating the theory (later proven to be correct) of how CFCs cause the Antarctic ozone hole via ice/surface chemistry
leading major ground-based and airborne field campaigns to Antarctic (in 1986 and 1987) that provided the first definitive evidence of the role of human-made CFCs in creating the ozone hole

NOZE I research photo
A NOAA researcher makes observations of chlorine-containing gases during the 1986 National Ozone Expedition (NOZE) in Antarctica.

leading major international field campaigns to study ozone depletion in polar and midlatitude regions
studying the suitability of industry-proposed "substitute" chemicals for the chlorofluorocarbons (whether they are "ozone friendly" and "climate friendly")

These are but a few examples of the scientific contributions of the Aeronomy Laboratory. The next steps go "beyond doing the science"...

Helping Assess the "State of the Science"

Since the 1970s, scientists around the world (including many located at the Aeronomy Lab) have studied the problem of ozone depletion, learning more and more about its causes, its extent, and the potential future losses. With the results of many independent studies mounting in the literature, an important step is for scientists to "take stock" of the accumulated information on a periodic basis, asking two fundamental questions:

What do we know about ozone depletion?

and

What don't we yet understand about ozone depletion?

Unlike any other previous scientific issue, there is a mechanism for doing this in the case of ozone depletion. Put in place by the 1987 United Nations agreement known as the "Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer," this is a process whereby the Nations of the world have called upon the international scientific community to periodically assess the "state-of-the-science" on ozone depletion. Every three to four years, under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world's leading experts produce a written document presenting the consensus view of the scientific "big picture." The latest assessment was conducted in 1998 (previous reports were in 1985, 1989, 1991, and 1994). The 2002 assessment is currently in preparation and is expected to be published in early 2003.

1998 Assessment cover WMO/UNEP Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 1998 Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project - Report No. 44, World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 1999. ISBN 92-807-1722-7. (Executive Summary of this document)

Aeronomy Laboratory scientists have contributed to all aspects of the Assessment:

the Aeronomy Laboratory Director, Dr. Daniel L. Albritton, has served as co-chair of the entire assessment for the 1988, 1991, 1994, and 1998 reports (he and co-chair Dr. Robert T. Watson, of the White House Office and Science and Technology Policy, were awarded the 1995 United Nations Environment Programme Ozone Award for their contributions in chairing the assessments)
Aeronomy Lab scientists have served as lead authors and co-authors of the chapters of the document
Aeronomy Lab scientists have provided mail reviews of the document
Aeronomy Lab scientists have served as Panel Review Members of the document
the Aeronomy Lab edited, produced, and distributed the 1994 and 1998 assessments
an Aeronomy Lab scientist, Dr. Susan Solomon, served as a Coordinator of the special section, "Common Questions About Ozone" in the 1994 assessment

The next scientific assessment will be published sometime in early 2003.

Communicating Scientific Information to the Customer

Individuals and groups needing the scientific information about ozone depletion cover a wide range-- from schoolchildren to Congress; industry leaders to concerned citizens; international negotiators to scientists-- and the Aeronomy Laboratory works to communicate that information to all of those groups.

To Scientists. Aeronomy Laboratory scientists publish their work in the peer-reviewed literature. The results appear in Journal of Geophysical Research, Geophysical Research Letters, Science, Nature, Journal of Climate, Journal of Physical Chemistry, Journal of Atmospheric Science, and numerous other journals. The scientists attend national and international meetings to present their work, among them the Fall and Spring Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, meetings of the American Chemical Society and the American Meteorological Society, and many others.
To International Negotiators. Periodic assessments, prepared and reviewed by hundreds of experts in the international scientific and technical community, are the primary resource of international negotiators who represent the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The assessments present the latest scientific, environmental, technical, and economic findings, and on that basis and other information the negotiators consider periodic updates to the original Montreal Protocol of 1987. Amendments and/or adjustments have occurred as a result of three subsequent meetings (London, Copenhagen, and Vienna) that were linked in each case to the issuance of updated assessments of the science, environmental impacts, and technology and economics:

Together with colleagues from around the nation and world, Aeronomy Lab scientists have played prominent roles in coordinating, preparing, and reviewing the scientific assessments. In addition, the Director of the Aeronomy Lab, Daniel L. Albritton, serves as scientific consultant to the United Nations Environment Programme during the international Montreal Protocol Meetings.
To Government Leaders. Beyond the international agreements, government leaders are faced with national decisions about the protection of the ozone layer. They formulate their policies based on the latest "state-of-the-science" assessments of the international scientific community (see section above) and other information. In the United States, for example, the Clean Air Act and its amendments contain even stronger provisions than the Montreal Protocol, accelerating the phaseout schedules for some ozone-depleting chemicals. Aeronomy Lab scientists also give briefings to government leaders and Congressional staffers to update them on the latest scientific findings.
To Industry Leaders. The phaseout of the most ozone-damaging molecules (chlorofluorocarbons and halons) has led to development of a new "zoo" of replacement compounds and alternatives, each of which must be evaluated for its effects upon the atmosphere. The Aeronomy Lab has recognized this need from both our industrial customers and policymakers, and has become the "honest broker" of information about the ozone-friendliness of the halocarbon alternatives.
To the General Public. Aeronomy Laboratory scientists communicate their understanding of ozone depletion to a very interested general public. The methods are numerous, among them: talks to local groups and schools; preparation of materials for use by schools and the general public; presentations at local community science festivals; filming of general-audience videos; interviews with journalists for television, radio, or print articles about ozone depletion; and responses to individual inquiries or requests for information.

This case study has focused on stratospheric ozone and the Montreal Protocol. Analogous activities are occurring in two other major topic areas of the Aeronomy Laboratory: regional air quality (scientific assessment published in 2000 under the auspices of the North American Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone [NARSTO]) and climate change (scientific assessment published in 2001 under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC]).

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