Ozone layer recovering but still needs protection – DENR

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has urged the public to continue taking preventive steps to help protect the ozone layer even if there are indications that it is slowly recovering from depletion.

DENR Secretary Ramon Paje said one simple yet effective measure that people can take part in to save the thin ozone layer, which shields the earth from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays from the sun, is to prevent from using products containing or manufactured with ozone-depleting substances (ODS).

Citing scientific measures, it showed that ozone layer is healing itself and is expected to recover by the middle of this century, probably during the period 2050-2075, Paje pointed out.

“This could be realized if all of us will cooperate to stop patronizing ODS and ODScontaining products,” he said.

He also urged the public to patronize repair shops that hire qualified and wellequipped technicians to repair and service appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners that still contain ODS.

The DENR chief made the call as the Philippines joins the rest of the world in celebrating the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16, with the theme: “30 Years of Healing the Ozone Together.”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.

The Convention, put into force in 1985, is a framework agreement in which the parties agree to cooperate in relevant research and scientific assessments of the ozone problem, exchange information, and adopt appropriate measures to prevent activities that harm the ozone layer.

It laid the foundation for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer designed to regulate the production and consumption of ODS.

Examples of ODS are chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloroform, methyl bromide, and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). These chemicals are commonly found in aerosol products, foams and fire extinguishers, and are used as refrigerants and in air-conditioning and cooling equipment.

DENR Assistant Secretary and concurrent Environmental Management Bureau Director Juan Miguel Cuna explained that under the Montreal Protocol, parties commit to phase out ODS based on specific time schedules.

Asaresult,theparties,includingthePhilippines have so far collectively phased out 98 percent of the ODSexceptHCFCs,whicharetheremainingODS group that is being eliminated, Cuna added.

According to a 2014 study commissioned by the United Nations (UN), the ozone layer is showing early signs of thickening after years of depletion and that the ozone hole appearing annually over Antartica had also stopped growing bigger every year.

UN scientists claimed the recovery was entirely due to political determination to phase out the man-made greenhouse gases destroying the ozone.

Cuna said the recovering ozone layer still needs protection especially amid concerns about the potential alternatives to HCFCs.

He added that the most common alternatives to HCFCs are hydroflourocarbons or HFCs that have been determined to be potent greenhouse gases.

“The parties to the Montreal Protocol are presently cooperating with experts, industry and other sectors to evaluate these alternatives and identify those that would have the most climate benefits and the least toxicity and flammability characteristics for adoption by industry and other end-users,” he said.