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Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi pollution Latest News: वायु प्रदूषण के साथ दिल्ली-एनसीआर के लिए खतरे की घंटी बना ओजोन प्रदूषण

नई दिल्ली [संजीव गुप्ता]। वायु प्रदूषण के बाद ओजोन प्रदूषण भी दिल्ली एनसीआर के लिए खतरे की घंटी बजा रहा है। अब यह भी सिर्फ गर्मियों में ही नहीं बल्कि सर्दियों में भी बढ़ने लगा है। सेंटर फार साइंस एंड एन्वायरमेंट (सीएसई) ने शुक्रवार को जारी किए गए अपने विश्लेषण में पाया है कि यह गैस सर्दियों के दौरान भी समान रूप से मजबूत चिंता के रूप में उभरी है। सीएसई की कार्यकारी निदेशक अनुमिता राय चौधरी कहती हैं, ''ओजोन अब साल भर चलने वाली समस्या है जिसके लिए स्वच्छ वायु कार्यक्रमों पर तत्काल ध्यान देने की जरूरत है। उन्होंने कहा कि ओजोन एक अत्यधिक प्रतिक्रियाशील गैस है। यहां तक कि अल्पकालिक जोखिम भी श्वसन की स्थिति को बढ़ा सकता है जिससे आपातकालीन अस्पताल में प्रवेश हो सकता है। सीएसई के सस्टेनेबल सिटीज प्रोग्राम की अर्बन लैब टीम के प्रोग्राम मैनेजर अविकल सोमवंशी कहते हैं, विश्लेषण से पता चलता है कि सर्दियों के महीनों में भी ओजोन मानकों को पूरा नहीं करने वाले दिनों की संख्या बढ़ने लगी है, जिससे सर्दियों का स्माग और अधिक जहरीला हो गया है। मूल्यांकन में जुलाई 2018 और जुलाई 2021 के बीच विभिन्न मौसमों - गर्मी (मार्च-जून), सर्दी (अक्टूबर-फरवरी) और मानसून (जुलाई-सितंबर) के दौरान रुझानों का पता लगाया गया है। Ads by Jagran.TV पूरी पिंक लाइन पर दौड़ेंगी ट्रेनें; नजफगढ़ से आगे जाएगी मेट्रो Delhi Metro: 6 अगस्त को यात्रियों को मिलने जा रही बड़ी सौगात, केंद्रीय मंत्री और सीएम केजरीवाल करेंगे उद्घाटन यह भी पढ़ें विश्लेषण की मुख्य बातें दिल्ली में ''अच्छे'' श्रेणी के दिनों (दैनिक आठ घंटे की एकाग्रता मानक से 50 फीसद नीचे) में गिरावट शुरू हो गई है। 2020 में दिल्ली में 115 ''अच्छे'' दिन थे, जो 2019 की तुलना में 24 दिन कम थे। ओजोन निर्माण एक अति-स्थानीय घटना है। दो पड़ोसी स्टेशनों के बीच ओजोन स्तरों में 100 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर का अंतर हो सकता है। 27 अप्रैल 2021 को दिल्ली में स्थानों के बीच 150 माइक्रोग्राम/घन मीटर तक भिन्नता देखी गई, जबकि यमुना से सटे क्षेत्रों, लुटियन दिल्ली और पश्चिमी दिल्ली ने कम ओजोन स्तर दिखा। दक्षिणी, मध्य और उत्तरी दिल्ली में उच्च स्तर दर्ज किया गया।

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone Becoming More Widespread In Delhi-NCR Across All Seasons: Study

New Delhi, Jul 30 (PTI) Ozone, a highly reactive gas and dangerous for those suffering from respiratory conditions and asthma, is becoming more widespread in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) across all seasons, according to a new analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released on Friday. The analysis said that contrary to the notion that ozone, produced photochemically from interaction between gases in the presence of sunlight, is predominantly a summer phenomenon, the gas has emerged as an equally strong concern during winter as well. "Ozone is now a round-the-year problem requiring urgent attention of clean air programmes," said CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury. "The risk from it is often not well understood, as the current regulatory practice of spatially averaging the data from all monitoring stations blunts the curve, and underestimates the magnitude of threat from the worst affected locations and also during different seasons. "As ozone is a highly reactive gas and even short-term exposure can aggravate respiratory conditions leading to emergency hospital admission, it requires a different approach to risk assessment and communication," she added. Another expert said that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards is increasing even in winters. "This analysis shows that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards has begun to increase even during winter months, making the winter smog more toxic," said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE's Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. The assessment has traced trends during different seasons – summer (March-June), winter (October-February) and monsoon (July-September), between 2018 and July 18, 2021. It said that the eight-hourly standard for ground-level ozone exceeded at least in one station in Delhi on 290 days in 2020, which is up by 30 days compared to 2019 and 26 days more than 2018. This year has already recorded 169 days of exceedance, an increase of 21 days for the same period last year, the analysis revealed, adding that in the NCR, Gurugram saw the maximum jump in number of exceedance days between 2019 and 2020 -- its tally of 201 days in 2020 was an increase by over 300 per cent from previous year. "Noida also registered a 54 per cent jump. Faridabad recorded no change between 2019 and 2020. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida saw a decline, with the latter showing the biggest drop of 28 per cent. Meerut does not have adequate data for 2019 to carry out comparative trend analysis, but with 109 days of exceedance in 2020, it was the least polluted major city in the NCR," it said. The CSE said that granular real time data (15-minute averages) have been sourced from the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) official online portal Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. "The data has been captured from 81 official stations under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) spread across Delhi-NCR (40 stations in Delhi, four each in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, three in Meerut, and two in Greater Noida while 20 smaller towns in NCR have one station)," it said. From this station-level data, the analysis has calculated the trends in terms of the number of days when the daily level has exceeded the eight-hour standard. According to the CSE, the city-wide average largely remains within the standard with just occasional exceedances. "But even from this yardstick, the 'good' category days (50 per cent below the daily eight-hour concentration standard) have started declining in Delhi. In 2020, Delhi had 115 'good' days, which was 24 days less than in 2019," it said. According to location-wise analysis, exceedance of the eight-hour average standard is quite widely distributed in the city, the CSE said. "The methodology used here is consistent with the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) method of considering the highest concentration among all the monitors within each reporting area," it said. The analysis found that ozone build-up is a hyper-local phenomenon as there can be 100 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) difference in ozone levels between two neighbouring stations. "On April 27, 2021 Delhi saw variations as high as 150 µg/m3 between locations. While areas adjoining Yamuna, Lutyen's Delhi and west Delhi showed low ozone levels, south, central, and north Delhi recorded higher levels, south-east Delhi had the highest levels that day. "At the moment, it is not possible to compute the peak pollution in the city as the data that is available from CPCB is capped at 200 µg/m3. This also makes daily AQI reporting ineffective," said Somvanshi. PTI AG ZMN ZMN

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone becoming more widespread in Delhi-NCR across all seasons Study

Ozone, a highly reactive gas and dangerous for those suffering from respiratory conditions and asthma, is becoming more widespread in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) across all seasons, according to a new analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released on Friday. The analysis said that contrary to the notion that ozone, produced photochemically from interaction between gases in the presence of sunlight, is predominantly a summer phenomenon, the gas has emerged as an equally strong concern during winter as well. "Ozone is now a round-the-year problem requiring urgent attention of clean air programmes," said CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury. "The risk from it is often not well understood, as the current regulatory practice of spatially averaging the data from all monitoring stations blunts the curve, and underestimates the magnitude of threat from the worst affected locations and also during different seasons. "As ozone is a highly reactive gas and even short-term exposure can aggravate respiratory conditions leading to emergency hospital admission, it requires a different approach to risk assessment and communication," she added. Another expert said that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards is increasing even in winters. "This analysis shows that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards has begun to increase even during winter months, making the winter smog more toxic," said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE's Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. The assessment has traced trends during different seasons – summer (March-June), winter (October-February) and monsoon (July-September), between 2018 and July 18, 2021. It said that the eight-hourly standard for ground-level ozone exceeded at least in one station in Delhi on 290 days in 2020, which is up by 30 days compared to 2019 and 26 days more than 2018. This year has already recorded 169 days of exceedance, an increase of 21 days for the same period last year, the analysis revealed, adding that in the NCR, Gurugram saw the maximum jump in number of exceedance days between 2019 and 2020 -- its tally of 201 days in 2020 was an increase by over 300 per cent from previous year. "Noida also registered a 54 per cent jump. Faridabad recorded no change between 2019 and 2020. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida saw a decline, with the latter showing the biggest drop of 28 per cent. Meerut does not have adequate data for 2019 to carry out comparative trend analysis, but with 109 days of exceedance in 2020, it was the least polluted major city in the NCR," it said. The CSE said that granular real time data (15-minute averages) have been sourced from the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) official online portal Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. "The data has been captured from 81 official stations under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) spread across Delhi-NCR (40 stations in Delhi, four each in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, three in Meerut, and two in Greater Noida while 20 smaller towns in NCR have one station)," it said. From this station-level data, the analysis has calculated the trends in terms of the number of days when the daily level has exceeded the eight-hour standard. According to the CSE, the city-wide average largely remains within the standard with just occasional exceedances. "But even from this yardstick, the 'good' category days (50 per cent below the daily eight-hour concentration standard) have started declining in Delhi. In 2020, Delhi had 115 'good' days, which was 24 days less than in 2019," it said. According to location-wise analysis, exceedance of the eight-hour average standard is quite widely distributed in the city, the CSE said. "The methodology used here is consistent with the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) method of considering the highest concentration among all the monitors within each reporting area," it said. The analysis found that ozone build-up is a hyper-local phenomenon as there can be 100 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) difference in ozone levels between two neighbouring stations. "On April 27, 2021 Delhi saw variations as high as 150 µg/m3 between locations. While areas adjoining Yamuna, Lutyen's Delhi and west Delhi showed low ozone levels, south, central, and north Delhi recorded higher levels, south-east Delhi had the highest levels that day. "At the moment, it is not possible to compute the peak pollution in the city as the data that is available from CPCB is capped at 200 µg/m3. This also makes daily AQI reporting ineffective," said Somvanshi. PTI AG ZMN ZMN

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone becoming more widespread in Delhi-NCR across all seasons: Study

The evaluation stated that opposite to the notion that ozone, produced photochemically from interplay between gases within the presence of daylight, is predominantly a summer season phenomenon, the gasoline has emerged as an equally robust concern throughout winter as effectively. “Ozone is now a round-the-year downside requiring pressing consideration of unpolluted air programmes,” stated CSE government director Anumita Roychowdhury. “The danger from it’s usually not effectively understood, as the present regulatory observe of spatially averaging the info from all monitoring stations blunts the curve, and underestimates the magnitude of menace from the worst affected areas and in addition throughout completely different seasons.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

दिल्ली में अब पूरे साल ओजोन बन रही समस्या, क्लीन एयर पर जोर देने की जरूरत

ओजोन की समस्या अब दिल्ली-एनसीआर में सभी सीजन के दौरान देखने को मिल रही है। सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) की एक नई रिपोर्ट में यह दावा किया गया है। सीएसई की एग्जिक्यूजिव डायरेक्टर अनुमिता राय चौधरी ने कहा कि ओजोन अब पूरे साल की समस्या है। इसलिए क्लीन एयर प्रोग्राम में इस पर ध्यान देने की जरूरत है। उन्होंने कहा कि ओजोन एक रिएक्टिव गैस है, इसके संपर्क में कम समय रहने पर भी स्वास्थ्य संबंधी परेशानियां हो सकती हैं, जिसके लिए व्यक्ति को एडमिट तक करना पड़ सकता है। इसलिए इससे निपटने के लिए एक अलग अप्रोच की जरूरत है। कोरोना के बीच फिर बढ़ने लगा प्रदूषण ओजोन की मात्रा तय मानकों से अधिक सीएसई अर्बन लैब टीम के प्रोग्राम मैनेजर अविकल सोमवंशी ने बताया कि आकलन से पता चला है कि ऐसे दिनों की संख्या बढ़ रही है जब ओजोन की मात्रा तय मानकों से अधिक है। यह सर्दियों के दौरान भी बढ़ रही हैं, जिसकी वजह से सर्दियों का स्मॉग अधिक जहरीला बन रहा है। यह असेसमेंट गर्मियों के लिए मार्च से जून, सर्दियों के लिए अक्टूबर से फरवरी और मॉनसून के लिए जुलाई से सितंबर के बीच 2018 से 2021 के आंकड़ों पर किया गया है। Pollution News: 5 राज्यों के प्रदूषण पर NCAP की नजर, यूपी-हरियाणा की स्थिति सबसे ज्यादा खराब साउथ और ईस्ट दिल्ली में ओजोन लेवल सबसे अधिक सीएसई के आकलन के मुताबिक ओजोन के बढ़ने की वजह हाइपर लोकल हैं। इसलिए दो पड़ोसी जगहों के बीच भी इसके स्तर में काफी अंतर देखने को मिल रहा है। मसलन 27 अप्रैल 2021 को राजधानी के कई स्टेशनों के बीच काफी अधिक वैरिएशन मिला। इस दिन यमुना के आसपास, लुटियन जोन और वेस्ट दिल्ली में ओजोन का स्तर कम था। लेकिन वहीं साउथ, सेंट्रल और नार्थ दिल्ली में इसकी मात्रा अधिक दर्ज की गई। जबकि साउथ और ईस्ट दिल्ली में यह सबसे अधिक थी। Delhi Air Pollution LIVE: दिल्ली-NCR में आज भी प्रदूषण, दोपहर में भी छाया रहा स्मॉग एनसीआर में गुरुग्राम में सबसे अधिक बढ़ोतरी रिपोर्ट में दावा किया गया है कि 2020 में 290 दिन कम से कम एक जगह पर ओजोन का स्तर तय मानकों से अधिक मिला है। जबकि 2019 में यह 30 दिन और 2018 में 26 दिन था। 2021 में अभी तक यह संख्या 21 दिन है। जबकि एनसीआर में गुरुग्राम में सबसे अधिक बढ़ोतरी देखने को मिली है। यहां 2020 में 201 दिन ओजोन तय मानकों से अधिक रहा। यह 2019 के मुकाबले 300 प्रतिशत अधिक है। वहीं नोएडा में यह बढ़ोतरी 54 प्रतिशत रही। फरीदाबाद में कोई बदलाव नहीं हुआ जबकि गाजियाबाद और ग्रेटर नोएडा में 28 प्रतिशत की कमी दर्ज की गई। अगर छह स्टेशनों के आधार पर तुलना की जाए तो यह बढ़ोतरी 2019 की तुलना में 2020 में 30 प्रतिशत रही।

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone is becoming more and more prevalent in Delhi-NCR all year round: study

Ozone becoming more widespread in Delhi-NCR across all seasons: Study July 31, 2021 New Delhi, Jul 30 (PTI) Ozone, a highly reactive gas and dangerous for those suffering from respiratory conditions and asthma, is becoming more widespread in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) across all seasons, according to a new analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released on Friday. The analysis said that contrary to the notion that ozone, produced photochemically from interaction between gases in the presence of sunlight, is predominantly a summer phenomenon, the gas has emerged as an equally strong concern during winter as well. “Ozone is now a round-the-year problem requiring urgent attention of clean air programmes,” said CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury. “The risk from it is often not well understood, as the current regulatory practice of spatially averaging the data from all monitoring stations blunts the curve, and underestimates the magnitude of threat from the worst affected locations and also during different seasons. “As ozone is a highly reactive gas and even short-term exposure can aggravate respiratory conditions leading to emergency hospital admission, it requires a different approach to risk assessment and communication,” she added. Another expert said that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards is increasing even in winters. “This analysis shows that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards has begun to increase even during winter months, making the winter smog more toxic,” said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. The assessment has traced trends during different seasons summer (March-June), winter (October-February) and monsoon (July-September), between 2018 and July 18, 2021. It said that the eight-hourly standard for ground-level ozone exceeded at least in one station in Delhi on 290 days in 2020, which is up by 30 days compared to 2019 and 26 days more than 2018. This year has already recorded 169 days of exceedance, an increase of 21 days for the same period last year, the analysis revealed, adding that in the NCR, Gurugram saw the maximum jump in number of exceedance days between 2019 and 2020 — its tally of 201 days in 2020 was an increase by over 300 per cent from previous year. “Noida also registered a 54 per cent jump. Faridabad recorded no change between 2019 and 2020. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida saw a decline, with the latter showing the biggest drop of 28 per cent. Meerut does not have adequate data for 2019 to carry out comparative trend analysis, but with 109 days of exceedance in 2020, it was the least polluted major city in the NCR,” it said. The CSE said that granular real time data (15-minute averages) have been sourced from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) official online portal Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. “The data has been captured from 81 official stations under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) spread across Delhi-NCR (40 stations in Delhi, four each in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, three in Meerut, and two in Greater Noida while 20 smaller towns in NCR have one station),” it said. From this station-level data, the analysis has calculated the trends in terms of the number of days when the daily level has exceeded the eight-hour standard. According to the CSE, the city-wide average largely remains within the standard with just occasional exceedances. “But even from this yardstick, the ‘good’ category days (50 per cent below the daily eight-hour concentration standard) have started declining in Delhi. In 2020, Delhi had 115 ‘good’ days, which was 24 days less than in 2019,” it said. According to location-wise analysis, exceedance of the eight-hour average standard is quite widely distributed in the city, the CSE said. “The methodology used here is consistent with the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) method of considering the highest concentration among all the monitors within each reporting area,” it said. The analysis found that ozone build-up is a hyper-local phenomenon as there can be 100 micrograms per cubic metre ( g/m3) difference in ozone levels between two neighbouring stations. “On April 27, 2021 Delhi saw variations as high as 150 g/m3 between locations. While areas adjoining Yamuna, Lutyen’s Delhi and west Delhi showed low ozone levels, south, central, and north Delhi recorded higher levels, south-east Delhi had the highest levels that day. “At the moment, it is not possible to compute the peak pollution in the city as the data that is available from CPCB is capped at 200 g/m3. This also makes daily AQI reporting ineffective,” said Somvanshi.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone is becoming more and more prevalent in Delhi-NCR all year round: study

Ozone, a highly reactive and dangerous gas for people with respiratory disorders and asthma, is increasingly spreading in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) in all seasons, according to a new analysis from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) released Friday. The analysis indicated that contrary to the idea that ozone, photochemically produced from the interaction between gases in the presence of sunlight, is primarily a summer phenomenon, gas has also become an equally concern. strong in winter. “Ozone is now a recurring problem that requires urgent attention from clean air programs,” said CSE Executive Director Anumita Roychowdhury. “The resulting risk is often not fully understood, as the current regulatory practice of spatially averaging data from all monitoring stations blunts the curve and underestimates the magnitude of the threat from the most critical locations. most affected and also during the different seasons. “As ozone is a highly reactive gas and even short-term exposure can worsen respiratory conditions leading to emergency hospitalization, this requires a different approach to risk assessment and communication,” he said. -she adds. ALSO READ Warrant without bail against the wife of Congress leader Salman Khurshid Another expert said the number of days not meeting ozone standards is increasing even in winter. “This analysis shows that the number of non-ozone-compliant days has started to increase even during the winter months, making winter smog more toxic,” said Avikal Somvanshi, program manager at the team. Urban Lab of the CSE Sustainable Cities program. The assessment plotted trends during different seasons – summer (March-June), winter (October-February) and monsoon (July-September), between 2018 and July 18, 2021. He said the eight-hour standard for ground-level ozone exceeded at least one station in Delhi for 290 days in 2020, which is a 30-day increase from 2019 and 26 days more than in 2018. . This year has already recorded 169 days of exceedance, an increase of 21 days for the same period last year, the analysis revealed, adding that in the NCR, Gurugram has seen the number of days of exceedance increase to the maximum between 2019 and 2020 – his 201-day tally in 2020 was an increase of over 300% from the previous year. “Noida also registered a 54% jump. Faridabad saw no change between 2019 and 2020. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida saw a decline, with the latter posting the largest drop of 28%. ALSO READ Waiting for green light from India to send vaccine aid: United States Meerut does not have adequate data for 2019 to perform a comparative analysis of trends, but with 109 days exceeding in 2020, it was the least polluted large city in the NCR, “he said. The CSE said the real-time granular data (15-minute average) came from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) official online portal, Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. “Data was captured from 81 official stations as part of the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) spread over Delhi-NCR (40 stations in Delhi, four each in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, three in Meerut and two in Greater Noida while 20 small towns in the NCR have a station), “he said. From this station-level data, the analysis calculated trends in terms of the number of days the daily level exceeded the eight-hour standard. According to the CSE, the city-wide average remains well within the norm with occasional exceedances. “But even in this regard, the ‘good’ category days (50% below the eight-hour daily concentration standard) started to decrease in Delhi. In 2020, Delhi had 115 ‘good’ days, or 24 days. less than in 2019, “he said. ALSO READ Haryana officials dismantle locals-built Manohar Lal Khattar temple According to a location-based analysis, exceeding the eight-hour average standard is fairly widespread in the city, the CSE said. “The methodology used here is consistent with the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) method of considering the highest concentration among all monitors in each report area,” he said. he declares. The analysis revealed that the accumulation of ozone is a hyper-local phenomenon as there can be a difference of 100 micrograms per cubic meter (µg / m3) in the ozone levels between two neighboring stations. “On April 27, 2021, Delhi experienced variations of up to 150 µg / m3 between locations. While areas adjacent to Yamuna, Delhi from Lutyen and West Delhi had low levels of ozone, south, central and north Delhi recorded higher levels, southeast Delhi had the highest levels that day. “At the moment, it is not possible to calculate the pollution peak in the city because the data available from the CPCB is capped at 200 µg / m3. This also makes the daily AQI reports ineffective,” Mr. Somvanshi said. .

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone becoming more widespread in Delhi-NCR across all seasons: Study

Ozone, a highly reactive gas and dangerous for those suffering from respiratory conditions and asthma, is becoming more widespread in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) across all seasons, according to a new analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released on Friday. The analysis said that contrary to the notion that ozone, produced photochemically from interaction between gases in the presence of sunlight, is predominantly a summer phenomenon, the gas has emerged as an equally strong concern during winter as well. "Ozone is now a round-the-year problem requiring urgent attention of clean air programmes," said CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury. "The risk from it is often not well understood, as the current regulatory practice of spatially averaging the data from all monitoring stations blunts the curve, and underestimates the magnitude of threat from the worst affected locations and also during different seasons. "As ozone is a highly reactive gas and even short-term exposure can aggravate respiratory conditions leading to emergency hospital admission, it requires a different approach to risk assessment and communication," she added. Another expert said that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards is increasing even in winters. "This analysis shows that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards has begun to increase even during winter months, making the winter smog more toxic," said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE's Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. The assessment has traced trends during different seasons – summer (March-June), winter (October-February) and monsoon (July-September), between 2018 and July 18, 2021. It said that the eight-hourly standard for ground-level ozone exceeded at least in one station in Delhi on 290 days in 2020, which is up by 30 days compared to 2019 and 26 days more than 2018. This year has already recorded 169 days of exceedance, an increase of 21 days for the same period last year, the analysis revealed, adding that in the NCR, Gurugram saw the maximum jump in number of exceedance days between 2019 and 2020 -- its tally of 201 days in 2020 was an increase by over 300 per cent from previous year. "Noida also registered a 54 per cent jump. Faridabad recorded no change between 2019 and 2020. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida saw a decline, with the latter showing the biggest drop of 28 per cent. Meerut does not have adequate data for 2019 to carry out comparative trend analysis, but with 109 days of exceedance in 2020, it was the least polluted major city in the NCR," it said. The CSE said that granular real time data (15-minute averages) have been sourced from the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) official online portal Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. "The data has been captured from 81 official stations under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) spread across Delhi-NCR (40 stations in Delhi, four each in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, three in Meerut, and two in Greater Noida while 20 smaller towns in NCR have one station)," it said. From this station-level data, the analysis has calculated the trends in terms of the number of days when the daily level has exceeded the eight-hour standard. According to the CSE, the city-wide average largely remains within the standard with just occasional exceedances. "But even from this yardstick, the 'good' category days (50 per cent below the daily eight-hour concentration standard) have started declining in Delhi. In 2020, Delhi had 115 'good' days, which was 24 days less than in 2019," it said. According to location-wise analysis, exceedance of the eight-hour average standard is quite widely distributed in the city, the CSE said. "The methodology used here is consistent with the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) method of considering the highest concentration among all the monitors within each reporting area," it said. The analysis found that ozone build-up is a hyper-local phenomenon as there can be 100 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) difference in ozone levels between two neighbouring stations. "On April 27, 2021 Delhi saw variations as high as 150 µg/m3 between locations. While areas adjoining Yamuna, Lutyen's Delhi and west Delhi showed low ozone levels, south, central, and north Delhi recorded higher levels, south-east Delhi had the highest levels that day. "At the moment, it is not possible to compute the peak pollution in the city as the data that is available from CPCB is capped at 200 µg/m3. This also makes daily AQI reporting ineffective," said Somvanshi.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone Becoming More Widespread In Delhi-NCR Across All Seasons: Study

Ozone, a extremely reactive fuel and harmful for these affected by respiratory circumstances and bronchial asthma, is turning into extra widespread in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) throughout all seasons, in line with a brand new evaluation by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) launched on Friday. The evaluation stated that opposite to the notion that ozone, produced photochemically from interplay between gases within the presence of daylight, is predominantly a summer time phenomenon, the fuel has emerged as an equally robust concern throughout winter as effectively. “Ozone is now a round-the-year problem requiring urgent attention of clean air programmes,” stated CSE govt director Anumita Roychowdhury. “The risk from it is often not well understood, as the current regulatory practice of spatially averaging the data from all monitoring stations blunts the curve, and underestimates the magnitude of threat from the worst affected locations and also during different seasons. “As ozone is a extremely reactive fuel and even short-term publicity can irritate respiratory circumstances resulting in emergency hospital admission, it requires a distinct method to danger evaluation and communication,” she added. Another expert said that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards is increasing even in winters. “This evaluation exhibits that the variety of days not assembly the ozone requirements has begun to extend even throughout winter months, making the winter smog extra poisonous,” said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. The assessment has traced trends during different seasons – summer (March-June), winter (October-February) and monsoon (July-September), between 2018 and July 18, 2021. It said that the eight-hourly standard for ground-level ozone exceeded at least in one station in Delhi on 290 days in 2020, which is up by 30 days compared to 2019 and 26 days more than 2018. This year has already recorded 169 days of exceedance, an increase of 21 days for the same period last year, the analysis revealed, adding that in the NCR, Gurugram saw the maximum jump in number of exceedance days between 2019 and 2020 — its tally of 201 days in 2020 was an increase by over 300 per cent from previous year. “Noida additionally registered a 54 per cent leap. Faridabad recorded no change between 2019 and 2020. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida noticed a decline, with the latter exhibiting the most important drop of 28 per cent. Meerut doesn’t have satisfactory knowledge for 2019 to hold out comparative development evaluation, however with 109 days of exceedance in 2020, it was the least polluted main metropolis within the NCR,” it said. The CSE said that granular real time data (15-minute averages) have been sourced from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) official online portal Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. “The knowledge has been captured from 81 official stations below the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) unfold throughout Delhi-NCR (40 stations in Delhi, 4 every in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, three in Meerut, and two in Greater Noida whereas 20 smaller cities in NCR have one station),” it said. From this station-level data, the analysis has calculated the trends in terms of the number of days when the daily level has exceeded the eight-hour standard. According to the CSE, the city-wide average largely remains within the standard with just occasional exceedances. “But even from this yardstick, the “good” class days (50 per cent under the day by day eight-hour focus customary) have began declining in Delhi. In 2020, Delhi had 115 “good” days, which was 24 days lower than in 2019,” it said. According to location-wise analysis, exceedance of the eight-hour average standard is quite widely distributed in the city, the CSE said. “The methodology used right here is in line with the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) technique of contemplating the best focus amongst all of the displays inside every reporting space,” it said. The analysis found that ozone build-up is a hyper-local phenomenon as there can be 100 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) difference in ozone levels between two neighbouring stations. “On April 27, 2021 Delhi noticed variations as excessive as 150 µg/m3 between places. While areas adjoining Yamuna, Lutyen’s Delhi and west Delhi confirmed low ozone ranges, south, central, and north Delhi recorded greater ranges, south-east Delhi had the best ranges that day. “At the moment, it is not possible to compute the peak pollution in the city as the data that is available from CPCB is capped at 200 µg/m3. This also makes daily AQI reporting ineffective,” stated Mr Somvanshi.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone becoming more widespread in Delhi-NCR across all seasons: Study

The analysis said that contrary to the notion that ozone, produced photochemically from interaction between gases in the presence of sunlight, is predominantly a summer phenomenon, the gas has emerged as an equally strong concern during winter as well. “Ozone is now a round-the-year problem requiring urgent attention of clean air programmes,” said CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury. “The risk from it is often not well understood, as the current regulatory practice of spatially averaging the data from all monitoring stations blunts the curve, and underestimates the magnitude of threat from the worst affected locations and also during different seasons. “As ozone is a highly reactive gas and even short-term exposure can aggravate respiratory conditions leading to emergency hospital admission, it requires a different approach to risk assessment and communication,” she added. Another expert said that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards is increasing even in winters. “This analysis shows that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards has begun to increase even during winter months, making the winter smog more toxic,” said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. The assessment has traced trends during different seasons – summer (March-June), winter (October-February) and monsoon (July-September), between 2018 and July 18, 2021. It said that the eight-hourly standard for ground-level ozone exceeded at least in one station in Delhi on 290 days in 2020, which is up by 30 days compared to 2019 and 26 days more than 2018. This year has already recorded 169 days of exceedance, an increase of 21 days for the same period last year, the analysis revealed, adding that in the NCR, Gurugram saw the maximum jump in number of exceedance days between 2019 and 2020 — its tally of 201 days in 2020 was an increase by over 300 per cent from previous year. “Noida also registered a 54 per cent jump. Faridabad recorded no change between 2019 and 2020. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida saw a decline, with the latter showing the biggest drop of 28 per cent. Meerut does not have adequate data for 2019 to carry out comparative trend analysis, but with 109 days of exceedance in 2020, it was the least polluted major city in the NCR,” it said. The CSE said that granular real time data (15-minute averages) have been sourced from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) official online portal Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. “The data has been captured from 81 official stations under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) spread across Delhi-NCR (40 stations in Delhi, four each in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, three in Meerut, and two in Greater Noida while 20 smaller towns in NCR have one station),” it said. From this station-level data, the analysis has calculated the trends in terms of the number of days when the daily level has exceeded the eight-hour standard. According to the CSE, the city-wide average largely remains within the standard with just occasional exceedances. “But even from this yardstick, the ‘good’ category days (50 per cent below the daily eight-hour concentration standard) have started declining in Delhi. In 2020, Delhi had 115 ‘good’ days, which was 24 days less than in 2019,” it said. According to location-wise analysis, exceedance of the eight-hour average standard is quite widely distributed in the city, the CSE said. “The methodology used here is consistent with the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) method of considering the highest concentration among all the monitors within each reporting area,” it said. The analysis found that ozone build-up is a hyper-local phenomenon as there can be 100 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) difference in ozone levels between two neighbouring stations. “On April 27, 2021 Delhi saw variations as high as 150 µg/m3 between locations. While areas adjoining Yamuna, Lutyen’s Delhi and west Delhi showed low ozone levels, south, central, and north Delhi recorded higher levels, south-east Delhi had the highest levels that day. “At the moment, it is not possible to compute the peak pollution in the city as the data that is available from CPCB is capped at 200 µg/m3. This also makes daily AQI reporting ineffective,” said Somvanshi.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone becoming more widespread in Delhi-NCR across all seasons: Study

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone becoming more widespread in Delhi-NCR across all seasons: Study

The analysis said that contrary to the notion that ozone, produced photochemically from interaction between gases in the presence of sunlight, is predominantly a summer phenomenon, the gas has emerged as an equally strong concern during winter as well. “Ozone is now a round-the-year problem requiring urgent attention of clean air programmes,” said CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury. “The risk from it is often not well understood, as the current regulatory practice of spatially averaging the data from all monitoring stations blunts the curve, and underestimates the magnitude of threat from the worst affected locations and also during different seasons. As ozone is a highly reactive gas and even short-term exposure can aggravate respiratory conditions leading to emergency hospital admission, it requires a different approach to risk assessment and communication,” she added. Another expert said that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards is increasing even in winters. “This analysis shows that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards has begun to increase even during winter months, making the winter smog more toxic,” said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. The assessment has traced trends during different seasons – summer (March-June), winter (October-February) and monsoon (July-September), between 2018 and July 18, 2021. It said that the eight-hourly standard for ground-level ozone exceeded at least in one station in Delhi on 290 days in 2020, which is up by 30 days compared to 2019 and 26 days more than 2018. This year has already recorded 169 days of exceedance, an increase of 21 days for the same period last year, the analysis revealed, adding that in the NCR, Gurugram saw the maximum jump in number of exceedance days between 2019 and 2020 — its tally of 201 days in 2020 was an increase by over 300 per cent from previous year. “Noida also registered a 54 per cent jump. Faridabad recorded no change between 2019 and 2020. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida saw a decline, with the latter showing the biggest drop of 28 per cent. Meerut does not have adequate data for 2019 to carry out comparative trend analysis, but with 109 days of exceedance in 2020, it was the least polluted major city in the NCR,” it said. The CSE said that granular real time data (15-minute averages) have been sourced from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) official online portal Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. “The data has been captured from 81 official stations under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) spread across Delhi-NCR (40 stations in Delhi, four each in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, three in Meerut, and two in Greater Noida while 20 smaller towns in NCR have one station),” it said. From this station-level data, the analysis has calculated the trends in terms of the number of days when the daily level has exceeded the eight-hour standard. According to the CSE, the city-wide average largely remains within the standard with just occasional exceedances. “But even from this yardstick, the ‘good’ category days (50 per cent below the daily eight-hour concentration standard) have started declining in Delhi. In 2020, Delhi had 115 ‘good’ days, which was 24 days less than in 2019,” it said. According to location-wise analysis, exceedance of the eight-hour average standard is quite widely distributed in the city, the CSE said. “The methodology used here is consistent with the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) method of considering the highest concentration among all the monitors within each reporting area,” it said. The analysis found that ozone build-up is a hyper-local phenomenon as there can be 100 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) difference in ozone levels between two neighbouring stations. “On April 27, 2021 Delhi saw variations as high as 150 µg/m3 between locations. While areas adjoining Yamuna, Lutyen’s Delhi and west Delhi showed low ozone levels, south, central, and north Delhi recorded higher levels, south-east Delhi had the highest levels that day. “At the moment, it is not possible to compute the peak pollution in the city as the data that is available from CPCB is capped at 200 µg/m3. This also makes daily AQI reporting ineffective,” said Somvanshi.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone Becoming More Widespread In Delhi-NCR Across All Seasons: Study

Ozone, a highly reactive gas and dangerous for those suffering from respiratory conditions and asthma, is becoming more widespread in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) across all seasons, according to a new analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released on Friday.The analysis said that contrary to the notion that ozone, produced photochemically from interaction between gases in the presence of sunlight, is predominantly a summer phenomenon, the gas has emerged as an equally strong concern during winter as well."Ozone is now a round-the-year problem requiring urgent attention of clean air programmes," said CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury."The risk from it is often not well understood, as the current regulatory practice of spatially averaging the data from all monitoring stations blunts the curve, and underestimates the magnitude of threat from the worst affected locations and also during different seasons."As ozone is a highly reactive gas and even short-term exposure can aggravate respiratory conditions leading to emergency hospital admission, it requires a different approach to risk assessment and communication," she added.Another expert said that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards is increasing even in winters."This analysis shows that the number of days not meeting the ozone standards has begun to increase even during winter months, making the winter smog more toxic," said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE's Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme.The assessment has traced trends during different seasons - summer (March-June), winter (October-February) and monsoon (July-September), between 2018 and July 18, 2021.It said that the eight-hourly standard for ground-level ozone exceeded at least in one station in Delhi on 290 days in 2020, which is up by 30 days compared to 2019 and 26 days more than 2018.This year has already recorded 169 days of exceedance, an increase of 21 days for the same period last year, the analysis revealed, adding that in the NCR, Gurugram saw the maximum jump in number of exceedance days between 2019 and 2020 -- its tally of 201 days in 2020 was an increase by over 300 per cent from previous year."Noida also registered a 54 per cent jump. Faridabad recorded no change between 2019 and 2020. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida saw a decline, with the latter showing the biggest drop of 28 per cent. Meerut does not have adequate data for 2019 to carry out comparative trend analysis, but with 109 days of exceedance in 2020, it was the least polluted major city in the NCR," it said.The CSE said that granular real time data (15-minute averages) have been sourced from the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) official online portal Central Control Room for Air Quality Management."The data has been captured from 81 official stations under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) spread across Delhi-NCR (40 stations in Delhi, four each in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, three in Meerut, and two in Greater Noida while 20 smaller towns in NCR have one station)," it said.From this station-level data, the analysis has calculated the trends in terms of the number of days when the daily level has exceeded the eight-hour standard.According to the CSE, the city-wide average largely remains within the standard with just occasional exceedances."But even from this yardstick, the "good" category days (50 per cent below the daily eight-hour concentration standard) have started declining in Delhi. In 2020, Delhi had 115 "good" days, which was 24 days less than in 2019," it said.According to location-wise analysis, exceedance of the eight-hour average standard is quite widely distributed in the city, the CSE said."The methodology used here is consistent with the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) method of considering the highest concentration among all the monitors within each reporting area," it said.The analysis found that ozone build-up is a hyper-local phenomenon as there can be 100 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) difference in ozone levels between two neighbouring stations."On April 27, 2021 Delhi saw variations as high as 150 µg/m3 between locations. While areas adjoining Yamuna, Lutyen's Delhi and west Delhi showed low ozone levels, south, central, and north Delhi recorded higher levels, south-east Delhi had the highest levels that day."At the moment, it is not possible to compute the peak pollution in the city as the data that is available from CPCB is capped at 200 µg/m3. This also makes daily AQI reporting ineffective," said Mr Somvanshi.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone Becoming More Widespread In Delhi-NCR Across All Seasons: Study

Ozone, a extremely reactive gasoline and harmful for these affected by respiratory circumstances and bronchial asthma, is turning into extra widespread in Delhi and the Nationwide Capital Area (NCR) throughout all seasons, in line with a brand new evaluation by Centre for Science and Atmosphere (CSE) launched on Friday. The evaluation stated that opposite to the notion that ozone, produced photochemically from interplay between gases within the presence of daylight, is predominantly a summer time phenomenon, the gasoline has emerged as an equally sturdy concern throughout winter as effectively. “Ozone is now a round-the-year drawback requiring pressing consideration of fresh air programmes,” stated CSE govt director Anumita Roychowdhury. “The danger from it’s usually not effectively understood, as the present regulatory apply of spatially averaging the info from all monitoring stations blunts the curve, and underestimates the magnitude of menace from the worst affected areas and in addition throughout totally different seasons. “As ozone is a extremely reactive gasoline and even short-term publicity can irritate respiratory circumstances resulting in emergency hospital admission, it requires a distinct strategy to threat evaluation and communication,” she added. One other knowledgeable stated that the variety of days not assembly the ozone requirements is growing even in winters. “This evaluation exhibits that the variety of days not assembly the ozone requirements has begun to extend even throughout winter months, making the winter smog extra poisonous,” stated Avikal Somvanshi, programme supervisor in CSE’s City Lab workforce of the Sustainable Cities programme. The evaluation has traced developments throughout totally different seasons – summer time (March-June), winter (October-February) and monsoon (July-September), between 2018 and July 18, 2021. It stated that the eight-hourly customary for ground-level ozone exceeded not less than in a single station in Delhi on 290 days in 2020, which is up by 30 days in comparison with 2019 and 26 days greater than 2018. This yr has already recorded 169 days of exceedance, a rise of 21 days for a similar interval final yr, the evaluation revealed, including that within the NCR, Gurugram noticed the utmost leap in variety of exceedance days between 2019 and 2020 — its tally of 201 days in 2020 was a rise by over 300 per cent from earlier yr. “Noida additionally registered a 54 per cent leap. Faridabad recorded no change between 2019 and 2020. Ghaziabad and Better Noida noticed a decline, with the latter displaying the largest drop of 28 per cent. Meerut doesn’t have enough information for 2019 to hold out comparative pattern evaluation, however with 109 days of exceedance in 2020, it was the least polluted main metropolis within the NCR,” it stated. The CSE stated that granular actual time information (15-minute averages) have been sourced from the Central Air pollution Management Board’s (CPCB) official on-line portal Central Management Room for Air High quality Administration. “The information has been captured from 81 official stations beneath the Steady Ambient Air High quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) unfold throughout Delhi-NCR (40 stations in Delhi, 4 every in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, three in Meerut, and two in Better Noida whereas 20 smaller cities in NCR have one station),” it stated. From this station-level information, the evaluation has calculated the developments when it comes to the variety of days when the day by day stage has exceeded the eight-hour customary. In accordance with the CSE, the city-wide common largely stays inside the usual with simply occasional exceedances. “However even from this yardstick, the “good” class days (50 per cent beneath the day by day eight-hour focus customary) have began declining in Delhi. In 2020, Delhi had 115 “good” days, which was 24 days lower than in 2019,” it stated. In accordance with location-wise evaluation, exceedance of the eight-hour common customary is kind of extensively distributed within the metropolis, the CSE stated. “The methodology used right here is in line with the USEPA (United States Environmental Safety Company) technique of contemplating the very best focus amongst all of the screens inside every reporting space,” it stated. The evaluation discovered that ozone build-up is a hyper-local phenomenon as there might be 100 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) distinction in ozone ranges between two neighbouring stations. “On April 27, 2021 Delhi noticed variations as excessive as 150 µg/m3 between areas. Whereas areas adjoining Yamuna, Lutyen’s Delhi and west Delhi confirmed low ozone ranges, south, central, and north Delhi recorded greater ranges, south-east Delhi had the very best ranges that day. “In the intervening time, it’s not doable to compute the height air pollution within the metropolis as the info that’s obtainable from CPCB is capped at 200 µg/m3. This additionally makes day by day AQI reporting ineffective,” stated Mr Somvanshi.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Ozone Pollution: Causes, Impacts and Steps taken to Reduce Ozone Pollution

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Exceeding Ozone Levels

Recently, a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) study has found that ozone levels are exceeding the permitted levels even during winter in Delhi-NCR, making the smog more “toxic”. About the Issue Ozone is now a round-the-year problem requiring urgent action. The situation demands refinement of a clean air action plan to add strategies for ozone mitigation, with stronger action on vehicles, industry and waste burning. Ozone, a highly reactive gas and dangerous for those suffering from respiratory conditions and asthma, is becoming more widespread in Delhi and NCR across all seasons Ozone Formula: Ozone, or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula O?. Feature: It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. Good and Bad Ozone Stratospheric ozone (Good Ozone) is formed naturally through the interaction of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation with molecular oxygen (O2). The "ozone layer," approximately 6 through 30 miles above the Earth's surface, reduces the amount of harmful UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface. Tropospheric or ground-level ozone (Bad Ozone), what humans breathe, is formed primarily from photochemical reactions between two major classes of air pollutants, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These reactions have traditionally been viewed as depending upon the presence of heat and sunlight, resulting in higher ambient ozone concentrations in summer months. Although some stratospheric ozone is transported into the troposphere and some VOC and NOx occur naturally, the majority of ground-level ozone is the result of reactions of man-made VOC and NOx. Anthropogenic Sources Significant sources of VOC are: chemical plants, gasoline pumps, oil-based paints, auto body shops, print shops. Nitrogen oxides result primarily from high temperature combustion, power plants, industrial furnaces and boilers and motor vehicles. Ozone Hole Ozone depletion is greatest at the South Pole. It occurs mainly in late winter and early spring (August-November) and peak depletion usually occurs in early October, when ozone is often completely destroyed in large areas. This severe depletion creates the so-called “ozone hole” that can be seen in images of Antarctic ozone, made using satellite observations. In most years, the maximum area of the hole is bigger than the Antarctic continent itself. Although ozone losses are less radical in the Northern Hemisphere, significant thinning of the ozone layer is also observed over the Arctic and even over continental Europe. Most of the ozone-depleting substances emitted by human activities remain in the stratosphere for decades, meaning that ozone layer recovery is a very slow, long process. Recent Developments Within the last decade, however, high ozone concentrations have also been observed under specific circumstances in cold months, where a few high elevation areas in the Western US with high levels of local VOC and NOx emissions have formed ozone when snow is on the ground and temperatures are near or below freezing. Ozone contributes to what we typically experience as "smog" or haze, which still occurs most frequently in the summertime but can occur throughout the year in some southern and mountain regions. International Treaties and Cooperation about the Protection of the Stratospheric Ozone Layer Origin Through the 1970s and the 1980s, the international community became increasingly concerned that ODS would harm the ozone layer. In 1985, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer formalized international cooperation on this issue. This cooperation resulted in the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987. Because of measures taken under the Montreal Protocol, emissions of ODS are falling and the ozone layer is expected to be fully healed near the middle of the 21st century. Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer The original Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987, was the first step in international efforts to protect stratospheric ozone. Under the original Montreal Protocol agreement (1987), developed countries were required to begin phasing out CFCs in 1993 and achieve a 20% reduction relative to 1986 consumption levels by 1994 and a 50% reduction by 1998. Additionally, developed countries were required to freeze their production and consumption of halons relative to their 1986 levels. After the Montreal Protocol was signed, new data showed worse-than-expected damage to the ozone layer. Amendments to the Montreal Protocol The London Amendment (1990) changed the ODS emission schedule by requiring the complete phaseout of CFCs, halons, and carbon tetrachloride by 2000 in developed countries, and by 2010 in developing countries. Methyl chloroform was also added to the list of controlled ODSs, with phaseout in developed countries targeted in 2005, and in 2015 for developing countries. The Copenhagen Amendment (1992) significantly accelerated the phaseout of ODSs and incorporated a hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) phaseout for developed countries, beginning in 2004. Under this agreement, CFCs, halons, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform were targeted for complete phaseout in 1996 in developed countries. In addition, consumption of methyl bromide was capped at 1991 levels. The Montreal Amendment (1997) included the phaseout of HCFCs in developing countries, as well as the phaseout of methyl bromide in developed and developing countries in 2005 and 2015, respectively. The Beijing Amendment (1999) included tightened controls on the production and trade of HCFCs. Bromochloromethane was also added to the list of controlled substances with phaseout targeted for 2004. The Kigali Amendment (2016) extended controls to phase down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) because these substances were adopted by industries in moving away from ozone-depleting substances and they are potent greenhouse gases damaging to the earth’s climate. The Vienna Convention Adopted in 1985, The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is the precursor to the Montreal Protocol. It is often called a framework convention, because it served as a framework for efforts to protect the globe’s ozone layer. The Vienna Convention did not require countries to take concrete actions to control ozone depleting substances. Instead, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, the countries of the world agreed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer under the Convention, to advance that goal. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Ozone Secretariat U.S. agencies, including EPA, work with the UNEP Ozone Secretariat to implement the Montreal Protocol. Assessment Panels The Parties the Montreal Protocol have advisory bodies called Assessment Panels. The Assessment Panels are responsible for issuing regular reports on progress on implementing the phaseout of ozone-depleting substances, including assessments of alternatives and emissions reduction. TEAP – The Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) It provides technical information related to the alternative technologies that have been investigated and employed to make it possible to virtually eliminate use of Ozone Depleting Substances (such as CFCs and Halons), that harm the ozone layer. OzonAction UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics OzonAction Programme provides industry, government, and other stakeholders in developing countries with information exchange services, training, and networking. In addition to these core clearinghouse services, the Programme also provides assistance with Country Programmes and Institutional Strengthening projects. Way Forward Ensuring that existing restrictions on ozone-depleting substances are properly implemented and global use of ozone-depleting substances continue to be reduced. Ensuring that banks of ozone-depleting substances (both in storage and contained in existing equipment) are dealt with in an environmentally-friendly manner and are replaced with climate-friendly alternatives. Ensuring that permitted uses of ozone-depleting substances are not diverted to illegal uses. Reducing use of ozone-depleting substances in applications that are not considered as consumption under the Montreal Protocol. Ensuring that no new chemicals or technologies emerge that could pose new threats to the ozone layer (e.g. very short-lived substances).