Warm greetings to you on World Ozone Day today! By designation of the United Nations General Assembly, September 16 is the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. What is the Ozone Layer? The Ozone layer is the fragile layer of gas that blocks the sun’s harmful UV rays, protecting the earth’s biological processes which are crucial for the sustenance of life. If the rays are not blocked by the Ozone layer, human exposure to ultraviolet radiation can cause skin cancer, cataracts, and other detrimental effects. This moniker was made on 19th December 2000, to commemorate the 1987 date when nations signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
The theme of World Ozone Day 2021
The theme of this year’s World Ozone Day is ‘Montreal Protocol – keeping us, our food, and vaccines cool’. According to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), World Ozone Day 2021 aims at highlighting the Montreal Protocol which is helping slow climate change and boosting the efficiency of energy in the cooling sector, hence contributing to food security. Humans have been a major threat to the planet’s natural paradigm. Their oblivious actions have harmed the environment, causing the depletion of the Ozone layer and contributing to climate change. This depletion means the gradual thinning of the ozone layer resulting in less protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays. It occurs when gases like bromine, chlorine, and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) are released into the air.
“Say NO to depleting the ozone, otherwise you will be in the Red zone.”
Significance of World Ozone Day
World Ozone Day spreads awareness about the significance of the Ozone layer and how to preserve it. To date, the Montreal Protocol is one of the world’s most successful environmental agreements. A joint global effort to eliminate ozone-depleting substances signifies the progressive journey in healing the hole in the ozone layer, hence protecting economies, human health, and ecosystems and contributing to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since the commemoration of the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer in 1987, the Protocol parties have managed to accomplish unprecedented goals and this continues to provide inspiration of what can be achieved with international cooperation.
On this World Ozone Day, we celebrate the Montreal Protocol and its efforts to keep us, our food, and vaccines cool! Let us always remember that we all need Ozone for our survival. We are the ones responsible for its destruction and we are the ones who need to protect it. Let’s keep Ozone from becoming the no-zone! Happy World Ozone Day!
