Environmental effects of stratospheric ozone depletion, UV radiation and interactions with climate change : UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, update 2019

Bernhard, G.H. and Neale, R.E. and Barnes, P.W. and Neale, P.J. and Zepp, R.G. and Wilson, S.R. and Andrady, A.L. and Bais, A.F. and McKenzie, R.L. and Aucamp, P.J. and Young, P.J. and Liley, J.B. and Lucas, R.M. and Yazar, S. and Rhodes, L.E. and Byrne, S.N. and Hollestein, L.M. and Olsen, C.M. and Young, A.R. and Robson, T.M. and Bornman, J.F. and Jansen, M.A.K. and Robinson, S.A. and Ballaré, C.L. and Williamson, C.E. and Rose, K.C. and Banaszak, A.T. and Häder, D.-P. and Hylander, S. and Wängberg, S. and Austin, A.T. and Hou, W.-C. and Paul, N.D. and Madronich, S. and Sulzberger, B. and Solomon, K.R. and Li, H. and Schikowski, T. and Longstreth, J. and Pandey, K.K. and Heikkilä, A.M. and White, C.C. (2020) Environmental effects of stratospheric ozone depletion, UV radiation and interactions with climate change : UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, update 2019. Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, 19 (5). pp. 542-584. ISSN 1474-905X

Abstract

This assessment, by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP), one of three Panels informing the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, provides an update, since our previous extensive assessment (Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2019, 18, 595-828), of recent findings of current and projected interactive environmental effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, stratospheric ozone, and climate change. These effects include those on human health, air quality, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, biogeochemical cycles, and materials used in construction and other services. The present update evaluates further evidence of the consequences of human activity on climate change that are altering the exposure of organisms and ecosystems to UV radiation. This in turn reveals the interactive effects of many climate change factors with UV radiation that have implications for the atmosphere, feedbacks, contaminant fate and transport, organismal responses, and many outdoor materials including plastics, wood, and fabrics. The universal ratification of the Montreal Protocol, signed by 197 countries, has led to the regulation and phase-out of chemicals that deplete the stratospheric ozone layer. Although this treaty has had unprecedented success in protecting the ozone layer, and hence all life on Earth from damaging UV radiation, it is also making a substantial contribution to reducing climate warming because many of the chemicals under this treaty are greenhouse gases.