DAWN TO DUSK NEWS: New ozone-depleting gases found in atmosphere

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<span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblNewsDetailMain"><b>PARIS: 
Worried scientists said Sunday they had found four new ozone-destroying 
gases in the atmosphere, most likely put there by humans in the last 
50-odd years despite a ban on these dangerous compounds.</b><br />
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It
 is the first time since the 1990s that new substances damaging to 
Earth's stratospheric shield have been found, and others may be out 
there, they said.<br />
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"Our research has shown four gases that 
were not around in the atmosphere at all until the 1960s, which suggests
 they are man-made," the team from Europe and Australia wrote in the 
journal Nature Geoscience.<br />
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They analysed unpolluted air samples collected in Tasmania between 1978 and 2012, and from deep, compacted snow in Greenland.<br />
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"The
 identification of these four new gases is very worrying as they will 
contribute to the destruction of the ozone layer," added a statement 
from the team.<br />
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"We don't know where the new gases are being emitted from, and this should be investigated."<br />
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Three
 of the gases are chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) -- a group which includes 
chemicals traditionally found in air-conditioning, refrigerators and 
aerosol spray cans but banned under the Montreal Protocol.<br />
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The
 fourth is a hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC), part of a closely-related 
group of compounds which replaced CFCs but are being phased out.<br />
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More than 74,000 tonnes of the four newly-identified gases had accumulated in the atmosphere by 2012, said the team.<br />
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This is very small compared with peak emissions of CFCs in the 1980s of more than a million tonnes per year.<br />
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- Riddle of the source -<br />
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"However,
 the reported emissions are clearly contrary to the intentions behind 
the Montreal Protocol, and raise questions about the sources of these 
gases," the team wrote.<br />
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Two of the gases, one CFC and the HCFC, are still accumulating.<br />
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Previously, seven types of CFC and six of HCFC were known to contribute to ozone destruction.<br />
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CFCs,
 the main cause of the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, are 
man-made organic compounds made of carbon, chlorine and fluorine.<br />
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They were phased out from 1989, followed by a total ban in 2010.<br />
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HCFCs,
 CFC-like compounds which also include one or more hydrogen atoms, are 
less ozone-damaging but contribute to climate change by trapping more of
 the Sun's heat in the atmosphere.<br />
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The ozone layer comprises triple-atom oxygen molecules that are spread thinly in the stratosphere.<br />
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It plays a vital role in protecting life by filtering out ultraviolet rays that can damage vegetation and cause skin cancer.<br />
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In
 high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, where the ozone layer is 
damaged or subject to seasonal fluctuations, people are advised to cover
 exposed skin and wear sunglasses.<br />
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Possible sources for 
the new gases include chemicals used for insecticide production and 
solvents for cleaning electronic components, said the researchers.<br />
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Concentration
 differences between the samples suggested the dominant source was in 
the industrialised Northern Hemisphere, they added.<br />
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Study 
co-author Johannes Laube from the University of East Anglia's School of 
Environmental Sciences said the ozone layer stopped thinning from the 
late 1990s and there were signs of it starting to recover.<br />
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"As
 many ODSs [ozone-depleting substances], and especially CFCs, take a 
long time to break down once released into the atmosphere, it will be 
many decades until it will fully recover," he told AFP.<br />
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"Provided we do not have further unpleasant surprises."<br />
<br />
Martyn
 Chipperfield, a professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of
 Leeds in northern England, said the low concentrations of the four 
gases "do not present concern at the moment."<br />
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But, he added, "the fact that these gases are in the atmosphere and some are increasing needs investigation."<br />
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source:DAWN news </span>
   
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New ozone-depleting gases found in atmosphere

PARIS: Worried scientists said Sunday they had found four new ozone-destroying gases in the atmosphere, m...