UNEP and WMO Release Update on Ozone Depletion

Newsbriefs

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have jointly released an

update on the status of ozone depletion, confirming the effectiveness of international measures to restrict the use of ozone-depleting substances. The new report, “Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion – 1998” (an executive summary was released in June), was prepared by more than 200 scientists from around the world. According to the assessment, the combined total abundance of ozone-depleting compounds in the troposphere (the lowest part of the atmosphere) peaked in 1994 and is now slowly declining—except for bromine, which is still increasing. Levels of ozone-depleting substances in the stratosphere (12-45 km above the ground) have been leveling off and are expected to peak around the year 2000. The report suggests that it might take another 20 years for conclusive evidence that the ozone layer is recovering and that a full recovery of the Earth’s protective ozone layer could occur by the mid-21st Century if the Montreal Protocol and follow-up international agreements are fully implemented. The report will be published in its entirety later this year. Contact Robert Bisset, UNEP Media and Communications Officer in Nairobi: +254-2-623084 (telephone) or robert.bisset@unep.org (e-mail).