September 16 every year is observed as "World Ozone Day". The celebration of this day is made to pay our homage to the ozone layer, that saves our earth from the harmful ultra-voilet radiation of the Sun.
The life on the Earth , depends on the energy provided by the Sun in the form of various radiations.
Out of total energy received by the Earth, 35% will be reflected back to the space by the clouds, dust-particles and ice particles present in the atmosphere.
14% of the energy , which comes in the form of ultra violet radiation gets absorbed by the ozone layer, thus saving the earth from the harmful effects like over warming of the Earth or diseases like cancer
34% of the energy is radiated back from the Earth in the form of direct solar radiation and 17% radiated back from the Earth in the form of terrestrial radiation.
The part of the energy radiated back from the Earth unabsorbed is called "Albedo". Average Albedo ranges between 29% to 34%. Because of the artificial cover provided by the green house gases the Earth surface is unable to reflect the total energy thus gets heated. So lesser the Albedo more will be the temperature on the Earth and viceversa.
Besides this the tarnishing of ozone layer provides the way to ultra violet rays to enter in the Earth's atmosphere which can cause great destruction , catastrophies (famines ,droughts etc.) and diseases like cancer.
The fact that the density of ozone layer reduced considerably making the situation more horrified. (from 1956 to 1970 the density of the ozone layer was nearly 280 to 325 doveson which in 1994 got reduced to mere 94 doveson. The density has been on a decline since then.)
The gases which are responsible for increasing the Earth temperature artificially are called "green house gases " which includes:- carbon di-oxide, methane, chloro floro carbon (CFC), sulphur herxa-floride, nitrous oxide, perflorocarbon. These gases are called green house gases because they increase the temperature in the glass house made artificially to provide higher temperature in colder areas which in turn helps plants that are native to warmer climates, to grow in the hilly areas.
The gases like CFC, or carbon di-oxide have been used in the modern appliances like air-conditioners, refrigerators, fire extinguishers etc. So its looks like where there is more industrialisation there is greater chance of causing harm to the ozone layer.
But the reality is unbelievable and horrifying. Unbelievable because the ozone hole was discovered in the polar regions where there is negligible industrialisation and horrifying because this reality can cause more destruction in less time. The reason behind this reality is the polar stratosphere clouds provide basis for chlorine molecules (present in the CFC) to act freely in the colder regions ( as in polar regions) and in the presence of sunlight in the Antarctica region the chlorine molecules attacks on the ozone molecules (O3) and kill them in the process. More damaging fact is this molecule could have a life of 45 years to 250 years. This is also causing the glaciers to melt.
The recent report of the Inter-governmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC) states that Earth's temperature has increased by 0.74% in the past hundred years. Its effects are disastrous like:
Unexpected increase in the sea level that can submerge low lying regions including UK
The melting of glaciers like Himadri in India, which will first result in floods and then a long lasting drought
Exposure to ultra-violet rays can up the risk of cancers
Unexpected climatic changes
USA which pretends itself as a global leader, is also the biggest producer of these harmful green-house gases (nearly 30%) but hasn't signed the "Kyoto Protocal" - a legally binding global treaty for reducing the emission of these gases.
To efficiently deal with this current fearsome situation, we have to take stringent steps. Some are:
Save trees as they save life by inhaling harmful gas carbon-di-oxide.
more sustainable behaviour in our daily lives like saving energy at every step.
To use technologies which are environment-friendly, like bio-fertilizers.
The expansion of carbon trading by the developed countries from developing countries.
Globalize the technologies to the under developed nations that supports the climate.
Let us act now before it is too late.
Vasu Shena Misra (The author is a development activist who did his post-graduation from University of Lucknow. He is a fellow of CNS writers' bureau)
A 50 member special contingent of special security unit has left for Kaziranga to counter the poachers who have already killed more than 15 rhinos. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi flagged off the team at a function in Guwahati on Tuesday. Handing over SLRs to the members before leaving for Kaziranga, Gogoi hoped that the special team would help the park authorities to efficiently deal with the poachers.
Abhijit Baruah set multiple record on his hectic Sunday when the longest barefoot runner arrived in Jhanji in Sivasagar district on foot within four hours. Then he left for Sivasagar via Bhatiapar and went back to Jorhat by bicycle within three hours. He showed 20 push ups at the prowling Jorhat Stadium. This was followed by his 200 KM barefoot race with 40 KG weight. IBR observer handed over a certificate to Baruah after the events were properly recorded.
A rhino is battling for life after poachers left it dehorned in the Kaziranga National Park. A team of veterinarians finds it quite difficult to keep the profusely bleeding rhino alive. The efforts are not expected to keep the animal alive which lost a vital organ. The park authorities have restricted entry of media people.
AGP on Sunday resolved to take a stand against construction of big dams in the state and came out against the proposed Brahmaputra River Valley Authority.
Party president Prafulla Kumar Mahant said in Lakhimpur that the BRVA would not solve any issue and will in fact be a non-starter. Mahanta also called for immediate steps to solve the issue of illegal immigrants, besides asking the government to commence work on updating the National Register of Citizens and for implementation of all the clauses of the Assam Accord.
More and more media houses may be driven by the business interest, but at the end of the day the media should not miss its missionary character. More over, the media house owners should not engage the media space only for its profit sacrificing the media’s immense social responsibilities, commented His Excellency Bharat Vir Wanchoo, Governor of Goa. Inaugurating the 9th Annual South Asia Media Summit 2012 at The International Centre Goa, Dona Paula- Goa today morning the Governor also added that irrespective of increasing challenges, the media should continue its presence in the society as a watch dog and conscience keeper.
Organised by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) India in...
Petroleum dealers across the state operate in a single shift from Monday. The petrol depots would be operating from 9 in the morning to 5 in the evening. The decision was taken to press for their demands on payment of commission as per the cost-based structure as recommended by Apoorva Chandra Committee.
The petroleum dealers in Assam and other north eastern states will operate only one shift in order to cut costs. They said that there has been no revision in commission for past two years. In these years, the cost of operations and investments have gone up substantially.
The Nilotpal Lahan death case takes a new twist on Saturday when his mother lodged a complaint before police claiming it a conspiracy.
Lahon’s mother Nilima Lahon on Saturday filed and FIR before Jalukbari police station to investigate her son’s mysterious death near the Kamakhya temple recently. Notably, initial investigation called it a case of suicide.
Abhijit Baruah on Saturday set yet another record. The pride of Assam punched 300 times at a pair of punching pads within a record single minute. The historic deed took place at the Jorhat Stadium in the morning in presence of observers of India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records. He required only 150 times within the timeframe to be eligible for a claim in the Guinness World Records as there was no such global record in the category.
Just after 72 hours of two high profile visits to Kaziranga National Park, one by Union Environmental Minister Jayanti Natrajan and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and the other by state Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain, the silence of KNP was broken once again by the booming of gun. All the assurance of providing safety to the wildlife of KNP especially to the rare one horned rhino fell flat as poachers gunned down a rhino and dehorned it. The incident took place at around 1 pm between Sohola and Duramari forest camp under Agoratoli range. The poacher brutally severed the horn from the bullet ridden rhino and let it to languish. Till the filing of this report the rhino is struggling for...
Guinness World Record holder Abhijit Baruah will attempt eight more records in different events this weekend. The immediate one is slated for Sunday. The attempts by the Assam policeman on both days are organised by the Great Run Club. The whole event with each moment was recorded and all the necessary guidelines of the Guinness World Records was followed and formalities were observed to make a claim in the record book.
Add new comment