Ozone layer will recover in future, predict scientists

August 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has determined that nitrous dioxide, popularly known as 'laughing gas', has now become the largest ozone-depleting substance emitted through human activities, and is expected to remain the largest throughout the 21st century. The study was authored by A.R.

August 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists has determined that Carbonyl Sulphide gas warmed the world and saved it from freezing over during the Archean eon more than 3 billion years ago. When Planet Earth was just cooling down from its fiery creation, the sun was faint and young.

August 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have determined that depletion in the ozone layer is reducing the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake of the Southern Ocean. Most current models predict that the strength of the Southern Ocean CO2 sink should increase as atmospheric CO2 rises, but observations show that this has not been the case.

July 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists at University of California Irvine (UCI) have discovered a previously unknown chemical reaction that could account for up to 40 parts per billion of ozone. This reaction is not included in computer models used to predict air pollution levels and the effectiveness of ozone control strategies that can cost billions of dollars.

June 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research indicates that high ozone conditions causes a 30 percent decrease in yield and an increase in the concentration of a group of toxic compounds within oilseed rape plants. Scientists arrived at these findings by combining the results of previous studies which have shown a decrease in oil, protein and carbohydrate content of oilseed rape seeds in high ozone.

June 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has suggested that hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are good for protecting the ozone layer from destruction, could increasingly contribute to global warming. The research was conducted by scientists from NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory and their colleagues.

April 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that increased growth in Antarctic sea ice during the past 30 years is a result of changing weather patterns caused by the ozone hole. The research, done by scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and NASA, indicates that while there has been a dramatic loss of Arctic sea ice, Antarctic sea ice has increased by a small amount as a result of the ozone hole delaying the impact of greenhouse gas increases on the climate of the continent.

April 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Global warming will set back the recovery of the ozone layer of the earth's atmosphere, warns a NASA study. Previous studies have shown that while the build up of greenhouse gases makes it warmer in the troposphere, up to 10 km high from sea level, these gases actually cool the upper stratosphere, between 30 to 50 km high.

April 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has suggested that a brilliant burst of gamma rays may have caused a mass extinction event on Earth 440 million years ago, and a similar celestial catastrophe could happen again in the future. Most gamma-ray bursts are thought to be streams of high-energy radiation produced when the core of a very massive star collapses.

April 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study by researchers in California and Colorado has suggested that the global market for rocket launches may require more stringent regulation in order to prevent significant damage to Earth's stratospheric ozone layer in the decades to come. The study, which includes the University of Colorado at Boulder and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, provides a market analysis for estimating future ozone layer depletion based on the expected growth of the space industry and known impacts of rocket launches.

April 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Rocket launches in future may require more stringent regulation to minimise damage to the ozone layer of the Earth's atmosphere, according to a new study. Today, just a handful of NASA space shuttle launches release more ozone-depleting substances in the stratosphere than the entire annual use of CFC-based medical inhalers used to treat asthma and other diseases in the US, said Darin Toohey, professor of Colorado University at Boulder (CUB) atmospheric and oceanic sciences department.

March 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new simulation has shown that if 193 nations had not agreed to ban ozone-depleting substances, then nearly two-thirds of Earth's ozone would have been gone by the year 2065. The simulation was developed by atmospheric chemists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven.

March 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - What would happen if the planet's upper atmosphere were to be stripped of two-thirds of its ozone layer by 2065, not just over the poles, but everywhere? Intense DNA-mutating ultraviolet (UV) radiation, up by 650 percent, falling on mid-latitude cities like Washington, would singe your skin in just five minutes, besides damaging plants, animals and aggravating skin cancer rates. Such is the world we would have if 193 nations had not agreed to ban ozone-depleting substances, according to atmospheric chemists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre, Greenbelt, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Long-term exposure to ground-level ozone, a component of smog, may result in increased risk of death from respiratory ailments, according to a new study throughout the US. Ozone, a gas made up of three oxygen atoms - forms a protective layer from the sun's ultraviolet radiation when located in the Earth's upper atmosphere.

February 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers have identified factors that cause airway irritation and wheezing after exposure to a common urban air pollutant like ozone. 'We found that it is not the ozone itself that causes the body to wheeze, but the way the lungs respond to ozone,' said Stavros Garantziotis, principal investigator at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and co-author of the study.