Ozone Day = World ‘Sunscreen’ Day
Essentially, the ozone layer in the Earth’s upper atmosphere acts like sunscreen for the Earth and for us. It is our main protection against harmful UV radiation and any damage to it could have serious biological consequences including increased risks of skin cancer.
Discovering a massive “hole” in the ozone layer in the 1980s led to the signing of the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol. Since 1994, 16th September has been celebrated as World Ozone Day to mark the date the Montreal Protocol was signed. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the Vienna convention.
The agreements lay down legally binding commitments for reducing the production and use of ozone depleting substances (ODSs). The agreements succeeded in their aim – ODS use and production has sharply declined and the ozone layer has slowly begun to recover.
197 states have ratified the agreements and they have been described as being the “most successful international environmental agreements to date”.