Pressmeddelande - 31 mars, 1995
Forskarnas färska rapporter om ett uttunnat ozonlager över norra halvklotet är oroväckande, anser Greenpeace. Särskilt som vetenskapsmännen betonar likheterna med ozonhålet över Antarktis. Här följer Greenpeace pressmeddelande, som kommenterar de uppgifter, som lämnades igår från SESAME (Second European Stratospheric Arctic and Mid-latitude Experiment)
*
En alldeles ny video från ozonforskningen vid Esrange i Kiruna finns
tillgänglig via bl a WTN och ReutersTV. * Här bifogas också 5-sidig
sammanfattning av färska uppgifter från bl a FNs miljöorgan UNEP om
effekterna av en ozonuttunning samt den aktuella situationen, när det
gäller de politiska åtgärderna för att skydda ozonlagret.
LONDON, 31 March, 1995
-- (GP) The Northern hemisphere''s worst ozone damage on record,
reported by the Second European Stratospheric Arctic and Mid-latitude
Experiment (SESAME) late yesterday, demands immediate action to ban not
only CFCs but all ozone depleting substances, Greenpeace said.
Yesterday''s science panel report on Arctic ozone levels reported
alarming thinning at some altitudes, as much as 50 percent less than
those previously observed. On average, a 20-30 percent reduction in
Arctic ozone levels was reported. Those living in Scandinavia and
Siberia are particularly at risk.
- Although shocking, this
new evidence comes as no real surprise since scientists have been
predicting severe thinning of the Arctic ozone layer in addition to the
continent- sized hole over Antarctic for years, said Greenpeace''s
Tracy Heslop. It''s clear that the time to end ozone- depleting
chemical use is now.
Greenpeace said this new ozone evidence
could translate into a 40 to 60 percent increase in skin cancer as well
as weakened immune systems for those in the Western Hemisphere unless
countries cease their use of ozone depleting chemicals. These record
levels highlight the inaction of industrialized countries to ban their
use of ozone depleting chemicals, such as HCFCs
(hydrochlorofluorocarbons), a chemical "alternative" to CFCs
(chlorofluorocarbons) that is still an ozone destroyer. - Even with
irrefutable evidence, industrialized governments are allowing industry
to continue using ozone-destroying HCFCs for another 20 to 30 years,
despite the safe alternative, hydrocarbons, now in use by a number of
countries. Heslop said. It is industry and governments that bear the
responsibility for these new findings and they must now become part of
the solution.
The 10th anniversary of the Vienna Convention,
which spawned the Montreal Protocol which oversees the phase-out of
ozone depleting chemicals, will take place in November. So far,
industrialized nations have refused to agree to strong measures to
ensure the phase out of HCFCs and other ozone depleters besides CFCs.
Ozone-depleting chemicals such as HCFCs are used in refrigeration,
foam- blowing and as solvents. Scientists first confirmed the link
between this type of chemicals and ozone destruction over Antarctica in
1985. In 1992, industrialized nations of the Montreal Protocol agreed
to phase out HCFCs by the year 2030. European Union states moved this
date forward to 2015. In 1993, with Greenpeace''s help, the first
"Greenfreeze" hydrocarbon refrigerator, was produced in Germany--direct
proof that ozone-depleting chemicals were unnecessary.