Stratospheric ozone, which has been depleted in recent decades by the release of anthropogenic gases, is critical for shielding the biosphere against ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation. Although the ozone layer is expected to recover before the end of the 21st century, a hole over Antarctica continues to appear each year. Ozone depletion usually peaks between September and October, when fortunately, most Antarctic terrestrial vegetation and soil biota is frozen, dormant and protected under snow cover. Similarly, much marine life is protected by sea ice cover. The ozone hole used to close before the onset of Antarctic summer, meaning that most biota were not exposed to severe springtime UV-B fluxes. However, in recent years, ozone depletion has persisted into December, which marks the beginning of austral summer. Early summertime ozone depletion is concerning: high incident UV-B radiation coincident with snowmelt and emergence of vegetation will mean biota is more exposed. The start of summer is also peak breeding season for many animals, thus extreme UV-B exposure (UV index up to 14) may come at a vulnerable time in their life cycle. Climate change, including changing wind patterns and strength, and particularly declining sea ice, are likely to compound UV-B exposure of Antarctic organisms, through earlier ice and snowmelt, heatwaves and droughts. Antarctic field research conducted decades ago tended to study UV impacts in isolation and more research that considers multiple climate impacts, and the true magnitude and timing of current UV increases is needed.
This paper investigates the evolution of changes in surface ultraviolet (UV) radiation globally, emphasizing the significant impacts of key factors influencing its variability, i.e., total column ozone, aerosols, clouds, and surface reflectivity.
Bromine is a significant environmental threat due to its corrosive nature and contribution to ozone layer depletion. It often coexists with iodine and forms interhalogen complexes (IBr), which require an effective and selective bromine adsorption strategy. Leveraging the electrophilic nature of bromine, we designed an electron-rich thiophene-based porous organic polymer (POF-2).
Photodissociation of the CH2Cl radical is investigated by using high-level multireference configuration interaction ab initio methods, including the spin-orbit coupling. All possible fragmentation pathways, namely, CH2Cl + hν → CH2 + Cl, HCCl + H, and CCl + H2, have been analyzed. The potential-energy curves of the ground and several excited electronic states along the corresponding dissociating bond distance of each pathway have been calculated.
The incidence of cataract is expected to increase, primarily due to an aging population. However, human-induced environmental changes may also contribute. In this narrative review, we explore the connection between climate change, the depletion of the ozone layer, and modifiable risk factors for cataract development such as UV light exposure and pollution-related factors.
Electric Vehicle and Energy Research Group (EVERGi), Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Research Centre (MOBI), Department of Electric Engineering and Energy Technology (ETEC), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
This dataset provides the latest characterization factors for ozone depletion based on the most recent ozone depletion potentials from the 2022 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) scientific assessment. These characterization factors can be used in life cycle assessment (LCA) to convert emissions of ozone-depleting substances to the common unit of the ozone depletion impact category, measured in kg CFC-11-eq. The dataset is formatted for easy import into LCA software such as Brightway, the Activity Browser, and SimaPro.
