Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002

2002 Assessment cover
Inside Front Cover PDF file
The 2002 WMO/UNEP assessment, Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002, contains the most up-to-date understanding of ozone depletion at the time and reflects the thinking of 275 international scientific experts who contributed to its preparation and review. Co-chairs of the Assessment were Dr. Daniel L. Albritton of the NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, Dr. Ayité-Lô Nohende Ajavon of the Université de Lomé, Dr. Gérard Mégie of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and Dr. Robert T. Watson of the World Bank. Other members of the Aeronomy Laboratory made substantial contributions to the report, serving as lead authors, co-authors, contributors, reviewers, coordinating editor, and editorial and computing support staff.

The Assessment consists of the Executive Summary, five detailed chapters, and "Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer", listed here with the names of the Lead Authors:

Chapter 1. Controlled Substances and Other Source Gases Stephen A. Montzka and Paul J. Fraser
Chapter 2. Very Short-Lived Halogen and Sulfur Substances Malcolm K.W. Ko and Gilles Poulet
Chapter 3. Polar Stratospheric Ozone: Past and Future Paul A. Newman and John A. Pyle
Chapter 4. Global Ozone: Past and Future Martyn P. Chipperfield and William J. Randel
Chapter 5. Surface Ultraviolet Radiation: Past and Future James B. Kerr and Gunther Seckmeyer
Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer David W. Fahey

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) each serve a full formatted copy of the report, Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002. The Executive Summary and "Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer" are posted here, in the sections below.


List of International Authors, Contributors, and Reviewers of the 2002 Assessment

Hundreds of scientists from around the world write and review the periodic WMO/UNEP "state-of-the-science" assessments of ozone depletion; hundreds of additional scientists author the studies that are referenced within them. As a result, the WMO/UNEP assessments are truly "global" documents, reflecting the thinking of the international scientific community.

275 international scientists from the developed and developing world contributed to the preparation and review of the latest WMO/UNEP assessment, Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002. Listed here are the names of those individuals and the supporting organizations and staff.


2002 Assessment Executive Summary cover
Cover Information

Inside Front Cover PDF file

Text of the Executive Summary

A full formatted copy of the Executive Summary PDF file
The Executive Summary gives a synopsis of major scientific findings of the five chapters of the full 2002 Assessment. This includes:



2002 Assessment Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer cover
Cover Information

Inside Front Cover PDF file
Inside Back Cover PDF file

"Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer"

In the 2002 Assessment, the international scientific community included the section called "Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer." In it, they answer several of the general questions that are most frequently asked by students, the general public, and leaders in industry and government. A draft of this component of the 2002 Assessment was reviewed and discussed by the 74 scientists PDF file who attended the Panel Review Meeting for the 2002 report in June 2002. In addition, subsequent contributions, reviews, or comments were made by the individuals listed here PDF file.

A full formatted copy of the "Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer" PDF file
Individual components, including each question and associated figures, are available below:

  1. INTRODUCTION

  2. OZONE IN OUR ATMOSPHERE
    1. What is ozone and where is it in the atmosphere?
    2. How is ozone formed in the atmosphere?
    3. Why do we care about atmospheric ozone?
    4. Is total ozone uniform over the globe?
    5. How is ozone measured in the atmosphere?
  3. THE OZONE DEPLETION PROCESS
    1. What are the principal steps in stratospheric ozone depletion caused by human activities?
    2. What emissions from human activities lead to ozone depletion?
    3. What are the reactive halogen gases that destroy stratospheric ozone?
    4. What are the chlorine and bromine reactions that destroy stratospheric ozone?
    5. Why has an "ozone hole" appeared over Antarctica when ozone-depleting gases are present throughout the stratosphere?
  4. STRATOSPHERIC OZONE DEPLETION
    1. How severe is the depletion of the Antarctic ozone layer?
    2. Is there depletion of the Arctic ozone layer?
    3. How large is the depletion of the global ozone layer?
    4. Do changes in the Sun and volcanic eruptions affect the ozone layer?
  5. CONTROLLING OZONE-DEPLETING GASES
    1. Are there regulations on the production of ozone-depleting gases?
    2. Has the Montreal Protocol been successful in reducing ozone-depleting gases in the atmosphere?
  6. IMPLICATIONS OF OZONE DEPLETION
    1. Does depletion of the ozone layer increase ground-level ultraviolet radiation?
    2. Is depletion of the ozone layer the principal cause of climate change?
  7. STRATOSPHERIC OZONE IN THE FUTURE
    1. How will recovery of the ozone layer be detected?
    2. When is the ozone layer expected to recover?

    ADDITIONAL TOPICS



Citations.

The WMO/UNEP Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002, including the Executive Summary and "Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer", was published in print in March 2003. The web version was prepared by Catherine A. Burgdorf of the NOAA Aeronomy Lab, Boulder, Colorado, in cooperation with Dr. Daniel L. Albritton and Dr. Christine A. Ennis of the NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory. This version was derived directly from the source of the printed edition and made public in May 2003. The Assessment may be reproduced or excerpted, without modification, provided the source is duly and conspicuously acknowledged in every instance as:

the whole report:

WMO (World Meteorological Organization) Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002, Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project - Report No. 47, 498pp., Geneva, 2003.

the Executive Summary:

Executive Summary: Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002, 29 pp., World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 2003. [Reprinted from Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002, Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project - Report No. 47, 498pp., World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 2003.]

"Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer":

Fahey, D.W. (Lead Author), Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer: Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002, 42 pp., World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 2003. [Reprinted from Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002, Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project - Report No. 47, 498pp., World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 2003.]

Copies.

Printed copies of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002 are available at no charge by writing to:

the whole report (includes the Executive Summary and "Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer":

World Meteorological Organization
AREP Global Atmosphere Watch
Case postale 2300
Geneva 2, CH-1211, Switzerland

the Executive Summary and "Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer" booklets:

United Nations Environment Programme
Ozone Secretariat
P.O. Box 30552
Nairobi, Kenya