Ozone Depletion: International Protective Strategies and Implications
ROCK L. REV.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review
C. Patrick Turley 0 1
Recommended Citation
0 C. Patrick Turley, Ozone Depletion: International Protective Strategies and Implications, 12 U. A
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OZONE DEPLETION: INTERNATIONAL PROTECTIVE
STRATEGIES AND IMPLICATIONS
I. INTRODUCTION
Mankind may look back on the past century as one of immense
technological advancement. But advancement exacts a stiff toll on the
Earth's resources. As technology grows and population expands, the
environmental reality requires exercising controlled stewardship over
those resources. While some environmental issues are best addressed
at the local or regional level, an awareness of our "global commons"
is fast taking shape as the world community confronts issues such as
acid rain, international hazardous waste transport, global warming,
and ozone depletion, all of which can be addressed at the
international level as well. In the twenty-first century and beyond,
humankind must pay homage to this international environmental reality.
The intense heat and drought of the summer of 1988 acted like a
catalyst, igniting global interest in the Earth's health and welfare and
prompting predictions that the long-anticipated global warming and
ozone depletion had finally arrived. As if to emphasize the critical
nature of global environmental concerns, the "Endangered Earth"
took "Planet of the Year" honors from Time magazine.1
Although uncertainties remain, the scientific evidence linking
ozone depletion to human activities is strengthening. Rather than
waiting for all the uncertainties to be disproved, industry,
governments, and non-governmental organizations have acted on the
carefully marshalled scientific evidence to develop three key documents
addressing ozone depletion. These are the Vienna Convention for the
Protection of the Ozone Layer,2 the Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer,3 and the Nitrogen Oxides Protocol,4 all
of which will be discussed in this Comment.
To appreciate the complex nature of the issues presented by
ozone depletion, it is necessary to understand the atmospheric
processes involved in ozone formation and destruction. Part II of this
Comment reviews those processes, discusses the substances that
deplete the ozone layer, and examines the effects of ozone depletion and
1. TIME, Jan. 2, 1989.
2. See infra notes 181-96 and accompanying text.
3. See infra notes 198-274 and accompanying text.
4. See infra notes 276-82 and accompanying text.
its implications for global warming. Part III briefly summarizes
international environmental law and then examines the major
international strategies for addressing ozone depletion. The Comment
concludes by discussing how ozone remedies can be used as a model
for addressing other global environmental problems.
II.
THE SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND
Ozone is found in the atmosphere from the terrestrial surface to
an altitude of at least 100 kilometers.5 The concentration of ozone in
the atmosphere is small, only a few parts per million by volume.6
Approximately ninety percent of ozone is found in the stratosphere,7 an
area of the atmosphere ten to sixty kilometers above the surface of the
earth." In the stratosphere, where atmospheric pressure is small, the
ozone layer is spread over an area about 10 kilometers thick.9 Under
pressure and temperature conditions present at the terrestrial surface,
the ozone layer would compress to a mere 0.3 centimeters in
thickness.'° The troposphere, which extends from the terrestrial surface to
the stratosphere," contains less ozone per volume than the
stratosphere. But interactions between ozone and other tropospheric gases
play an important role in stratospheric ozone dynamics, the
consequence of which is that processes occurring in one atmospheric region
have a direct influence on the other.' 2
Ozone, denoted chemically as 03, is formed by the combination
of atomic (02) and molecular (02) oxygen. I 3 A balance of processes
5. WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION, 1 ATMOSPHERIC OZONE 1985:
ASSESSMENT OF OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESS CONTROLLING ITS PRESENT
DISTRIBU
TION AND CHANGE 27 (1985) [hereinafter ATMOSPHERIC OZONE].
6. Id.
7. Id. at 1.
8. Watson, Atmospheric Ozone, in 1 UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME/
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Effects of Changes in Stratospheric Ozone and
Global Climate 69, 70 (1986) [hereinafter UNEP/EPA]. The atmosphere is commonly divided
into different regions according to temperature and distance above the terrestrial surface. In
ascending order the divisions are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and
thermosphere.
9. Farman, What Hopefor the Ozone Lay (...truncated)