Ozone Day Celebration sponsored by FERCC (Organised by IMS Raipur held at SRU Raipur on 14 September 2024)

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is celebrated on September 16 every year all over the world. This day in 1987 Nations signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances (Resolution 49/114) that deplete the Ozone Layer. The theme for World Ozone Day 2024 is “Ozone for Life”. On this occasion, FERCC sponsored a one day programme for Ozone Day Celebration by India Meteorological Society (IMS) Raipur Chapter (IMSR) organized at Shri Rawatpura Sarkar University (SRU), Raipur on 14 September 2024 for the sake of convenience of all. In this important programme, the opening remarks  were given by  Shri J.L. Choudhary, Executive Member, IMSR followed by the address of Er. Jayant Das, Secretary, IMSR; Dr.G.K.Das, Dean, Agriculture University and the President IMS, Smt. Samanti Sarkar who is also the present Director Meteorological Centre, IMD Raipur and Dr. M.L.Sahu, Former DDGM, IMD. All speakers spoke on diffenrent aspects of Ozone Hole and its impact of human health. Subsequently, Prof.S.K.Singh, Vice-Chanceller, SRU; Dr. S.K. Dash, FERCC President and Er. Harsh Gautam, Pro-Chancellor, SRU explained the Ozone Hole in simple language.

Dr. Sushil Kumar Dash presented his talk entitled ‘Significance of Ozone Day and Important Aspects of Climate Action’. In his talk, Dr.Dash first described the vertical structure of the atmosphere which is a mixture of gases with different proportions and also the ozone (O₃) gas in it. There is a concentrated layer of Ozoneat 15-30km which is known as Ozone Layer. Here the O₃ concentration by volume is 0.00006% whereas at Ground level it is only 0.000001%. The ozone layer above absorbs the UltraViolet-B (UVB) and UVC radiation from the sun by about 97-99% which otherwise would have been very harmful to us. The Tropospheric/Ground level ozone, is not emitted directly into the air, but is created by chemical reactions between Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). The Ozone Layer has been continuously created and destroyed in the natural process. However, in the year 1985, a paper was published on the data analysis of Antarctica Halley Research Station which indicated a hole in the Ozone Layer in the spring season. The issue of Ozone Layer is a success story in international efforts to phase out ozone-depleting substances and thereby protecting all life on Earth. Ozone depletion was formalized in the Vienna Convention signed by 28 countries on 22 March 1985. In September 1987, this led to the drafting of The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. In 2007, Countries signing the Montreal Protocol decided to accelerate the HCFC phase-out schedule for both developed and developing countries.  On 16th September 2009, the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol became the first treaties in the history of the United Nations to achieve universal ratification. These collective international efforts have helped in reducing the O₃ depletion to a large extent. O₃ is a Greenhouse Gas and its amount in the lower level though small has been adding to the global warming. In the second part of his talk, Dr.Dash enumerated the important issues of global warming and the necessity of urgent action at all levels for climate action to reduce manmade emissions and take appropriate steps for adaptation by the people. 

In parallel to the above scientific session, a painting competition was held for the students of SRU. There were 26 participants who displayed their posters and certificates were distributed to every participant. Further, Prizes were distributed to those having First, Second and Third positions.  At the end, Vote of Thanks was proposed by Mr. Uttam Suraj, Jt. Secretary IMSR.