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The international Montreal Protocol limits the production of stratospheric-ozone depleting substances that contain chlorine and bromine. York researchers used the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) satellite to monitor the decay of halogen-containing molecules in the stratosphere and to re-evaluate their atmospheric lifetimes. This York research also determined that oceans represent a vast reservoir of organohalogens, which are released to air and impact significantly on ozone destruction. The research results have been incorporated into the conclusions of the World Meteorological Organization/United Nations Environment Programme (WMO/UNEP) Scientific Assessments on Ozone Depletion, the pre-eminent knowledge base used for international policy and domestic legislation. Experimental infrastructure created in this York research now contributes to UK Government obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and informs it of long-term atmospheric change.
Successful policy formulation and effective action on ozone depletion and climate change, both of which have profound environmental implications, depend on the availability of credible data on atmospheric gases. Research conducted in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol between 1992 and 2013 has played a leading role in global efforts to achieve reliable, long-term measurement of climatically important gases such as CO2, CH4 and N2O. When combined with models of atmospheric gas transport, these observations provide an independent means of assessing natural and man-made emissions. This work is used by the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for monitoring compliance with international and domestic legislation, identifying priorities for improving inventory accuracy, assessing the UK's progress towards targets set in the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols, evaluating the impact of policy, and informing international negotiations. These data have been central to recent World Meteorological Office (WMO) Scientific Assessments of Ozone Depletion produced between 2007 and 2010 and to the Nobel Prize-winning Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment of Climate Change published in 2007.
Atmospheric science research in the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge has played a leading role in demonstrating the depletion of the ozone layer following anthropogenic emissions of halogenated compounds and other Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS). This research has been a key input into the series of assessment reports that have made the case to policy makers for the strengthening of the Montreal Protocol. The research underpinning these reports has made a vital contribution to a number of changes to the Protocol that have ensured a more rapid phase-out of a wider range of ODS and their replacements, leading to significant global health and climate benefits during the REF period. Researchers at Cambridge have helped to raise global awareness of these benefits, helping to maintain support for the Protocol among policy makers and the public, and supported European legislation to limit the environmental impact of ODS and their replacements.
Air pollution is a major health concern and government policy driver. Leeds researchers and colleagues have developed a detailed chemical mechanism which describes reactions in the lower atmosphere leading to the formation of ozone and secondary particulate matter, key air pollutants. The so-called `master chemical mechanism' (MCM) is considered the `gold standard' and has been used by the UK government and industry groups to inform their position on EU legislation and by the US EPA to validate and extend their regulatory models. The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department has used the MCM to identify key ozone precursors and provide evidence for abatement strategies.
Plymouth University was the first to develop methods for identifying supercomplex `unresolved complex mixtures' of organic chemicals, including naphthenic acids. The chemicals are of particular environmental concern (e.g. in Canada because of their production during exploitation of the oil sands and globally as they result from spillages of petroleum such as in the Deepwater Horizon spill). The methods are now used by government agencies such as Environment Canada to monitor naphthenic acid pollutants. A consortium of international oil industries (e.g., BP, Chevron, Total) also now use Rowland's data to model oil pipeline blockage problems.
Human activity leads to the emission of many greenhouse gases that differ from carbon dioxide (CO2) in their ability to cause climate change. International climate policy requires the use of an "exchange rate" to place emissions of such gases on a "CO2-equivalent" scale. These exchange rates are calculated using "climate emission metrics" (hereafter "metrics") which enable the comparison of the climate effect of the emission of a given gas with emissions of CO2. Research in the Unit has contributed directly to (i) the calculation of inputs required for such metrics, (ii) the compilation of listings of the effects for a large number of gases and (iii) the consideration of alternative metric formulations. During the assessment period this work has been used in the implementation of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008-2012) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and in decisions and discussions (which began in 2005) on the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol's second commitment period (2013-2020), as well to intergovernmental debate on aspects of the use of metrics in climate agreements.
Research performed at York during 2003-6 revealed the unexpectedly high level of organic emissions by trees in the UK during the hottest periods, catalysing the formation of smog. This research on causes of summertime air pollution informed UK government policy reports in 2008/9. It also resulted in on-going changes in modelling of biogenic emissions by DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs), embedding the knowledge into all future government policy evaluations of air pollution. The Met Office and others have now improved their air quality forecasts provided to the public by adding the effect of natural emissions. The beneficiaries of the York research include government and those people at health risk from low air quality. The impact spans public policy, environmental policy and health.