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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.
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.
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.
Halocarbons in the atmosphere can be both ozone-depleting and greenhouse gases. Our halocarbon research has formed a vital part of the science that has underpinned the Montreal Protocol on `Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer'. Whilst this Protocol was originally ratified in 1987, it is amended at regular intervals based on the latest scientific evidence as reported through quadrennial World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Ozone Assessments. Our research has contributed to the Assessments in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010, as well as IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) assessments. These assessments have led directly to reductions in emissions of a large number of halocarbons and consequently major climate and health benefits worldwide; e.g. UEA research on methyl bromide and halons has led, via Montreal Protocol amendments, to a decline in atmospheric bromine between 2008-2013.
Bristol ChemLabS (part of the School of Chemistry) has used School of Chemistry research on the atmosphere (air quality, atmospheric chemistry and the history of greenhouse gases on Earth) to enhance dramatically the quality and uptake of chemistry education in the UK and approximately 20 other nations. This radical advance has been achieved through ChemLabS' outreach activity, which has involved running more than 1,200 events for over 250,000 students over the past six years (and over 1,000 events since 2008). ChemLabS' atmospheric chemistry education packages are now being delivered in other countries, its textbooks/articles have been taken up across Europe, and it has trained more than 500 teachers directly. As a result of its activities, which are grounded in rigorous research, Bristol ChemLabS has been able to document increased interest in science and higher uptake at post-16 level.
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.
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.
University of Southampton research has been crucial in informing and stimulating worldwide debate on geoengineering — the possible large-scale intervention in the Earth's climate system in order to avoid dangerous climate change. Climate modellers at Southampton helped to reveal the potential extent of the fossil fuel "hangover" — the long-term damaging effects expected from anthropogenic CO2 emissions centuries or even millennia after they end. This work led Professor John Shepherd FRS to initiate and chair a Royal Society study, whose 2009 report, Geoengineering the Climate: Science, government and uncertainty, is the global benchmark document on geoengineering strategies, influencing UK and foreign government policy.
This case study describes the impacts of the work undertaken at Manchester Metropolitan University's (MMU) Centre for Aviation, Transport, and the Environment (CATE), on international and national policy and legislation for reducing CO2 emissions from aviation and shipping. The research has provided a robust technical basis for emissions reductions of CO2 from aviation and the maritime sectors. It has influenced international and national policy development of the International Civil Aviation Organization through their Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (ICAO-CAEP), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the European Commission (EC), and the UK Committee on Climate Change (UKCCC). Greenhouse gas emission reductions have been pledged under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP) as a result of the United Nations Environment Program's (UNEP) influential report "Bridging the Emissions Gap", in which a chapter on aviation and shipping was led by CATE staff ([1], sec.3, numerical references to the research).
Information on the potential impacts of climate change across the world, and on the effects of policies designed to reduce emissions, is fundamental to inform the development of climate mitigation and adaptation policy. Research conducted at the Unit has been critical to the establishment of a target 80% cut in UK carbon emissions by 2050, as enforced by the Climate Change Act (2008), and provided an affirmation of the relevance of the 2f0b0C global mean temperature rise target central to national and international climate mitigation policy. Research into the global consequences of climate change, particularly for water resources and river flooding, has been used by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to assess the impacts of un-mitigated climate change and the effects of different mitigation policy options.