AWARENESS ON THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF OZONE

LAYER DEPLETION AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL

STUDENTS OF KOTTAYAM

ANN MARIA MATHEW

B.Ed Student (Physical Science)
Mount Carmel College of Teacher Education
for Women, Kottayam

ABSTRACT

The present article entitled ‘Awareness on the causes and effects of Ozone
Layer Depletion among Secondary School Students of Kottayam district is based
on a survey carried out with the objective to assess the attitude of students on the
importance of ozone layer, need of protecting it and also to check their knowledge
on the inter-dependence of ozone depletion and climate change. The investigator
collected a sample of 51, that includes the secondary school students of
Kanjirappally and Parathodu gramapanchayats was collected by administrating a
questionnaire containing 20 questions through online mode via google forms. The
major findings of the study indicates that most of the students are aware of the
hazardous effects of ultraviolet radiations that directly reaches the Earth due to the
depletion of Earth’s Sunscreen ‘the ozone layer’. But some of them could not
identify the dependence of climate change on the same. It was surprising that more
than half of the respondents have done nothing in concern with ozone layer
protection. They should be motivated to take action against the release of
hazardous chemical and wastes the lead to the depletion of ozone.
INTRODUCTION

The ozone layer is a layer that is mainly found in the lower portion of
earth’s atmosphere. It has the potential to absorb around 97-99% of the harmful
ultraviolet radiations coming from the sun that can damage life on Earth. If the
ozone layer was absent, millions of people would develop skin cancers and other
diseases and may have weakened immune system. However, scientists have
discovered hole in the ozone layer over Antartica. This has focused their concern
on various environmental issues and steps to control them. The main reasons for
the ozone hole are the chloroflurocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, methyl bromide
and hydrochloroflurocarbon.

Ozone layer depletion is the thinning of ozone layer pre3sent in the

upper atmosphere. This happens when Chlorine and Bromine atoms in the
atmosphere come I contact with ozone and destroy ozone molecules. One chlorine
can destroy one lakh molecules of ozone. It is destroyed more quickly than created.
Some compounds release chlorine and bromine on exposure to high ultraviolet
light, which then contributes to ozone layer depletion. Such compounds arte ozone
depleting substances. Montreal Protocol was proposed in 1987 to stop the use,
production and import of these substances and minimize their concentration in
atmosphere to protect ozone layer of Earth.

The causes of ozone depletion include chloroflurocarbons,

unregulated rocket launches, nitrogenous compounds, natural processes like
sunspots, stratospheric winds etc. Ozone depletion has its effect on human health,
animal health, environment, marine health and its solutions include minimizing the
use of vehicle, use of eco-friendly cleaning products, prohibiting the use of nitrous
oxide etc.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To create an awareness about the importance of protecting ozone

layer.
2. To check pupils knowledge about ozone and its uses.
3. To cut down the production and consumption of ozone depleting
substances.
4. To understand and avoid the activities that cause the release of
unnecessary pollutants to the atmosphere.
5. To protect the Earth from global warming by minimizing the
presence of ozone depleting substances.
6. To make them aware about the inter-dependence of ozone layer
depletion and climate change.
7. To understand the methodology of ozone formation.
8. To realize the role of daily activities in depleting ozone layer.
9. To analyze the effects of ozone layer depletion.

METHODOLOGY

The study was conducted using survey method of investigation. A

questionnaire containing 20 questions related to the awareness on the causes and
effects of ozone layer depletion was prepared after the detailed analysis of the
chapter ‘Acids, Bases and Salts’ in the Chemistry textbook of class IX. The sample
was collected from almost 51 students by administering through online mode via
google form. These students were studying in various schools of Kanjirappally and
Parathodu Gramapanchayats of Kottayam district. The data obtained was then
analysed and interpreted with the help of pie diagrams to reach at the conclusion.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Since the topic ozone layer depletion is of great concern now-a-days, I

was sure that students are aware about the details of the same. This study is aimed
to acquire a greater understanding of how the students perceive the regulations to
protect ozone layer and how much they are aware about the status of ozone layer in
the lower portion of Earth’s atmosphere that protects us from harmful ultraviolet
radiations. The study revealed that about 95.9% of the students are aware about the
causes and effects of ozone layer depletion.

The first three questions of the questionnaire corresponds to the

previous knowledge of the learners about ozone layer and its position in the
atmosphere. The next four questions deal with the causes of ozone layer depletion.
The other questions administrated include those which are related to the effects of
ozone layer depletion, the extend of accomplishment of the initiatives of Montreal
Protocol etc. Finally the questionnaire aims to check the learners opinion about the
initiatives of the authorities to reduce the emission of ozone- depleting substances
(ODS).

1.90% YES NO

98.10%

Figure (1): Pie diagram showing the influence of human activities on ozone layer
depletion.
I felt very happy that out of the 51 respondents 98.1 % of them were familiar to
ozone layer and only 1.9% of them do not know about the ozone layer. These are
those students below grade 7 who did not study about te same. It is observes that
only 42.3% of the students identified stratosphere as the layer of atmosphere that
contains ozone and about 51.9% answered it as troposphere. About 96.2% of the
students agreed that there is an urgent need of protecting the ozone layer. Rest of
the percentage was not sure about the importance of protecting ozone layer.

Cl and Br
Don’t Know
Cl and Na
17.30%
76.90%

5.8

Figure (2): Pie diagram showing the reactive halogen gases that destroy ozone.

It was surprising that about 98.1% of the respondents agreed that

human activities play a great role in destroying the ozone layer and 82.7% of them
were aware about the influence that halogen gases have on depleting the layer.
11.5% of respondents have no knowledge about the role of halogen gases on
atmosphere or they could not identify chlorine, bromine, fluorine etc as halogens. I
found it happy that 76.9% of students could differentiate chlorine and bromine as
the halogen gases that causes ozone layer depletion to a greater extend.

Yes
No
Don't Know

44.20% 44.20%

11.50%

Figure (3): Pie diagram showing the effectiveness of the initiatives of Montreal
Protocol in reducing ozone depleting substances.

Since most of the respondents were of classes X, XI and XII, and have
already studied about the reasons of ozone layer depletion 86.5% of them could
identify volcanic eruptions and the changes in sun as one of the causes of ozone
layer depletion. 7.7% of the learners were not sure about the relation between these
two and rest of the learners disagreed to this relationship. Even though 86.5% of
the students identified that atmospheric temperature and ozone depletion are
interlinked. 9.6 % of them answered it as independent on each other. For the
question “Does the depletion of ozone layer increase ground level ultraviolet
radiation” 82.7% responded as ‘yes’ and 11.5% as ‘don’t know’. It was surprising
that 98% was familiar to the present day threat of climate change and 48.1 %
analyzed that no regular climate change occurs now-a-days. I was surprised that
36.5% of the respondents were not at all aware about the irregularities in climate
change which is a global concern. 86.5% of them agreed that minimizing the rate
of pollutions canreduce the depletion of ozone layer which in turn reduces the
ultraviolet radiations on Earth.

Very Important
Important
Least Important
3.80%

21.30%

75%

Figure (4): Pie diagram showing how important is the issue of climate change and
ozone depletion.

Even though 75% of the learners were aware about the effects of harmful
ultraviolet radiations on health, 42.3% of the students were not aware about other
hazardous effects ozone layer depletion and exposure to ultraviolet radiations.
Since all my respondents were students only 36.5% of them have ever taken
measures out of concern of ozone protection. Also 51.9% agree that there is no
enough measured from the part of authorities that could control ozone depleting
substances and more than 42.5% of the learners rated thos4e government initiatives
for the protection of ozone layer as poor.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

By conducting the study, I found out that even though the students are
instructed to study about the ozone layer depletion and its relation to climate
change, many of them were not aware about the same. Some of them don’t even
know that these concepts are all interlinked and dependent on each other. The
Montreal Protocol, which is a global agreement to protect the stratospheric ozone
layer by phasing out the production and consumption of ozone depleting
substances was unfamiliar to most of the students. They knew that the causes of
ozone layer depletion include human activities, pollution, hazardous emission of
CFC’s, but are not much concerned about the protection of ozone layer.

Since the ozone layer is only projected to recover during the second half
of this century, the public, especially the children must be aware of ozone
depletion’s impact on human and animal health and adapt themselves to the
consequences. Everyone, but especially children and people working in the
vulnerable sectors, need to be taught the ways to limit excessive UV exposure.
Similarly because the technology and policy solutions required to phase out ozone
depleting chemicals will be implemented over the next one or two decades, a new
generation of specialists must be cultivated to continue the work of the Montreal
Protocol into the future. They should adopt more technologies and practices that
protect both the ozone layer and the climate so that they adopt these considerations
in their future professional work as engineers, faculty managers or business
owners. Education is an important element in sustaining this success and its very
crucial for ensuring that future generations become involved in this process.
Targeted initiatives at universities and schools inspire both collective and
individual involvement in this global environmental challenge.
REFERENCES

 Shivashakthivel T and K.Shivakumar Reddy (2011); “ozone layer

depletion and its effects- A review”: International Journal for
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 Bilash Chandra Roy (2018); “A review on ozone layer depletion,
effects and its solution”; International Journal for advances research.
 Gabriel Chiodo (2021); “The evolution of stratospheric ozone” An
editorial article in the4 journal Atmospheric Science, Volume 9.
 Jonathan David and Ramson Silva (2018); “Environmental Assessment
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Volume 4.
 Richard P. Gillagher (2006);”Adverse effects of ultraviolet radiation: A
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 SCERT Chemistry textbook, Standard IX.