ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE : SOCIAL ISSUES 207
and pea, squash and melon, and cabbage families. Plant responses to ultraviolet radiation
include reduced leaf size, stunted growth, poor seed quality, and increased susceptibility to
weeds, disease, and pests. Scientists are also in the early stages of understanding how
ultraviolet radiation might affect marine ecosystems and animals. Concern about these
systems begins with phytoplankton, microscopic marine algae that form the base of the
marine food web. Studies in the tropics have shown that significant amounts of ultraviolet
radiation can kill them, while lesser amounts can slow photosynthesis and thus productivity.
In Antarctica, this could affect kill, tiny crustaceans a notch up the food chain, and then
fish, birds and marine mammals including seals and whales. While water provides some
protection from radiation, crude estimates indicate that ultraviolet radiation can penetrate
to depths of 10 to 20 meters. Some phytoplankton is known to be tolerant of ultraviolet
radiation, whereas others cannot tolerate any. A likely response will be for tolerant species
to replace sensitive ones, though no one knows how this would affect the fish that eat them.
Nations Joining to Protect the Ozone Layer
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, negotiated in
September 1987, calls for 50 per cent reduction in CFC production from 1986 levels by 1999.
Forty-nine nations- including Canada, the United States Japan, and many nations in Europe,
which together consume 80 percent of the chemicals controlled-have ratified the protocol.
The protocol is a delicate balance between the most up-to-date scientific information, reliable
industrial expertise, and committed political leadership, all supported by strong and informed
public interest. The Montreal Protocol may prove to be a model for actions that span national
boundaries and interests as the world addresses common environmental issues such as
greenhouse warming and other forms of global change.
Conventions
Several conferences in the recent years have taken place which have provided
international policy framework to be considered when dealing with the science of the global
climate change as under:
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (Vienna, Austria, March 22,
1985). This convention was signed by 20 states and the EEC at a conference convened by
the UNEP. The object of the convention was the protection of human health and the
environment against adverse effect resulting or likely to result from human activities, which
modify or are likely to modify the ozone layer. International conference on the assessment
of the role of CO 2 and other green house gases in climate variations and associated impacts
(Villach, Austria, October 9- 15, 1985) and follow up workshops (Viliach, Austria, September,
28, October 2, 1987 Bellagio, Italy November 9-13, 1987). The Viuach conference held with
29 countries recommended that the- governments and intergovernmental organizations should
take into account the results of the assessment made in their environmental programmes,
and should favour the increase of public information effects on the global change issues.
This meet was in regard with the assessment of the presence of carbon’ dioxide in the
atmosphere.
Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal, Canada,
September 16, 1987). This protocol signed by 24 of the 46 countries attending a Conference
in Montreal seeks to inhibit the production, consumption and trade of ozone-depleting
compounds. The compounds are divided into groups: Group I (certain CFSs) and Group II