The ICFRE’s Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB), Coimbatore, observed International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer on Friday, to raise awareness about the significance of ozone layer among students and the general public.
In his inaugural address, IFGTB Director C. Kunhikannan said protecting the ozone layer also protected Earth’s vegetation and may help prevent the planet from global warming. Four decades ago, scientists warned that a hole in the layer of ozone surrounding the earth could have serious effects on human health and the environment. But through domestic and international action, the ozone layer was healing and should fully recover by about 2065, said Mr. Kunhikannan.
R. Yasodha, Group Coordinator - Research, highlighted the immense impacts of the Montreal Protocol and said the ozone hole shall vanish at the earliest if we followed the Montreal Protocol in the right sense. She explained that India was one of the first countries in the world to develop a comprehensive Cooling Action Plan (India Cooling Action Plan) that had a long-term vision to address the cooling requirement across sectors and listed out actions which could help reduce the cooling demand.
Senior Principal Scientist Kannan C.S. Warrier explained that the stratospheric ozone layer shielded Earth from most of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation and made life on this planet possible. The latest update from the Scientific Assessment Panel to the Montreal Protocol confirmed that ozone layer recovery was on track and ozone levels were expected to return to 1980 levels by around 2066 over the Antarctic, he said.
A lecture series for students for PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore; Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, and ST Hindu College, Nagercoil, was organised. Senior Programme Officer S. Vigneswaran gave a lecture on the ‘Mission LiFE’. Students had the opportunity to visit various nurseries and explore the Gass Forest Museum.
