UNEP launches OzoneAction Pack for school children

Ahead of the World Ozone Day, the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) today brought out an Ozone Action Education Pack for primary school teachers to educate children about the importance of the Ozone layer and the dangerous consequences of its depletion.

The Education Pack, which has been prepared by UNESCO and WHO, was launched by Union Minister of State for Environment Namo Narain Meena here this evening.

The Day is observed every year on September 16 on which countries commemorate the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone layer.

The theme for this year is 'Protect the Ozone Layer: Save Life on Earth.' ''The Education Pack provides primary school teachers with practical, hands-on and entertaining curricula material to educate their students about the protective role of the Ozone layer and the caises and consequences of its depletion,'' said Mr Rajendra Shinde, head of the OzoneAction Branch, UNEP, Paris.

He said according to a scietific assessment conducted under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation and UNEP,the ozone layer would be restored to pre-1980 levels by 2049 over huge areas of Europe, North America, Asia, southern Australia, Latin America and Africa. And Over Antarctica, the recovery was likely to be delayed until 2065, 15 years later than earlier hoped.

Addressing children who had come to attend the launch, he said, '' Children like you who are learning about safe sun practices from the Ozone Action Pack will already be senior citizens retired from jobs by that time. We hope that by that time you will have learnt your lesson well and adopted safe sun practices to avoid the consequences of living under a thinned ozone layer.'' The ozone layer is vital to life on earth as it protects it from dangerous solar radiation. Holes in the layer have been blamed for increased risk of skin cancer and cataracts in humans, and harmful to crops and marine life.

It is a form of oxygen which is created in the atmosphere when ultraviolet light breaks up oxygen molecules.

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