lnu.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Environmental consequences of interacting effects of changes in stratospheric ozone, ultraviolet radiation, and climate: UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, Update 2024
Smithsonian Environm Res Ctr, USA.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4047-8098
Linnaeus University, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Department of Biology and Environmental Science. (Ctr Ecol & Evolut Microbial Model Syst EEMiS)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3740-5998
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Mexico.
Friedrich Alexander Univ, Germany.
Show others and affiliations
2025 (English)In: Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, ISSN 1474-905X, E-ISSN 1474-9092, Vol. 24, p. 357-392Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This Assessment Update by the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) addresses the interacting effects of changes in stratospheric ozone, solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and climate on the environment and human health. These include new modelling studies that confirm the benefits of the Montreal Protocol in protecting the stratospheric ozone layer and its role in maintaining a stable climate, both at low and high latitudes. We also provide an update on projected levels of solar UV-radiation during the twenty-first century. Potential environmental consequences of climate intervention scenarios are also briefly discussed, illustrating the large uncertainties of, for example, Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI). Modelling studies predict that, although SAI would cool the Earth's surface, other climate factors would be affected, including stratospheric ozone depletion and precipitation patterns. The contribution to global warming of replacements for ozone-depleting substances (ODS) are assessed. With respect to the breakdown products of chemicals under the purview of the Montreal Protocol, the risks to ecosystem and human health from the formation of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) as a degradation product of ODS replacements are currently de minimis. UV-radiation and climate change continue to have complex interactive effects on the environment due largely to human activities. UV-radiation, other weathering factors, and microbial action contribute significantly to the breakdown of plastic waste in the environment, and in affecting transport, fate, and toxicity of the plastics in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and the atmosphere. Sustainability demands continue to drive industry innovations to mitigate environmental consequences of the use and disposal of plastic and plastic-containing materials. Terrestrial ecosystems in alpine and polar environments are increasingly being exposed to enhanced UV-radiation due to earlier seasonal snow and ice melt because of climate warming and extended periods of ozone depletion. Solar radiation, including UV-radiation, also contributes to the decomposition of dead plant material, which affects nutrient cycling, carbon storage, emission of greenhouse gases, and soil fertility. In aquatic ecosystems, loss of ice cover is increasing the area of polar oceans exposed to UV-radiation with possible negative effects on phytoplankton productivity. However, modelling studies of Arctic Ocean circulation suggests that phytoplankton are circulating to progressively deeper ocean layers with less UV irradiation. Human health is also modified by climate change and behaviour patterns, resulting in changes in exposure to UV-radiation with harmful or beneficial effects depending on conditions and skin type. For example, incidence of melanoma has been associated with increased air temperature, which affects time spent outdoors and thus exposure to UV-radiation. Overall, implementation of the Montreal Protocol and its Amendments has mitigated the deleterious effects of high levels of UV-radiation and global warming for both environmental and human health.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Nature, 2025. Vol. 24, p. 357-392
National Category
Climate Science
Research subject
Natural Science, Environmental Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-137437DOI: 10.1007/s43630-025-00687-xISI: 001446143000001PubMedID: 40095356Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105000820660OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-137437DiVA, id: diva2:1948084
Available from: 2025-03-27 Created: 2025-03-27 Last updated: 2025-04-10Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textPubMedScopus

Authority records

Hylander, Samuel

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Neale, Patrick J.Hylander, SamuelRose, Kevin C.
By organisation
Department of Biology and Environmental Science
In the same journal
Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences
Climate Science

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn
Total: 17 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf