Environmental effects of stratospheric ozone depletion, UV radiation, and interactions with climate change: UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, Update 2020

R E Neale; P W Barnes; T M Robson; P J Neale; C E Williamson; R G Zepp; S R Wilson; S Madronich; A L Andrady; A M Heikkilä; G H Bernhard; A F Bais; P J Aucamp; A T Banaszak; J F Bornman; L S Bruckman; S N Byrne; B Foereid; D-P Häder; L M Hollestein; W-C Hou; S Hylander; M A K Jansen; A R Klekociuk; J B Liley; J Longstreth; R M Lucas; J Martinez-Abaigar; K McNeill; C M Olsen; K K Pandey; L E Rhodes; S A Robinson; K C Rose; T Schikowski; K R Solomon; B Sulzberger; J E Ukpebor; Q-W Wang; S-Å Wängberg; C C White; S Yazar; A R Young; P J Young; L Zhu; M Zhu

doi:10.1007/s43630-020-00001-x

Environmental effects of stratospheric ozone depletion, UV radiation, and interactions with climate change: UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, Update 2020

Photochem Photobiol Sci. 2021 Jan;20(1):1-67. doi: 10.1007/s43630-020-00001-x. Epub 2021 Jan 20.

Authors

R E Neale¹, P W Barnes², T M Robson³, P J Neale⁴, C E Williamson⁵, R G Zepp⁶, S R Wilson⁷, S Madronich⁸, A L Andrady⁹, A M Heikkilä¹⁰, G H Bernhard¹¹, A F Bais¹², P J Aucamp¹³, A T Banaszak¹⁴, J F Bornman¹⁵, L S Bruckman¹⁶, S N Byrne¹⁷, B Foereid¹⁸, D-P Häder¹⁹, L M Hollestein²⁰, W-C Hou²¹, S Hylander²², M A K Jansen²³, A R Klekociuk²⁴, J B Liley²⁵, J Longstreth²⁶, R M Lucas²⁷, J Martinez-Abaigar²⁸, K McNeill²⁹, C M Olsen³⁰, K K Pandey³¹, L E Rhodes³², S A Robinson³³, K C Rose³⁴, T Schikowski³⁵, K R Solomon³⁶, B Sulzberger³⁷, J E Ukpebor³⁸, Q-W Wang³⁹, S-Å Wängberg⁴⁰, C C White⁴¹, S Yazar⁴², A R Young⁴³, P J Young⁴⁴, L Zhu⁴⁵, M Zhu⁴⁶

Affiliations

¹ Population Health Department, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
² Biological Sciences and Environmental Program, Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA.
³ Organismal and Evolutionary Biology (OEB), Viikki Plant Sciences Centre (ViPS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Maryland, USA.
⁵ Department of Biology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA.
⁶ ORD/CEMM, US Environmental Protection Agency, Athens, GA, USA.
⁷ School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
⁸ Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁹ Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
¹⁰ Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
¹¹ Biospherical Instruments Inc, San Diego, CA, USA.
¹² Department of Physics, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
¹³ Ptersa Environmental Consultants, Pretoria, South Africa.
¹⁴ Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, México.
¹⁵ Food Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. [email protected].
¹⁶ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
¹⁷ The University of Sydney, School of Medical Sciences, Discipline of Applied Medical Science, Sydney, Australia.
¹⁸ Environment and Natural Resources, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Ås, Norway.
¹⁹ Department of Biology, Friedrich-Alexander University, Möhrendorf, Germany.
²⁰ Department of Dermatology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
²¹ Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
²² Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial model Systems-EEMiS, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden. [email protected].
²³ School of BEES, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
²⁴ Antarctic Climate Program, Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, Australia.
²⁵ National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Lauder, New Zealand.
²⁶ The Institute for Global Risk Research, LLC, Bethesda, MD, USA.
²⁷ National Centre of Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
²⁸ Faculty of Science and Technology, University of La Rioja, Logroño, Spain.
²⁹ ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
³⁰ Cancer Control Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
³¹ Department of Wood Properties and Uses, Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore, India.
³² Photobiology Unit, Dermatology Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
³³ Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, Global Challenges Program and School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
³⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
³⁵ IUF-Leibniz Institute of Environmental Medicine, Dusseldorf, Germany.
³⁶ Centre for Toxicology, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada.
³⁷ Academic Guest Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Duebendorf, Switzerland.
³⁸ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
³⁹ Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenyang, China.
⁴⁰ Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁴¹ Bee America, 5409 Mohican Rd, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁴² Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia.
⁴³ St John's Institute of Dermatology, King's College London, London, UK.
⁴⁴ Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
⁴⁵ Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai, China.
⁴⁶ State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

This assessment by the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides the latest scientific update since our most recent comprehensive assessment (Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, 2019, 18, 595-828). The interactive effects between the stratospheric ozone layer, solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and climate change are presented within the framework of the Montreal Protocol and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We address how these global environmental changes affect the atmosphere and air quality; human health; terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; biogeochemical cycles; and materials used in outdoor construction, solar energy technologies, and fabrics. In many cases, there is a growing influence from changes in seasonality and extreme events due to climate change. Additionally, we assess the transmission and environmental effects of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, in the context of linkages with solar UV radiation and the Montreal Protocol.