Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent evidence he has evaluated concerning damage to the ozone layer; and if he will make a statement. [22063]
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of recent changes in the ozone layer over the British Isles; and if he will make a statement. [22814]
§ Mr. ClappisonOn behalf of the Department, the United Kingdom Meteorological Office makes daily measurements of total ozone levels at two sites in the UK and publishes the information weekly during the sensitive winter and spring period of potentially low ozone. The Government also receive all reports from the World Meteorological Organisation on the state of the global ozone layer and information on the ozone layer over Europe from the European ozone research co-ordinating unit in Cambridge.
Statistically significant stratospheric ozone reductions continue everywhere except in equatorial regions, due to the high level of ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere. Recent levels of ozone over the United Kingdom have been significantly lower on individual days than previously observed due mainly to a particularly cold stratosphere this winter. Some year-to-year variation is to be expected due to fluctuations in meteorological conditions.
During the next 50 years, ozone levels are expected to return slowly to normal as a result of actions being taken under the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.