ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on two major issues: the enhanced greenhouse effect and the destruction of stratospheric ozone. The trapping of long wave radiation from the earth surface by gases and water vapour which keeps the surface of the earth and the lower part of the atmosphere some 33ºC warmer than it would otherwise be. This natural process has been augmented by emissions of gases from human activities, giving rise to the enhanced greenhouse effect. The changes in the global climate system which seem likely to result from human induced changes in the atmosphere have arguably become the major environmental issue of our time. Major changes in ozone concentration in the stratosphere are, therefore, a result of changes in O3 losses. Ozone can also be destroyed by catalytic reactions. Known catalysts for stratospheric ozone loss are chlorine, bromine, OH and nitric oxide (NO).
