Abstract
The general public has expressed appreciable concern over recent reports of observed decreases in stratospheric ozone and the associated increases in biologically harmful UV radiation which are probably occurring as a result. In response to these concerns, many countries have set up public awareness programs to inform the public on the status of the ozone layer and the degree to which changes in ozone are affecting the levels of UV radiation incident at the Earth’s surface.
In the Spring of 1992 Environment Canada introduced two public awareness programs: the Ozone Watch and the UV Index program. Ozone Watch is a weekly report of the state of the ozone layer over Canada. The UV Index program is a short range (18-hour) daily forecast of UV levels intended to advise the public on the intensity of UV radiation and to suggest appropriate precautions that may be taken to avoid excessive exposure. The programs will be described, the accuracy of the forecasts will be summarized and the extent to which these programs have helped educate the public on ozone depletion and UV radiation will be discussed.
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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Kerr, J.B., McElroy, C.T., Wardle, D.I. (1997). Ozone and UV Public Awareness Programs. In: Zerefos, C.S., Bais, A.F. (eds) Solar Ultraviolet Radiation. NATO ASI Series, vol 52. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03375-3_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03375-3_18
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