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Central Weather Bureau gives mixed ozone news

While the ozone layer above Taiwan is getting thicker, the quantity of ozone measured at ground level has also increased, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.

David Lin (林大為), a section chief at the bureau's observation division, said they had discovered that the amount of ozone in the stratosphere, or the ozone layer, has gradually increased.

He said more ozone in the stratosphere is a good thing, as it helps protect the Earth from the sun's harmful rays.

Amounts of ozone near ground level have also increased. When comparing the statistics in 1994 and 2004, the average daily value in the spring, summer and the autumn has increased between 25 percent and 58 percent.

Lin said that ozone at ground level was produced by pollutants exposed to sunlight, and it worsens air quality.

"As a greenhouse gas, it could potentially raise the temperature in the atmosphere," he said.

Lin said that pollutants from China have become an important factor causing the increase of ozone near the ground.

He said the most significant change in the amount of ground-level ozone was in Lanyu (蘭嶼).

Lin cited research published by the Global Change Research Center of National Taiwan University, which identified that pollutants from China accounted for 12.5 percent of the ozone density increase in Lanyu.

The findings were presented at a ceremony celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Though not a signatory of the protocol, Taiwan has been participating in the Montreal Convention as if it was an official signatory.
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