
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 24, 1990                   TAG: 9006280464
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

OZONE LAYER IS FADING FASTER

New scientific evidence that the earth's ozone layer is being destroyed more quickly than previously reported is being presented in London to negotiators working on a treaty to speed the elimination of chemicals that cause the problem.

A report by Ivar S.A. Isaksen of Norway's Institute of Geophysics says balloon observations in the lower stratosphere show a 10 percent reduction in ozone since 1967 over the middle latitudes of Europe and North America.

The lower stratosphere is where industrial chemicals containing chlorine react on the surface of ice and dust crystals and destroy ozone molecules.

Ozone in the atmosphere shields the earth's surface from excessive ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which has been found to cause skin cancer, eye cataracts and suppression of the immune system in human beings. The radiation also harms wildlife and crops.

Last year, scientists convened by the United Nations Environment Program reported ozone throughout the atmosphere had been depleted by 3 percent to 5.5 percent over the mid-latitudes in winter.

The readings reported by Isaksen, who is a member of the international group of scientists studying the problem, suggest the loss of ozone may be even more rapid than that.

Although the loss of ozone has been most pronounced at the poles, particularly over Antarctica, where a loss of 50 percent has been reported, Isaksen reported new satellite measurements had found a 3 percent loss over the equator, where the rate of depletion is supposed to be the smallest, over the last 10 years.

The new findings could affect the deliberations of the negotiators in London, who are now preparing to strengthen an existing treaty to reduce the production and use of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting chemicals.

by CNB