Events

25 Sep 2017|Noida | F1 seminar hall

‘Ozone Day’ and ‘World Environment Health Day’ celebrated at Amity University

To commemorate ‘Ozone Day’ and ‘WorldEnvironment Health Day’ Amity Institute of Environmental Toxicology, Safety andManagement (AIETSM) and Amity Institute of Environmental Sciences (AIES) organizeda Workshop at University Campus, Sector 125 Noida.

Theaim of the workshop was to sensitize students about the importance of environmentalprotection through Ozone and also concerns for safety of environment and publichealth.

Prof. S. V. Eswaran, EmeritusScientist in UNESCO's funded Regional Centre for Biotechnology and Prof. RBhaskar, FGS, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, GuruJambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar were present during theoccasion.

Welcomingthe guests, Prof.(Dr.) Tanu Jindal, Director, AIES & AIETSMapprised that the World Ozone Day commemorates the date of the signing of theMontreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987. Shefurther added that this year marks as the 30th anniversary ofMontreal Protocol and the theme is ‘Caring for all life under the sun’. Dr.Jindal briefed about ozone layer depletion, indoor air pollution, implicationof chemicals and health impacts. She stressed that as per WHO report, poorquality air affects more than 80% of the world's population. She highlightedthat 11 of the common air pollutants are higher inside than outside and higherhealth risks are there since most of the people spend 98% of their time indoors.

Addressingthe gathering, Dr. (Prof.) S V Eswaranbriefed about Paris Agreement and said that to address climate change,countries adopted the Paris Agreement on December 2015. He mentioned that inthe agreement, all countries agreed to work to limit global temperature rise towell below 2 degrees Celsius. Dr. Eswaran apprised about UN SustainableDevelopment Goals which are about enabling environment of peace and securitythrough rule of law and conditions for inclusion and participation and advisedstudents to understand these goals thoroughly. He averred that it is importantto learn from nature rather than tempering it for non sustainable development.

Speakingon the occasion, Prof. R Bhaskarsaid that humans have been alternating the chemistry of the atmosphere on aglobal scale. He pointed that these changes are creating numerous environmentalthreats such as Ozone Depletion, Acid Rain and Climate change. He apprised thatthe earth's protective ozone layer is well on trade to recover in the next fewyears but equal contribution from every country is required. He further addedthat the increasing complexity of the environmental problems requires anenhanced capacity for scientific awareness, assessment and monitoring. Prof.Bhaskar stressed that it is necessary to sensitize people about the importanceof our environment right from the primary level. He opined that public awareness,participation and political will of the government can together bring about thedesired change.

Duringthe occasion, students of Amity Institute of Environmental Toxicology, Safetyand Management (AIETSM) and Amity Institute of Environmental Sciences (AIES) participatedin the exhibition of photographs on theme ‘environmental issues’.