The Depletion Of The Ozone Layer

In 1988, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had conclusive proof products adding to the output of carbon dioxide and methane gases in the atmosphere were causing the earth to warm; and, if not stopped will make it inhabitable for human life. In the 1970’s the United States had conclusive proof that products releasing Chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere were causing the ozone layer to deplete; and, that if continued would be dangerous for human life. The United States took international global action, by joining the Montreal Protocol, to phase out the products producing chlorofluorocarbon and the ozone layer has been successfully replenished .

In the world today, global warming and climate change are one of the main issues with the earth. This issue affects everyone and everything in this world, and even though it seems to be a big problem, most people do not seem to care. The most familiar term is global warming and climate change, but greenhouse gases is one of the main causes and is never mentioned. Greenhouse gases are gases that absorb and emit radiation in the atmosphere, hence makes the earth warmer. The importance of this knowledge of greenhouse gases is so the world will know one of the main causes of global warming and climate change and possibly some

Slide 1: Introduction: The atmosphere is made up of mostly nitrogen and oxygen. Other important gasses, such as carbon dioxide and methane, are known as greenhouse gasses. This help insulates Earth and keep it at a temperature where living things can survive. Greenhouse Gasses: The atmosphere is made up of mostly nitrogen and oxygen.

The Greenhouse effect obviously has gasses and these gasses are composed of ozone 12% methane 18% carbon dioxide 50% CFC chlorofluorocarbon 14% and nitrous oxide 6% some of these gasses are natural which is good but most of it comes from us especially carbon dioxide. All of these gasses makes a barrier called the atmosphere, too much of these is bad

These gases then go into to our atmosphere and cause global warming as they create a thin layer preventing the reflected sun rays to leave. Some of you may not be worried about global warming but I am. Even if the harshest impacts of it don’t happen in our lifetimes, shouldn’t we give next generations a fair shot at a normal life? Even if you don’t care about others, warmer air can hold higher content, which makes rainfall patterns more extreme.

The next major gas is carbon dioxide.  “Small amounts of carbon dioxide in the air helps keep heat in the Earth in the vital process of the Greenhouse Effect.  As car exhausts and industries continue to shoot carbon dioxide in the air, the amount of carbon dioxide will increase.  This causes more heat to be kept, increasing the Earth’s temperature”(What Is The Greenhouse Effect).

I think that natural gasses are affecting the Earth’s atmosphere. Natural gasses continue to rise up to the atmosphere and continue to change the Earth. There are also many gasses going up to the atmosphere, changing the climate and the temperature of the Earth. Gasses including Water Vapor, Methane, Nitrous oxide, and CFCs or Chlorofluorocarbons. But human activities are changing the Greenhouse effect by increasing the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide

The world naturally produces gasses, the most common being nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and methane. While these gasses are the basic building blocks of the earths atmosphere they are also green house gasses, gasses that are the main contributors to global warming. According to the Oxford English Dictionary global warming is, “A long-term gradual increase in the temperature of the earth 's atmosphere and oceans” (Global) and this increase in

Much like the glass of a greenhouse, gases in our atmosphere sustain life on Earth by trapping the sun 's heat. The Earth’s atmosphere contains several different gases that act like a blanket, keeping the Earth warm. Water vapour and some trace gases like CO2, CH4 (methane), O3 (ozone), N2O (nitrous oxide), are “IR active”, i.e. they absorb heat energy, and stop the warmth from escaping into space. Without the entrapment of heat, the earth’s mean temperature would be -180 C and life, as we know it today, would not be possible. These gases are present in the atmosphere in tiny quantities compared to the amounts of oxygen and nitrogen. But even a small change in the concentration of these gases may create an effect that could change our

of ozone, and it acts like a sunshade for humans as it shields most of the harmful ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun. The ultraviolet radiation also takes part in forming the ozone initially as the reaction of radiation separating the oxygen molecule made up of two atoms results in the separated oxygen molecules recombining with other oxygen molecules to form ozone. There are three types of Ultraviolet radiation and the three types differ in wavelength. UV-A radiation, emitted at 315-400 nm is unaffected by ozone reduction and is not as harmful as UV-B radiation. UV-B radiation is affected by the decrease in atmospheric ozone and it causes the most damage to living organisms on Earth and is emitted at 280-315 nm. The damage from UV-B depends on the amount of atmospheric ozone present and cloud cover shielding the surface from some radiation, as well as the angle of the sun in the sky. As stratospheric ozone diminishes, proportionately more of the shorter UV-B will reach the surface of Earth affecting many living organisms. UV-C is lethal as it is emitted at 200-280 nm; however, it is completely absorbed by atmospheric ozone and oxygen. Therefore, even with severe ozone depletion, UV-C radiation will not harm the surface of the Earth.

For years, we have heard about the ozone crisis: that because of industrialization and the lack of pollution-consciousness by our industries, governments, and academia, we have put so many environmentally harmful products into the atmosphere that our ozone – the good kind, the kind that protects us from harmful UV radiation – is becoming dangerously damaged. It is becoming thinner and developing holes, like the large hole over Antarctica. Predictions made expected the ozone hole to continue to increase and for the general thickness to get continuously thinner, so that the harmful UV rays of the sun would pass right through our atmosphere and fry our skin if we went outside for ten

The issue of global warming should be on the list of our top priorities. Studies show that the average of global temperatures have risen since the Industrial Revolution began. Since the Industrial Revolution, human emissions has quadrupled the frequency of certain heat extremes and many scientists have warned that a failure to bring greenhouse gases under control could eventually lead to a 62-fold increase in extreme heat blasts (Gillis Justin A17). Most of the increase is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. These activities contribute to a build-up in carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth’s atmosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere is made of gases like nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen. These gases act as a blanket that covers and gives us warmth, but once these gases such as carbon dioxide absorbs heat, but does not release it back into space in which causes the increase in global temperature. This is called the greenhouse effect because it only traps heat but does not release it.

What we now call the ozone layer was discovered in 1913 by the French physicists Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson. Caroline et al suggests the earth’s atmosphere has five layers; they are placed in order of closest and deepest to farthest and thinnest. They include the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere. (Tran, Caroline, Dan Chong, Anne Keith, and Jordan Shively. "Depletion of the Ozone Layer." UC Davis ChemWiki. STEMWiki Hyperlibrary). Ozone is a naturally occurring molecule containing three oxygen atoms. These ozone molecules form a gaseous layer in the Earth’s upper atmosphere called stratosphere. (The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. “ozone layer”. Columbia University Press) this extends from six miles above the Earth’s surface to 31 miles. In the stratosphere the ozone layer acts as the earth’s sun screen; as ozone take in solar ultraviolet radiation strongly, especially at wavelengths less than about 310 nm in the ultraviolet-A and Ultraviolet-B parts of the spectrum. Ozone thus acts as a strainer, preventing potentially detrimental Ultraviolet radiation from reaching the surface which can causes skin cancer and genetic damage. (Hester, Ronald E, and Harrison, Roy M, eds. Causes and Environmental Implications of UV-B Radiation. Cambridge, GBR: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2000. ProQuest ebrary)

The ozone layer is vital in protecting us from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation.

Why is the ozone layer of much concern to scientists and environmentalists? The ozone layer is quite beneficial to human life and existence. The destruction of this layer has been linked to the now common health conditions such as cancers, skin conditions and cataracts among others. It is apparent that, without the ozone layer, all humanity would be lost to disease.