Ozone Layer Essay

1259 Words6 Pages
Ozone Layer The definition of Ozone layer The ozone layer is a deep layer in the stratosphere, encircling the earth that has large amount of ozone in it. The layer shields the entire earth from much of the harmful ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun. Fascinatingly, it is also this ultraviolet radiation that forms the ozone in the first place. Ozone is a special form of oxygen, made up of three oxygen atoms rather than the usual two oxygen atoms. It usually forms when some type of radiation or electrical discharge separates the two atoms in an oxygen molecule, which can then individually recombine with other oxygen molecules to form ozone. The ozone layer became more widely appreciated by the public when it was realized that certain chemicals mankind manufactures, called chloroflurocarbons, find their way up into the stratosphere where, through a complex series of chemical reactions, they destroy some of the ozone. As a result of this discovery, an international treaty was signed in 1973 called the Montreal Protocol, and the manufacture of these chemicals was greatly reduced. Ozone is a molecule made of three oxygen atoms. It's relatively highly concentrated in a particular layer of the stratosphere about 12 miles to 19 miles above Earth's surface. This ozone layer prevents ultraviolet light from reaching Earth's surface which is a good thing, given that UV light causes sunburn and skin cancer. The ozone layer has since begun to recover somewhat as a result of these efforts, but there is some science which now suggests that the major volcanic eruptions which have occurred since we started monitoring ozone with satellites in the late 1970's, could have also contributed to the ozone depletion. The amount of stratospheric ozone overhead on any given day and at any given location varies quite a bit. Because of vertical circulations of air in both the
Open Document