Ozone Layer Depletion

2819 Words12 Pages
• What is Ozone layer? The small blue and green planet we call home is a very special and unique place . We live on the only planet in our solar system and possibly in the galaxy where life is known to exist. All life exists within thin film of air, water, and soil about 15 km deep. This spherical shell of life is known as the biosphere. The bioshpere can be divided into three layers; the atmosphere(air), the hydrosphere (water), and the lithosphere (rock and soil) . It is the unique attributes of the Earth’s atmosphere that allow it to be a habitable place for humans, animals, microbes and plants as we know them.

The atmosphere is a mixture of gases and particles that surround our planet. When seen from space, the atmosphere appears as thin seam of dark blue light on a curved horizon.

The atmosphere extends a few hundred kilometers above the Earth. It is made of layers that surround the Earth like rings. However,99% of its total mass lies in two regions within the first 50 km above the Earth’s surface; the troposphere and the stratosphere. The stratosphere extends out, beyond the troposphere to about 50 km above the Earth.| Ozone (O3), or trioxygen, is a triatomic molecule[->0], consisting of three oxygen[->1] atoms[->2]. It is an allotrope[->3] of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic[->4] allotrope[->5] (O2), breaking down in the lower atmosphere to normal dioxygen. Ozone's O3 formula was determined in 1865.Ozone was proposed as a new substance in air in 1840, and named, even before its chemical nature was known, after the Greek[->6] verb ozein (means "to smell") from the peculiar odor after lightning[->7] storms. Ozone's odor is sharp, like chlorine, and, detectable at concentrations of as little as 10 ppb[->8] in air. Ozone is formed from dioxygen by the action of ultraviolet[->9] light and also atmospheric electrical discharges, and is

More about Ozone Layer Depletion

Open Document