Ozone Depletion

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Ozone Depletion

Is out planet in danger? Are we losing our protection from the sun's UV rays? These are a couple of frequently asked questions when people talk about ozone depletion.

The Earth's atmosphere is composed of several layers. We live in the troposphere, where most of the weather occurs; like rain and snow. It extends from the Earth's surface up to about ten kilometers in altitude. The stratosphere is above the troposphere. It extends from around ten to fifty kilometers in altitude. Most airline traffic occurs in the lower stratosphere. There is a little area between the troposphere and the stratosphere. This narrow region is called the tropopause.

Ozone is a molecule that has three oxygen atoms and occurs naturally in the Earth's atmosphere. Out of each ten million air molecules, only three million ozone molecules are present. However, even the small amount of ozone plays a key role in the Earth's atmosphere. Ozone forms a layer in the stratosphere. It is strange that at ground level it is a health hazard and in the stratosphere we could not live without it. Ozone absorbs a portion of the ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. UV radiation has had many harmful effects on the Earth such as causing different types of skin cancer, cataracts, and harm to crops, certain materials, and sea life. The ozone layer is thinnest around the tropics, and thicker toward the poles. The amount of ozone above a point on the Earth's surface is measured in Dobson units or DU. It is typically measured 60 DU near the tropics and higher other places. There are also large fluctuations between different seasons and sunspots. There have been natural deductions in the concentration of ozone in the atmosphere, but have been followed by recovery. Scientists have records that detail the normal ozone levels during these natural cycles. Then scientists found convincing evidence showing that the ozone shield is being depleted well beyond changes due to natural processes.

For a long time, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were thought of as miracle substances. They are stable, nonflammable, low in toxicity, and inexpensive to produce. CFCs have found many uses as refrigerants, solvents, foam blowing agents, and in other smaller applications. All of these are chlorine-containing compounds. Any compounds that release chlorine or bromine when they break down can most likely damage the protective ozone layer. For example, methyl chloroform, a solvent, and carbon tetrachloride, an industrial chemical both contain chlorine. Halons, fire extinguishing agents, and methyl bromide, a soil fumigant, contain bromine. All of these compounds have long enough lifetimes to allow them to be transported to the stratosphere by wind.

CFCs are very stable and do not dissolve in rain, so it is easy for them to reach the stratosphere. Only exposure to strong UV radiation breaks them down. When this happens, the CFC molecule releases atomic chlorine. One chlorine atom can destroy over 100,000 ozone molecules.

Large fires and certain types of marine life produce one stable form of chlorine that reaches the stratosphere. However, numerous experiments have shown that CFCs and other chemicals produce around 85% of the chlorine in the stratosphere, while natural sources only contribute 15%.

An example of ozone depletion is the annual ozone hole over Antarctica. It has occurred during the Antarctic spring since the early 180's. It isn't really a hole in the ozone layer; it is a large area of the stratosphere with extremely low amounts of ozone. Ozone levels fall by over 60% during the worst years. Studies show that the amount of ultraviolet light at the surface can double during the annual ozone hole in the Antarctic. Why the Antarctic? During the winter polar night, sunlight does not reach the South Pole. A circumpolar wind develops in the middle to lower stratosphere. These winds are called the polar vortex. They isolate the air over the polar region. Because there is no sunlight, the air in the polar vortex can get very cold. So cold that extraordinary clouds can form once the air temperature gets to below about 80 degrees Celsius below zero. These clouds are called Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs), but they are not like the clouds you normally see. They aren't made of water droplets, they first form as nitric acid trihydrate. As the temperature gets even colder, larger droplets of water ice with nitric acid dissolved in them can form. Their exact composition is still being studied. These PSCs are very crucial for ozone loss to occur.

Thus, ozone depletion is a global issue and not just a problem at the South Pole. Research has also shown that ozone depletion occurs over North America, Europe, Asia, and much of Africa, Australia, and South America. Over the U.S., ozone levels have fell 5 to 10% depending on the season. The reduction of ozone levels means higher levels of UV rays reaching the Earth's surface.

The world's reaction to the concern of the ozone layer in the 170's, led to a ban on the use of CFCs as aerosol propellants in several countries, including the United States. However, the production of CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances grew rapidly after new uses were discovered. Throughout the 180's, more uses came for CFCs and the nations became more concerned about the chemicals harming the ozone layer. In 185, the Vienna Convention was adopted to formalize international cooperation on this issue. Other efforts resulted in signing the Montreal Protocol in 187. The original protocol would have reduced the production of CFCs by half in 18. Worse damage started to show in the ozone layer so it was decided to completely end the production of halons by the beginning of 14 and of CFCs by the beginning of 16 in developed countries.

In conclusion, I think that our planet could be in danger because of the depletion of the ozone layer. The ozone concentration in the atmosphere has gone down in the last twenty years. I do think that if our planet is in danger, the actual danger wouldn't come for a long time, especially because we are trying to keep the ozone from vanishing. Obviously we are slowly losing our protection from the sun's UV rays also. I don't think that right now it is a really big deal. However, in the future I think it might be more of a concern because more and more rays will be coming though the ozone if we keep damaging it. To keep the ozone layer from depleting, I think we should not use any substances that release CFC's, if at all possible. Try to find other things we could use in place of them so that we are not damaging our environment. Otherwise I do not see a solution to this environmental problem. There will always be something trying to damage our atmosphere.

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