Ozone layer is getting spoiled due to the pollution because of factories and vehicles
What's Up With The Ozone Layer Nowadays?
It is getting worse, with a hole inside it, due to the pollution coming from vehicles and factories. The depletion of the ozone layer is caused by chlorofluorocarbons , known as CFCs, are compounds made up of elements carbon, fluorine and chlorine. They were widely used as propellants for aerosols and as coolants in refrigerators and air-conditioners. They were also used in the manufacture of packing foam. Within the last few decades, large amounts of CFCs have been released into the atmosphere. They are stable and can remain in the atmosphere for a very long time. Over the years, they slowly diffuse through the air and react with ozone, destroying the ozone layer.
In this process, some harmful UV radiation is absorbed by the protective ozone layer. Then, CFCs reach the stratosphere where the ozone layer is found. Next, propellants in aerosols release CFCs into the atmosphere. After that, in the presence of sunlight, CFCs decompose to form chlorine atoms. They react with ozone molecules in the stratosphere to form chlorine oxide, thus destroying the ozone layer, so harmful UV light enter the world through the hole in the ozone layer.
In this process, some harmful UV radiation is absorbed by the protective ozone layer. Then, CFCs reach the stratosphere where the ozone layer is found. Next, propellants in aerosols release CFCs into the atmosphere. After that, in the presence of sunlight, CFCs decompose to form chlorine atoms. They react with ozone molecules in the stratosphere to form chlorine oxide, thus destroying the ozone layer, so harmful UV light enter the world through the hole in the ozone layer.
There's a really good description of the history of the ozone layer problem at this website:
www.atm.ch.cam.ac.uk/tour
But in a nutshell, the ozone layer is a layer of O3 (that's 3 oxygen atoms bound together) gas lying about 10km above the earth's surface. It's thinnest near the equator, and varies in thickness elsewhere, being densest above the North and South pole (and other cold places).
O3 filters out most of the sun's ultra-violet rays. Life on earth has evolved without too much these rays and doesn't cope well with UV light; UV causes mutations in the genes in living things, and exposure to it is strongly associated with skin cancer in humans.
Various man-made gases (especially chloro-fluro carbons, which used to be very common in refridgerators although they are mostly banned now) get high up in the atmosphere and can cause two O3 molecules to degenerate into 3 ordinary Oxygen molecules (O2). O2 doesn't filter UV light out. Alarm soared about thinning of the ozone layer in the 1980s, especially over Antarctica, and is thought to be a factor in the high incidence of sun-cancer in Australia.
Recent (2006) observations suggest that the ozone layer may be starting to recover; it may be thickening up again. Humans can't be complacent, though; a new air pollutant may come along to damage the ozone layer again.
www.atm.ch.cam.ac.uk/tour
But in a nutshell, the ozone layer is a layer of O3 (that's 3 oxygen atoms bound together) gas lying about 10km above the earth's surface. It's thinnest near the equator, and varies in thickness elsewhere, being densest above the North and South pole (and other cold places).
O3 filters out most of the sun's ultra-violet rays. Life on earth has evolved without too much these rays and doesn't cope well with UV light; UV causes mutations in the genes in living things, and exposure to it is strongly associated with skin cancer in humans.
Various man-made gases (especially chloro-fluro carbons, which used to be very common in refridgerators although they are mostly banned now) get high up in the atmosphere and can cause two O3 molecules to degenerate into 3 ordinary Oxygen molecules (O2). O2 doesn't filter UV light out. Alarm soared about thinning of the ozone layer in the 1980s, especially over Antarctica, and is thought to be a factor in the high incidence of sun-cancer in Australia.
Recent (2006) observations suggest that the ozone layer may be starting to recover; it may be thickening up again. Humans can't be complacent, though; a new air pollutant may come along to damage the ozone layer again.
