Ozone Depletion essays

Ozone Depletion essays Stratospheric ozone depletion is a worldwide concern that has been addressed by several international organizations. Ozone depletion characterize the environmental problems we as humans face today; it is global and the direct, however unintended result of human industry and if not regulated can cause catastrophic effects; affecting humans and everything that lies upon the earth. Ozone is a bluish, reactive gas, whose molecule is made by three oxygen atoms. Nearly 90% of the Earth's ozone is situated in the stratosphere, the atmosphere layer between 10 to 40 kilometers above Earth's surface, where it is continuously generated and destroyed by the UV radiation. (6) The ozone forms from the action sunlight on oxygen. This action has been taking place for many millions of years and naturally occurring nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere apparently have kept the ozone levels at a stable state. Only a small portion of ozone is in the troposphere, the internal atmospheric layer. Ozone was first noticed around 1956 in at Halley Bay, Antarctica. Soon, an English scientist gave the term ozone depletion. His observation showed that acidic precipitation damages things. Chemicals that react with the oxygen atom temporarily freed whenever an ozone molecule breaks apart. (2) The only ozone destroyers of concern are those that can participate in a catalytic cycle that is, where one trace catalytic chemical can be responsible for destroying tens or even hundreds of thousands of ozone molecules. (5) There are more than a dozen of catalytic cycles that influence the stratospheric ozone at different altitudes. The most effective cycles involve chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrogen oxide radicals (HOx). Natural catalytic cycles involving NOx and HOx have historically helped keep ozone levels in the atmospheric stable. (6) Various human activities have released ozone-destroying chemicals int...