The ozone layer diminishes more each year. As the area of polar ozone depletion (commonly called the ozone hole) gets larger, additional ultraviolet rays are allowed to pass through. These rays cause cancer, cataracts, and lowered immunity to diseases.1 What causes the depletion of the ozone layer? In 1970, Crutzen first showed that nitrogen oxides produced by decaying nitrous oxide from soil-borne microbes react catalytically with ozone hastening its depletion. His findings started research on "global biogeochemical cycles" as well as the effects of supersonic transport aircraft that release nitrogen oxide into the stratosphere.2 In 1974, Molina and Rowland found that human-made chlorofluorocarbons used for making foam, cleaning fluids, refrigerants, and repellents transform into ozone-depleting agents.3 Chlorofluorocarbons stay in the atmosphere for several decades due to their long tropospheric lifetimes. These compounds are carried into the stratosphere where they undergo hundreds of catalytic cycles with ozone.4 They are broken down into chlorine atoms by ultraviolet radiation.5 Chlorine acts as the catalyst for breaking down atomic oxygen and molecular ozone into two molecules of molecular oxygen. The basic set of reactions that involve this process are: Cl + O3 -->ClO + O2 and ClO + O -->Cl + O2 The net result: O3 + O -->2O2 Chlorine is initially removed in the first equation by the reaction with ozone to form chlorine monoxide. Then it is regenerated through the reaction with monatomic oxygen in the second equation. The net result of the two reactions is the depletion of ozone and atomic oxygen.6 Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, and methyl bromide are a few of the ozone depletion substances (ODS) that break down ozone under intense ultraviolet light. The bromine and fluorine in these chemicals act as catalysts, reforming ozone (O3) molecules and monatomic oxygen into molecular oxygen (O2). In volcanic eruptions, the sulfate aerosols released are a natural cause of ozone depletion. The hydrolysis of N2O5 on sulfate aerosols, coupled with the reaction with chlorine in HCl, ClO, ClONO2 and bromine compounds, causes the breakdown of ozone. The sulfate aerosols cause chemical reactions in addition to chlorine and bromine reactions on stratospheric clouds that destroy the ozone.8 Some ozone depletion is due to volcanic eruptions. Analysis of the El Chichon volcanic eruption in 1983 found ozone destruction in areas of higher aerosol concentration (Hofmann and Solomon, "Ozone Destruction through Heterogeneous Chemistry Following the Eruption of El Chichon"). They deduced that the "aerosol particles act as a base for multiphase reactions leading
While doing his research Molina learned that these compounds move up to the ozone and stay there. He expected the compounds to be destroy by the solar radiation. However to his surprise he formed that chlorofluorocarbons would simplify into component element when exposed to radiation. This simplify components produce a highly concentration of pure chlorine atoms. From there he already knew that the ozone layer can be destroy with chlorine.
The sulfur in volcanoes will turn into a gas. When sulfur comes into contact with the cold air it turns back into a solid. Sulfur has four isotopes which are sulfur-33, sulfur-34, sulfur-35, and sulfur-36. Sulfur-35 is a radioactive isotope, it is used commercially to make rubber and gunpowder. It is an essential and a vital nutrient for crops, animals, and people. It is in breast milk and can also be used as a fertilizer. Sulfur is in our food and we are exposed to it in our diet. Sulfur is also in some proteins and vitamins. Some people have even sprinkled sulfur in their yards to get rid of snakes, but it should not be used if you have pets or
AQA GCSE Higher Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is a colourless gas, belonging to the family of gases called sulphur oxides (SO_). It reacts on the surface of a variety of airborne solid molecules, is soluble in water and can be. oxidised within airborne water droplets. http://www.doc.mmu.ac.uk/aric/eae/Acid_Rain/Older/Sulphur_Dioxide.html. Many factors can affect the rate of reaction; concentration. temperature, ratio of the substances, amount, stirring, and catalysts. are these factors.
As the twenty-first century progresses, it has become increasingly apparent just how many challenges the world faces. Prominent among these concerns are environmental issues, in particular, ozone depletion and climate change. While the international community has been exceptionally successful in its struggle to reduce the production and consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the organic compounds that contribute to the ozone issue, its efforts to tackle climate change have yielded considerably fewer advancements. A number of factors that helped the proceedings of the ozone regime, or campaign, are not applicable to the climate change regime. The issue of limiting CFCs was much less politically and economically charged than that of reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs), which cause the greenhouse effect and the consequent warming of the planet. Climate change has been referred to as the ultimate “tragedy of the commons”, an important metaphor in economics that helps explain why this subject is still at the centre of much heated debate and has yet to be resolved in a manner similar to that of the ozone problem.
The depletion of the ozone layer has been a trending topic after it was first discovered in 1970. The ozone layer is a portion of the earth’s stratosphere which absorbs most of the sun’s UV rays hence preventing cancer and other fatal illness to the skin. It contains high concentrations of O3 and at a constant rate is being broken down and. Since 1970, it has been discovered that about 4% of the ozone layer wears off every decade and is as a result of day-to-day human activity.
Thus CFCs became used all over the world and its business got bigger and bigger until late in 1973. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina, two distinguished chemists, came up with a surprising result in his calculations concerning the CFCs and ozone layer. CFCs are basically inactive in the troposphere(around the altitude of 50,000 feet) so it would gradually drift upward until they reached the mid-stratosphere.(about 100,000 feet) At this point CFCs would be broken down by short-wavelength ultraviolet radiation from the sun. This radiation is the one which would not reach the lower atmosphere in large amounts because of the ozone layer. When these CFCs do brake down, they released atomic chlorine which then would react with the ozone and convert it back into plain oxygen. The even worse part of all this is that these chlorine molecules do not become inactive after the first reaction with the ozone and would be available to destroy more ozone molecules. Thus this process would be the function of a catalyst; a single chlorine atom involved in a chain reaction to destroy many ozone molecules.
The United States releases twenty tons of carbon monoxide per person per year. Carbon Monoxide release is a result of burning fossil fuels with an insufficient amount of oxygen that causes the formation of carbon monoxide that pollutes our environment. Everyday fuel is burnt by cars, airplanes, large factories and manufacturing plants. This is causing a very large and deadly problem for our environment. When gases used on earth are released into the atmosphere they act as a blanket and trap radiation that is then redirected to earth. This concept is called the Greenhouse Effect (Bad Greenhouse, 1).
Humans are polluting our atmosphere causing the Greenhouse Effect. What’s the Greenhouse Effect? “The Greenhouse Effect can be visualized as follows: imagine that Earth has been encircled by a giant glass sphere. The heat of the sun penetrates through the glass. Some of the heat is absorbed by the Earth, and some is radiated back towards space. The radiated heat reaches the glass sphere and is prevented from dispersing any further”(Global Warming The Facts). This makes the heat bounce back towards the Earth, which heats it up tremendously.
The stratospheric ozone layer is the Earth's natural means of protection from the Sun's damaging ultraviolet rays. Some of the chemicals most harmful to the ozone layer are chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. These compounds are chemically inert gasses that, when introduced to the stratosphere, speed up the depletion of the ozone layer. The reason that these chemicals are so harmful is that after a CFC molecule is broken up by UV radiation in the stratosphere, its Chlorine atom is free to react with the ozone molecules in the atmosphere. Because Chlorine is a catalyst, it continues to react with other ozone molecules causing continuous damage and depletion of the ozone, as can be seen from the chart of CFC reactions below.
What is the ozone layer? The ozone layer is a part of the stratosphere containing highly poisonous O3 gas with a strong odor. Ozone is formed by the action of solar ultraviolet light on oxygen. Ozone at ground level is a health hazard. High concentrations of ozone at ground level are dangerous to breathe and can damage the lungs. However, the ozone layer inhibits most ultraviolet and other high energy radiation from entering to the earth's surface.
Ozone is a gas in our atmosphere that is naturally present. Ozone has the chemical formula of O3 because an ozone molecule is triatomic, meaning that the molecule contains three oxygen atoms. The oxygen that organisms use to breathe is made up of two oxygen atoms, commonly called diatomic and represented by O2. As a single atom, oxygen is very unstable since it is a highly reactive, nonmetal element. According to Weingroff (n.d.), this is why oxygen is almost always found in its diatomic form, where it is a lot more stable. Since ozone can be found in different locations of the atmosphere, it depends on its location if ozone is considered to be harmful for
CFCs and phytoplankton exposed to UV radiation are both links between the ozone hole and global warming, but overall there aren’t many significant links between the two. Neither have a great impact on the other, but they both do have significant impacts on the environment, and they are potentially detrimental to our future survival on this planet. They are both heavy topics of research and scientists are trying to find ways to reverse the phenomena caused by our own negligence in the use of CFCs and fossil fuels. Neither of these phenomena are to be taken lightly; evidence shows they both have consequences if they continue to get worse, so we need to find a solution if we want to stop serious future changes to the climate.
The ozonosphere or as we know it, the ozone layer, is the region of the Earth’s upper atmosphere. It contains a high concentration of ozone molecules. The ozone molecules in the ozone layer work to block an estimated 97-99 percentage of solar radiation from reaching the Earth’s surface. If the ozone layer were not present the radiation from the sun would kill most living things and make our planet uninhabitable. The size and thickness of the ozone layer varies by location and the time of year. It is larger towards the poles of the earth and at its thickest during the spring time. The ozone layer was first discovered by Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson in 1913. In 1958 a network of ozone monitoring stations were established and still operate today. It is important to understand and monitor our ozone layer in order to protect ourselves from the sun’s harmful radiation. We will look at the current status of the ozone layer, the main causes of its degradation, and what the future holds for the ozone layer if we don’t change the way we live.
The Ozone layer is like our shield that is 10 to about 30 miles above the earth. It protects the world from the sun’s harmful and crazy hot rays that can do serious damage to all living things. But it can also be bad of the ozone was too low to the earth’s surface it can pollute the air and kill or put people in critical condition. If it shrinks too much, which probably could happen, it would no longer keep us safe form the sun.
Chlorofluorocarbons [CFCs], commonly known as Freon, are a type of organic compounds that are made up of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine atoms. Their significant properties include low volatility of approximately 0℃, together with being tasteless, odourless, non-flammable, nontoxic, and chemically stable. They have supported the society for years through the form of a refrigerant, a solvent and a propellant. Moreover, they have contributed to the industrialization of nations, especially during the 1950s, as a material to manufacture aerosol sprays, and as a blowing agent for foam and packing materials. Ironically, in addition to being a useful compound in many instances, it was found that CFCs have been a leading cause of global warming and the annihilation of species. In 1985, Joe Farman and colleagues discovered and named the destruction of the ozone layer as “the Antarctic ozone hole”. The ozone layer is part of the ozone rich stratosphere – a layer of the earth’s atmosphere that sits approximately 20m above the earth. The main function is to protect the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays [UV rays] emitted from the sun. Thus, the discovery of a hole in the ozone layer was a serious environmental issue. Through investigation, it was found that one of the major factors of the ozone layer deterioration was the production of CFCs. When CFCs reach the atmosphere, they react with UV rays, and turns into substance including chlorine. The chlorine takes place a chemical reaction with the oxygen in ozone, destroying the ozone molecules (See figure 1). According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, a single chlorine atom in the ozone layer can abolish 1,000 zone molecules. In the following essay, the effect of the CFCs on the ozone...