Ozone Layer 2

             The ozone layer shields the earth from most of the .
             harmful radiation and light comming from the sun.
             ozone reflects and absorbs the ultraviolet rays that try to .
             come in. Without this kind of protection, all living things .
             will be effected by these UV rays. Skin cancer develops in .
             most living mammals as a cause of an overabundance of .
             the suns ultraviolet rays.
             The ozone layer is located in the earth's .
             stratosphere. The ozone layer is located from about .
             fifteen-to-thirty kilometers above the earths surface. The .
             ozone is made up of three oxygen atoms bonded to form .
             O3. This mixture is different from the oxygen we breathe. .
             The ozone is colored blue and has a remarkably strong .
             odor. The ozone molecule is a very rare molecule. If you .
             are given ten million air molecules, only three molecules .
             will be the ozone molecule. .
             Even a small portion of the ozone will play an .
             important role of protecting the earth. The ozone aborbs a .
             portion of of the radiation that is given off by the sun. The .
             most important radiation the ozone absorbs is the .
             ultraviolet light, UVB. The UVB light has linked to skin .
             cancer, cataracts, damage to crops, and some types of .
             marine life.
             The types of effects that are formed by .
             overexposure to these harmful UV rays are skin cancer .
             (melanoma and nonmelanoma), cataracts and other types .
             of eye damage, immune system supperession, and .
             premature aging of the skin. It is a fact that one in every .
             five Americans will develop some type of skin cancer in .
             their lifetime. Also, every hour one American dies of skin .
             cancer. .
             The most deadly type of skin cancer is melanoma. .
             This cancer is the most serious and fastest growing cancer .
             in the United States today. The case of this cancer in the .
             past two decades have doubled. This figure is still .
             expected to rise. Nonmelanoma skin cancer are not as .
             deadly as the melanoma cancer. In 1999 more than .
             960,000 cases of this cancer will form. From these .
             960,000 cases, 2,000 people will die.