Imagine a world with bad air, polluted water, starvation, increased cancer conditions and even limited land. It is all possible thanks to the effects of ozone depletion and global warming. These processes will affect everyone on Earth; including animals. Although it has already begun, we are already thinking of ways to reduce the effects it is causing; hoping that the processes will end. .
The Earth's atmosphere is divided into several layers. The lowest region, the troposphere, the next layer, the stratosphere, and the most atmospheric ozone are concentrated in a layer in the stratosphere, about 15-30 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Ozone is a molecule containing three oxygen atoms. It is blue in color and has a strong odor oppose to normal oxygen which has two oxygen atoms that are colorless and odorless. Ozone is much less common than normal oxygen. Out of each 10 million air molecules, about 2 million are normal oxygen, but only 3 are ozone. However, even the small amount of ozone plays a key role in the atmosphere; it is responsible for keeping oxygen on our planet. Ozone plays a critical role in chemical and biological processes by filtering ultraviolet radiation (UV rays). When the ozone layer begins to thin, it lets more UV rays enter our atmosphere. At any given time, ozone molecules are constantly formed and destroyed in the stratosphere. The total amount, however, remains relatively stable. Each natural reduction in ozone levels has been followed by a recovery. Recently, however, convincing scientific evidence has shown that the ozone shield is being depleted well beyond changes due to natural processes. .
CFC's (various halocarbon compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen, chlorine, and fluorine) are the major cause of ozone depletion. In 1979 scientists detected a hole in the ozone above Antarctica. It wasn't a complete hole but merely a mass decrease. Each year since, the hole has grown in size.
