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.
