The Ozone Layer

The ozone layer is a region of the ozone molecule (O3) in the Earth's atmosphere. The layer sits at an altitude of about 10-50 kilometers, and is major in the stratosphere at an altitude of 25 kilometers. In recent years, scientists have measured a seasonal reduction of the ozone layer primarily at the South Pole. This phenomenon is being called the ozone hole.

The ozone layer naturally guards Earth's life from the harmful effects of the Sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation. A rigorous decrease in the concentration of ozone in the ozone layer could lead to the following dangerous effects:
• An increase in the rate of skin cancer (ultraviolet radiation can destroy acids in DNA).
• A large increase in cataracts and Sun burning.
• Suppression of immune systems in organisms.
• Undesirable impact on crops and animals.
• Decrease in the growth of phytoplankton found in the Earth's oceans.
• Huge change in climatic effect.

Ozone is created in nature in the stratosphere by the combining of atomic oxygen (O) with molecular oxygen (O2). This process is done in the presence of sunlight. Ozone is destroyed naturally by the absorption of ultraviolet radiation,
O3 + UV >>> O2 + O
and by the collision of ozone with other atmospheric atoms and molecules.
O3 + O >>> 2O2
O3 + O3 >>> 3O2