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Ozone Depletion

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The ozone layer is a specific area in the stratosphere of maximum ozone concentration. Ozone in the stratosphere forms naturally and protects us from damage that can be caused by solar radiation such as skin cancer. In the 1970s chemists discovered that certain chemicals could travel into the upper atmosphere and damage the protective ozone. Ever since this was discovered scientists, government, and citizens have been making efforts to control and reverse the damage done to the ozone. In 1987 a treaty called the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed by world leaders who were participating in the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer. Without this protocol the abundances of chlorine would have tripled by 2000. The initial strategy for remedying the damage done to the ozone was to reduce chlorine in the stratosphere by stopping the productions of CFCs. CFC stands for chlorofluorocarbon, which is one of the main causes of ozone depletion. The regions of Antarctica and the Arctic are opposites. The Arctic is a large floating ice mass and Antarctica is two mile thick ice island surrounded by ocean. Because of this the vortex is no where near as strong in the Artic as it is and Antarctica and therefore breaks down much easier and is warmer in the Arctic. So instead of ozone holes there are ozone “donuts” in the Arctic. These holes and “donuts” are the actual depletion of the ozone layer. If there is more climate change in this region then the stratosphere will get cooler and if the ozone starts to deplete then the stratosphere won’t warm up as much and it starts a never ending cycle of depletion. Ozone depletion can occur naturally from volcanic explosions that send particles up into the stratosphere. There is currently enough excess chlorine in the atmosphere that if a volcanic explosion were to occur that puts particles into the stratosphere there could be very large ozone depletions at mid-latitude and latitudes where people are living. I found the NPR story to be very interesting as a whole. Learning about ozone depletion through an interview made the process easier to break down and understand. One particular part of the interview that was interesting to me was when the woman, Adele, called in and asked how chlorine commonly used in swimming pools affected the ozone. Russell Schnell told her that chlorine does not make it up into the stratosphere because it is oxidized. The only way that chlorine gets up into the stratosphere is if it is carried up with chemicals that it is bound to. Once it is in the stratosphere the sunlight breaks off the chlorine. I simply assumed that when someone drains their pool at the end of the summer the water would evaporate and the chlorine would then rise up into the stratosphere. From this I know now that chlorine must be bound to other chemicals in order to make it up that far. In 2011 there was record ozone depletion over the Arctic that is far worse than the holes in the Antarctic’s protective atmospheric layer that first appeared in the 1980s. There are concerns that the Northern Hemisphere may periodically experience harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation in the spring. Chemist Geir Braathen said it was “significantly worse than anything we had ever seen.” Typically spring ozone depletions maxes out at 20 to 30 percent drop but in 2011 there was a loss of about 40 percent. In Antarctica 70 percent of ozone can disappear in the spring time. The ozone layer is vital in protecting us from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation. Ozone depletion was increasing from the use of man made chemicals such as aerosols. With the Montreal Protocol and its restriction of certain chemicals the depletion has significantly lessened. Ozone depletion however will be an ongoing struggle for many years due to man made chemicals we release in the air everyday.

Works Cited
Flatow, Ira, writ. "Tracking The Ozone Hole, As It Waxes And Wanes." Perf. Russell Schnell. Talk of the Nation. NPR: WCPN, Cleveland, 12 OCT 2012. Radio. .
Raloff, Janet. "Arctic Ozone Loss At Record Levels." Science News 180.11 (2011): 11.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. http://proxy.ohiolink.edu:9099/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=ulh&AN=67484516&site=eds-live

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