THE HOLE IN THE OZONE

The Hole In The Ozone

The Hole In The Ozone

Introduction

Ozone, ozone holes and its impact on our environment: For decades experts and environmental groups have been warning the public against the ever increasing amount of ozone depleting substances in the atmosphere. Ozone, as most people know, is something that is in the air struggling to compete with the different agents that are destroying its existence. The ozone layer has extended its opening since its discovery over Antarctica in 1985 by the British Antarctic Survey. Technically, the ozone hole, as it is popularly called, is very severe. According to Brien Sparkling (2001), it has reached a low value of 180 Dobson Units (D.U.) before 1983 - the unit of measurement used for stratospheric ozone. The usual ozone concentration is at 300 to 350 Dobson Units. The extent of the hole occurs during springtime above Antarctica and to a lesser extent the Arctic region.

Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming

At this very moment, the climate of the Earth is ever so slightly changing. If something is not done to stop the human activities that are creating greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, then someday down the line, our planet's climate will have made a radical change from what it is now. The climate is predicted to change because such greenhouse gasses as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are clogging our atmosphere trapping heat in the environment, thus creating global warming"”the rise in temperature of our planet.

The heat energy from the sun is what controls the Earth's weather and climate. While it heats the surface we live on, our planet radiates some of that energy back into space. However, not all of the energy gets back to space because greenhouse gasses (CO2, water vapor, and methane) are trapping the outgoing heat, therefore creating a "greenhouse effect" by retaining warmth.

The main sources of the gasses can be attributed to the burning of fossil fuels and other human processes. The emissions from running cars and trucks, heating homes and businesses, and the pollutants dispensed from factories are what make up most of the Earth's carbon dioxide supply. Increased agriculture (methane from cows), deforestation, landfills, and mining are also huge contributors to the production of the greenhouse gasses and the emissions that are constantly changing our planet.

The temperatures on Earth would be much lower than it is now if this natural "greenhouse effect" did not ...