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Environmental Problems

The document discusses the ozone layer and its depletion. It describes the ozone layer as located between 19-48 km above the Earth's surface, containing up to 10 parts per million of ozone formed from sunlight interacting with oxygen. The layer protects life on Earth from ultraviolet radiation. In the 1970s, scientists discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used as refrigerants and propellants were destroying ozone in the layer. When CFCs decompose from sunlight, the chlorine reacts with and destroys ozone molecules. Use of CFCs in aerosols has since been banned in many countries to help address ozone depletion.

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Esteven Alvarez
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37 views

Environmental Problems

The document discusses the ozone layer and its depletion. It describes the ozone layer as located between 19-48 km above the Earth's surface, containing up to 10 parts per million of ozone formed from sunlight interacting with oxygen. The layer protects life on Earth from ultraviolet radiation. In the 1970s, scientists discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used as refrigerants and propellants were destroying ozone in the layer. When CFCs decompose from sunlight, the chlorine reacts with and destroys ozone molecules. Use of CFCs in aerosols has since been banned in many countries to help address ozone depletion.

Uploaded by

Esteven Alvarez
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Environmental problems

Work

Claudia Milena Mape Mara Ins Snchez nagles Students

Giomar Gonzales Teacher

1101 Grade

2011 Year

Ozone layer

It is an area of the atmosphere from 19 to 48 km above the Earth's surface. It produces ozone concentrations up to 10 parts per million (ppm). Ozone is formed by the action of sunlight on oxygen. This has been going on many millions of years, but the natural nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere appear to be responsible for the ozone concentration has remained at a reasonably stable level. At ground level, such high concentrations are hazardous to health, but since the ozone layer protects life on earth from ultraviolet radiation carcinogenic, its importance is inestimable. Thus, scientists were concerned to discover in the 1970's that certain chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs (fluorine compounds), long used as refrigerants and as propellants in aerosols, represented a potential threat to ozone layer. When released into the atmosphere, these chemicals containing chlorine total and decomposed by the action of sunlight, whereupon the chlorine reacts with ozone molecules and destroy them. For this reason, the use of CFCs in aerosols has been banned in many countries. Other chemicals such as bromine halocarbons, and nitrous oxides from fertilizers, are also harmful to the ozone layer

Ozone depletion
In the 1970 and 1980, scientists began to discover that human activity was having a negative impact on the ozone layer, a region of the atmosphere that shields the planet from harmful ultraviolet rays. If there were such a gaseous layer, located about 40 km in altitude above sea level, life would be impossible on our planet. The studies showed that ozone was being affected by the increasing use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs, fluorine compounds) which are used in refrigeration, air conditioning, cleaning solvents, packaging materials and aerosols. Chlorine, a chemical attack secondary CFCs to ozone, which is composed of three oxygen atoms, snatching one of them to form chlorine monoxide. This then reacts with oxygen atoms to form oxygen molecules, releasing chlorine molecules break down more ozone molecules

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