Ozone Layer

The Ozone Layer It acts as a sun block and filters out the dangerous ultra-violet rays from the sun ("The Chemistry of the Ozone Layer"). The Earth 's atmosphere is broken up into two layers that have to do with ozone ("Ozone Layer"). The troposphere is the lowest layer ("Ozone Layer"). It extends from Earth 's surface up to about ten kilometers in altitude ("Ozone Layer"). All most all human activities happen in this layer ("Ozone Layer"). The next layer is the stratosphere ("Ozone Layer"). It continues from ten kilometers to fifty kilometers above Earth ("Ozone Layer"). All most all airplanes fly in the lowest part of this layer ("Ozone Layer"). 80 percent of the protective ozone layer is in the lower stratosphere ("Ozone Loss Declining"). "Stratospheric ozone is created by the sun 's ultra-violet radiation, which splits apart molecules of oxygen producing oxygen atoms that combine with other oxygen molecules to form ozone" (Edelson 19). The Ozone Layer is most concentrated between twelve and twenty miles above Earth (Fisher 14). The Ozone Layer protects Earth from ultra-violet rays from the sun ("The Chemistry of the Ozone Layer"). Humans and most animals would not survive without the Ozone Layer to protect them (Fisher 14). In 1984 the ozone hole over Antarctica was discovered and people began monitoring the Ozone Layer ("The Chemistry of the Ozone Layer"). An ozone hole is made when the amount of ozone decreases by up to fifty percent for two or more months (Stoker 894). Ozone is a naturally occurring gas found in the stratosphere and the troposphere ("Ozone Layer"). "Unlike oxygen, ozone is a poisonous gas and an increase in its concentration at ground-level is not something that we want and can be harmful"

(Ozone Depletion). To measure the amount of ozone in the upper atmosphere, scientists use instruments on aircrafts, balloons, and satellites (Stoker 894). "Scientists around the world regularly monitor ozone-depleting

Cited: Edelson, Edward. Clean Air. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. 22 Oct. 2003. Fisher, Marshall John. The Ozone Layer. New York: Chelsea House, 1992. Newton, David E. The Ozone Dilemma. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc. 22 Oct. 2003. "Ozone Depletion." 19 Nov. 2003. www.science.org. "Ozone Layer." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 16 Oct. 2003. www.epa.gov/sunwise/ozovelayer.html. "Ozone Loss Declining." Chemical Marketing Reporter. Oct. 2003. EBSCOhost. 22 Oct. 2003. "Ozone Quotes." www.uneptie.org. 25 Oct. 2003. "The Chemistry of the Ozone Layer." 16 Oct. 2003. www.chem.wm.edu/chemwww/courses/chem105/projects/group2/page2.html Oct. 2003