What causes ozone to break down?
What causes ozone to break down?
Ozone depletion occurs when chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons—gases formerly found in aerosol spray cans and refrigerants—are released into the atmosphere (see details below). CFCs and halons cause chemical reactions that break down ozone molecules, reducing ozone’s ultraviolet radiation-absorbing capacity.
How did CFCs destroy the ozone layer?
An ozone hole is really not a hole but rather a thinning of the ozone layer in the stratosphere that changes seasonally. Once in the atmosphere, CFCs drift slowly upward to the stratosphere, where they are broken up by ultraviolet radiation, releasing chlorine atoms, which are able to destroy ozone molecules.
How Ozone is created and destroyed in the atmosphere?
Naturally, ozone is produced in the stratosphere. Whenever highly energetic ultraviolet radiation hits oxygen molecules, it dissociates them, separating O2 into different oxygen atoms. Ozone is repeatedly created and destroyed in the atmosphere by the UV rays coming from the sun.
What if the ozone layer was destroyed?
Global reduction in ozone levels would lead to a huge increase in dangerous ultraviolet (UV) radiation, with summer noontime UV index values at mid-latitudes rising to 30—three times the level currently considered extreme.
What if there was no ozone?
This natural sunscreen, known as Earth’s ozone layer, absorbs and blocks the majority of the sun’s UV radiation. Without this barrier in place, all of the radiation would reach Earth, damaging the DNA of plants and animals, like us humans. Without plants, the food chain would collapse. Herbivores would starve.
Where does ozone come from?
Where Does Ozone Come From? Ozone develops in the atmosphere from gases that come out of tailpipes, smokestacks and many other sources. When these gases come in contact with sunlight, they react and form ozone smog. If the ingredients are present under the right conditions, they react to form ozone.
Why does ozone increase with temperature?
Ozone’s impact on climate consists primarily of changes in temperature. The more ozone in a given parcel of air, the more heat it retains. Ozone generates heat in the stratosphere, both by absorbing the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and by absorbing upwelling infrared radiation from the lower atmosphere (troposphere).