Where is the Ozone Layer Located

The Ozone Layer is the portion of the atmosphere that contains high levels of the oxygen molecule ozone. This molecule plays an important role acting as a natural UV shield for the Earth. You may wonder where is the ozone layer located to play such a vital role so effectively. The Ozone layer is actually located in the stratosphere in a region that is 10 to 50 km above the Earth.

So why is the Ozone layer so important? As mention before the secret lies in oxygen molecules. Normal oxygen in its natural molecular state is made up of only two atoms. However this changes when oxygen in the thermosphere is exposed the Sun’s ultraviolet rays. The rays separate oxygen molecules the free oxygen joins with the remaining two atom oxygen molecules to create ozone. This process might seem simple but it helps to screen out 99.5 percent of the ultraviolet radiation that the Sun sends towards earth. The times that the ozone layer didn’t screen out this type of radiation at such levels life was almost wiped out according to the geologic record.

You might think that this is an exaggeration until you observe the biological damage UV rays can do. We have already seen the harm caused when people don’t take the proper precautions when going to the beach. The least harm comes in the form of sun burn. People overexposed to the UV rays that do make it to earth have their skin damaged by the UV energy that penetrates their skin. However it gets more serious the longer a person is exposed to UV rays. The reason is because the damage gets to the cellular level causing cancers and genetic damage. Essentially it’s like being exposed to a nuclear reactor in melt down. The high energy radiation over time would accumulate harm in living tissue until it killed the organism exposed to it.

Despite its importance industry produced and released chemicals into the air that interfered with the ozone cycle. The main problem chemical CFC’s prevented oxygen molecules from complete the bonding process that is important for the completion of the ozone cycle this caused a major depletion of ozone in key areas of the Earth’s atmosphere. This is huge when the natural concentration of ozone was already quite low. This just goes to show the delicate balance that was upset. Fortunately nations upon hearing the harm caused started bans on CFC’s while industry tried to find alternatives to use in products. The result started to show with ozone depletion actually slowing down and reversing with scientist predicting recovery within the next century.

Source: http://www.universetoday.com/75822/where-is-the-ozone-layer-located/

What is the ozone layer?

The ozone layer is a deep layer in the stratosphere, encircling the Earth, that has large amounts of ozone in it. The layer shields the entire Earth from much of the harmful ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun.

Interestingly, it is also this ultraviolet radiation that forms the ozone in the first place. Ozone is a special form of oxygen, made up of three oxygen atoms rather than the usual two oxygen atoms. It usually forms when some type of radiation or electrical discharge separates the two atoms in an oxygen molecule (O2), which can then individually recombine with other oxygen molecules to form ozone (O3).

The ozone layer became more widely appreciated by the public when it was realized that certain chemicals mankind manufactures, called chloroflurocarbons, find their way up into the stratosphere where, through a complex series of chemical reactions, they destroy some of the ozone. As a result of this discovery, an international treaty was signed in 1973 called the Montreal Protocol, and the manufacture of these chemicals was greatly reduced.

The ozone layer has since begun to recover somewhat as a result of these efforts, but there is some science which now suggests that the major volcanic eruptions (mainly El Chichon in 1983 and and Mt. Pinatubo in 1991) which have occurred since we started monitoring ozone with satellites in the late 1970's, could have also contributed to the ozone depletion.

The amount of stratospheric ozone overhead on any given day and at any given location varies quite a bit. Because of vertical circulations of air in both the troposphere and the stratosphere, there can be greater or lesser amounts of ozone protecting you from ultraviolet radiation. Also, living at higher elevations exposes people to more UV radiation than at low elevations.

While stratospheric ozone which protects us from the sun is good, there is also ozone produced near the ground from sunlight interacting with atmospheric pollution in cities that is bad for human health. It causes breathing problems for some people, and usually occurs in the summertime when the pollution over a city builds up during stagnant air conditions associated with high pressure areas.

Source: http://www.weatherquestions.com/What_is_the_ozone_layer.htm