Answer 1:
I don't know exactly what about the ozone layer
you are interested in, but there is a lot of
information out there, especially on the web.
Unfortunately, most of it is very technical and
hard to understand. First off, ozone is a molecule
made up of three oxygen atoms. (The oxygen gas
that we breath in air has only two oxygen atoms).
Ozone is created in the upper atmosphere by
chemical processes and here on land by smog. Ozone
on land is a pollutant, but in the upper
atmosphere it actually does us a very important
service. The bonds between the oxygen atoms in
ozone are just the right kind to absorb
ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun, which is
harmful to plants and animals. In large amounts or
over long time periods of exposure, UV can damage
DNA causing cancer or burn exposed cells (e.g.
skin, eyes, plant leaves). Without the ozone
layer, rates of skin cancer, sunburn and eye
damage would increase dramatically, and many
plants (including the ones we eat) would
die.
One of the main sources of information
on the current state of the ozone layer is
satellite data. The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) has several satellites
orbiting the Earth right now that can continuously
measure the thickness of the ozone layer
blanketing the entire Earth! The satellites relay
this information to computers on land and
scientists make color photos showing how much
ozone is in the atmosphere above the entire Earth
for a particular month. For example, this month
there is a big "ozone hole" over the continent of
Antarctica. You can see the photo at this web
site:
.
Low ozone concentrations are shown in purple, high
concentrations in red. There are several ozone
holes that form seasonally over different parts of
the Earth. There is usually a spot of low ozone
over the equator, near Hawaii, because winds in
the upper atmosphere blow away from the equator,
and actually push the ozone toward the poles,
concentrating it in high latitude areas north and
south of the equator. (Ask your teacher how to
find the continents that are at high latitudes on
a globe. Which US states are nearest the equator,
and so have low ozone?). The ozone hole that
develops over Antarctica forms because the ozone
is actually being destroyed. This ozone is
permanently gone from our atmosphere (it is
converted to oxygen gas) and because ozone is
formed at a slow rate, it takes a long time to
recover from even a little ozone destruction. The
main cause of ozone destruction is the release of
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) used in refrigerators
and many spray cans. Check to see if you or your
family use any spray cans containing hairspray,
paint or other materials that contain
CFC's.
The EPA has a great web site on
ozone and the effects of ozone
destruction: http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/science.html, http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/effects.html
You
can find some facts about ozone at this web site
maintained by the Canadian
government: http://www1.tor.ec.gc.ca/comm/faq.htm
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Answer 2:
The ozone layer is a very interesting topic and
one of great concern, especially near the poles
where it has been damaged.The ozone layer is just
that, a layer of the atmosphere where there is a
larger amount of ozone than other parts of the
atmosphere. By nature, ozone absorbs ultraviolet
radiation and so protects us from excess radiation
from the sun by absorbing much of it. If the
ozone layer were to deteriorate more, getting
sunburns and eventually skin cancer would become a
much greater risk. As for websites about the
ozone layer, The country of Norway seems to have
some concern about this and has a good educational
site at
http://www.grida.no/soeno97/ozone/index.htm.
Another site with general information is
http://www.enviro.org/artozne.html and a site with
links to several more ozone related web pages is
http://www.sej.org/env_stra.htm. Hopefully
these will tell you what you want to know. One
question you might want to answer is what is the
difference between stratospheric ozone (the ozone
layer) and tropospheric ozone (ozone in the air
near the ground) and what are the dangers of
each?
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Answer 3:
An excellent place to start a search on the web is
from "yahoo.com". Since your question is about
science, I went to their science section, and did
a search on "ozone layer"; I found this site,
which looks like it might be helpful to
you:
http://science.nas.nasa.gov/Services/Education/Resources/TeacherWork/Ozone/ Ozone.homepage.html
It
is described as:
"Stratospheric Ozone
Depletion: resources for both teachers and
students interested in the ozone layer. Includes a
glossary and some of the controversies"
Click Here to return to the search form.
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