Answer 1:
No, gravity has nothing to do with the hole in the
ozone layer. Ozone is produced when energy from
the sun in the form of UV radiation makes a
certain reaction occur between two diatomic
molecules of oxygen to produce O3, a
relatively unstable form of oxygen known as ozone.
Gravity play no role. CFCs make ozone even less
stable; that is why CFCs deplete the ozone and
create the OZONE hole.
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Answer 2:
An ozone molecule is made up of three oxygen atoms
in a chain.
The ozone layer is a layer of ozone
molecules scattered between 19 and 30 kilometers
(12 to 30 miles) up in the earth's atmosphere. The
concentration of ozone in the ozone layer is
usually under 10 parts ozone per million.
Without the ozone layer, UV radiation
would not be stopped from entering the earth's
atmosphere and coming to the
surface.
Ultraviolet light can break chemical
bonds of the molecules in cells.
It is
ultraviolet light that causes sunburns. If there
were too much ultraviolet light around, our skin
would burn very badly without any time for it to
heal. If the ultraviolet light gets past the skin
and gets absorbed by cells further in the body,
those cells, and their DNA and other proteins,
could also be damaged.
In the 1970's,
scientists first discovered that
chlorofluorocarbons(CFC's) potentially could
destroy the ozone layer, and since CFC's had been
in use as refrigerants, coolants, and propellants
for aerosol cans since the 1930's, there was a lot
of work that needed to be done.
Man-made
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) are a large concern
when it comes to the ozone layer. The long life of
CFC's is one of the components that make them so
hard for the ozone layer to handle. CFC's have a
lifetime of about 20 to 100 years, before they get
destroyed in the atmosphere. With a long life time
like that, one CFC molecule can do a lot of
damage, destroying ozone molecules for a long
time. Even if we released no more ozone-harmful
chemicals like CFC's into the atmosphere, the
damage to the stratospheric ozone layer would
continue for years to come.
If everyone
on Earth stopped making, using, or releasing CFC's
today, in what year would the existing CFC's in
the atmosphere be destroyed. What would happen to
the ozone layer after that?
The ozone hole
over Antarctica is growing every day. Now it is
about 8.3 million square miles in size during the
winter months, large enough to cover most of North
America, and most of the damage to the ozone layer
comes from human activity. We account for between
75% and 85% of the ozone depletion that takes
place each year. 1% to 5% comes from volcano
eruptions each year and 15% to 20% from other
natural sources.
How do volcano eruptions
cause changes in the ozone
layer?
Sources:
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/4030/text.html
http://www.epa.gov/ozone/
(Te EPA site is excellent. It has answers to
many of these questions, and lots more! It has
information on methyl bromide too.)
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