The ozone layer protects the Earth from the harmful effects of solar radiation by absorbing ultraviolet (UV) rays irradiated by the Sun, which is harmful to the animals and plants that live here, as they can cause damage to the skin, such as cancer; in the eyes, like cataracts; and also alter the cellular functioning of plants. The layer works as a natural “sunscreen” and without it living beings would not exist.
This layer is composed of ozone gas (O3), a rarefied gas that easily reacts with other chemical compounds, particularly chlorine. It is located in the atmospheric layer called stratosphere, about 20 to 35 kilometers from the earth's surface.
The hole in the ozone layer is a process that normally occurs on Earth during certain times of the year and then disappears. The hole occurs in the polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica, as the cold facilitates the chemical transformation of elements that react with ozone.
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But in recent decades, this hole has increased and has not disappeared, because human beings have intensified the increase in this hole through the exaggerated production of polluting gases in the atmosphere. The most common example of a polluting gas is CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) gas, which easily reacts with ozone (O
3), which has been widely used in the industry in refrigerators, freezers and aerosol sprays.Today, there is a process of substitution of this CFC gas and other polluting gases from the Earth's atmosphere in an attempt to to reduce the size of the hole in the ozone layer and thus protect living beings from the harmful actions of radiation ultraviolet.
by Suelen Alonso
Master in Geography
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
ALONSO, Suelen. "Hole in the ozone layer "; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/buraco-na-camada-ozonio.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
