In our previous post, we have learned about the ozone layer
Let us see now what is depletion of the ozone layer and how it is a serious threat to our earth
Depletion of the ozone layer
Let us try what is meant by depletion of the ozone layer so this ozone which act as a protective layer surrounding the earth so it has a particular thickness, this thickness determine lots of things
Let us suppose, the weather is extremely cold and you have used thick blanket it will provide you maximum protection if you used a thin blanket that might not give you enough protection
Similarly, if the ozone layer is depleted, the thick layer of the ozone layer is reduced therefore its protective measure and quality also reduce or decrease
The decrease in the amount of ozone layer around the atmosphere is termed as depletion of the ozone layer
What will happen, the amount of protection layer also decreasing so, therefore, UV rays start entering inside the earth and their harmful effect is seen. Unfortunately too much decreasing in ozone layer led to the formation of the ozone hole, this means that in the entire layer, a hole is formed due to lack of ozone gas so that is called ozone hole it is a serious threat for the survival of earth
How do we get to know the amount of the ozone layer is depleting?
A thickness of the ozone layer is measured by the term of Dobson unit
What is this Dobson unit?
1 Dobson unit is equal to 0.001 mm at standard temperature and pressure (STP) that means this is the unit to measure the thickness of the ozone layer. As thickness is reduced we get to know the amount of ozone is also reduces
Why is the amount of ozone decreases?
One of the major sources is the use of chlorofluorocarbon(CFC). It is an inert colorless gas they are normally used in refrigerator and air conditioner (AC) this chemical is already used there as this gas is colorless, it is extremely difficult to detect it and at the same time, CFC are themselves are non toxic but at the higher level of atmosphere on high energy radiation this CFC is converted into chlorine molecules( Cl2)
What this Cl2 do?
One Cl2 molecule will be able to destroy lakhs of ozone molecules (O3)
Just imagine a huge destruction that will happen if Cl2 formation takes place in an outer layer of atmosphere, in fact, it has become a major which is threatening to the existence of the ozone
What will we do?
We have to control the usage of CFC as we already use CFC content equipment like refrigerator and Ac at a high amount, the amount of CFC increases and due to this CFC reaching into the outer atmosphere have also increased the formation of chlorine molecules also increases so, therefore, the destruction of ozone is also increases
How exactly chlorine molecules destroy ozone gas?
During a chemical reaction, Cl2 destroy ozone (O3 ) gas by acting as a catalyst, Cl2 molecules itself remain unaltered but at the same time it will able to destroy lakhs of ozone molecules, that is deadly and quite threatening
Just imagine if the outer layer has just one chlorine molecule ,even there one chlorine molecule can able to destroy all the ozone molecules because chlorine is a catalyst so chlorine itself will never get destroyed, so same chlorine molecule can continuously keep destroying more and more ozone molecules because nothing can harm the chlorine molecule so this is the worst part in this case
So let us see the picture of the earth and the concentration of the ozone layer that will change in term of Dobson unit and how it impact our earth
This is the NASA projection of stratospheric ozone concentration if chlorofluorocarbons had not banned
Consequences of ozone layer depletion
What will happen if the ozone layer is depleted?
1. Skin cancer
One of the important consequence will be the skin cancer as said earlier skin is something which is exposed to UV radiation, skin cancer happens and that is sometimes deadly
2. leukemia and Breast cancer
Basically, chances of cancer increases due to the extremely high energy of UV rays is that they became very harmful to the cell and also the DNA and protein have the tendency to absorb UV rays so these two things put together can actually damage the cell and this can cause cancer
3. Damage immune system
Once the immune system is damaged it can even lead to death because the immune system is a soldier of our body it helps us to fight infection now if the immune system itself get damage even a small infection can kill the person because the immune system cannot able to fight against the infection
4. Snow Blindness and Cataract
It can also cause inflammation related to cornea because UV rays have a negative impact on the cornea, as a result, it can cause cataract or even it can cause permanent damage to the cornea
5. Damage plants
Due to UV rays it can adversely affect the process of photosynthesis, plants need visible light for photosynthesis but instead of this UV ray is available it will affect the process of photosynthesis this will also cause more and more water to evaporate through stomata therefore moist content in soil will reduce as a result of this plant will become very dry they will lose water
Aquatic plants can even die due to UV rays presence
Measures to control ozone layer depletion
Controlling the ozone layer depletion is all about controlling the usage which causes ozone layer depletion
1.limited production of CFCs
We have to limit the production of CFCs if there are fewer CFCs and then there is less probability that chlorine formation will take place in the upper layer so therefore the probability of destruction of the ozone layer is less
2.Minimize the usage of pesticides
Usage of chemicals such as pesticides or insecticides have also harmful impact on the existence of ozone layer
3.Use of eco- friendly households cleaning products
Many cleaning household products contain the high level of toxins which intervene the existence of ozone layer 4.Deforestation
Destruction or cutting of trees or forests is a fundamental cause of our several related environmental problems as we know trees release oxygen by the process of photosynthesis which forms the ozone gas above the atmosphere by oxidizing oxygen molecules so we can now imagine how trees help us to form ozone gas so by cutting a single trees might reduce the huge amount of ozone gas which acts as a blanket to our earth
5.Overpopulation
Deforestation is led by overpopulation by consequence overpopulation is the main boss of our environmental problems and is the major threats to earth our ecosystem might be an imbalance in upcoming generation due to overpopulation so we are in urge to control population as soon as possible
Credit: Roshni Mukherjee
Let us see now what is depletion of the ozone layer and how it is a serious threat to our earth
Depletion of the ozone layer
Let us try what is meant by depletion of the ozone layer so this ozone which act as a protective layer surrounding the earth so it has a particular thickness, this thickness determine lots of things
Let us suppose, the weather is extremely cold and you have used thick blanket it will provide you maximum protection if you used a thin blanket that might not give you enough protection
Similarly, if the ozone layer is depleted, the thick layer of the ozone layer is reduced therefore its protective measure and quality also reduce or decrease
The decrease in the amount of ozone layer around the atmosphere is termed as depletion of the ozone layer
What will happen, the amount of protection layer also decreasing so, therefore, UV rays start entering inside the earth and their harmful effect is seen. Unfortunately too much decreasing in ozone layer led to the formation of the ozone hole, this means that in the entire layer, a hole is formed due to lack of ozone gas so that is called ozone hole it is a serious threat for the survival of earth
How do we get to know the amount of the ozone layer is depleting?
A thickness of the ozone layer is measured by the term of Dobson unit
What is this Dobson unit?
1 Dobson unit is equal to 0.001 mm at standard temperature and pressure (STP) that means this is the unit to measure the thickness of the ozone layer. As thickness is reduced we get to know the amount of ozone is also reduces
Why is the amount of ozone decreases?
One of the major sources is the use of chlorofluorocarbon(CFC). It is an inert colorless gas they are normally used in refrigerator and air conditioner (AC) this chemical is already used there as this gas is colorless, it is extremely difficult to detect it and at the same time, CFC are themselves are non toxic but at the higher level of atmosphere on high energy radiation this CFC is converted into chlorine molecules( Cl2)
What this Cl2 do?
One Cl2 molecule will be able to destroy lakhs of ozone molecules (O3)
Just imagine a huge destruction that will happen if Cl2 formation takes place in an outer layer of atmosphere, in fact, it has become a major which is threatening to the existence of the ozone
What will we do?
We have to control the usage of CFC as we already use CFC content equipment like refrigerator and Ac at a high amount, the amount of CFC increases and due to this CFC reaching into the outer atmosphere have also increased the formation of chlorine molecules also increases so, therefore, the destruction of ozone is also increases
How exactly chlorine molecules destroy ozone gas?
During a chemical reaction, Cl2 destroy ozone (O3 ) gas by acting as a catalyst, Cl2 molecules itself remain unaltered but at the same time it will able to destroy lakhs of ozone molecules, that is deadly and quite threatening
Just imagine if the outer layer has just one chlorine molecule ,even there one chlorine molecule can able to destroy all the ozone molecules because chlorine is a catalyst so chlorine itself will never get destroyed, so same chlorine molecule can continuously keep destroying more and more ozone molecules because nothing can harm the chlorine molecule so this is the worst part in this case
So let us see the picture of the earth and the concentration of the ozone layer that will change in term of Dobson unit and how it impact our earth
Consequences of ozone layer depletion
What will happen if the ozone layer is depleted?
1. Skin cancer
One of the important consequence will be the skin cancer as said earlier skin is something which is exposed to UV radiation, skin cancer happens and that is sometimes deadly
2. leukemia and Breast cancer
Basically, chances of cancer increases due to the extremely high energy of UV rays is that they became very harmful to the cell and also the DNA and protein have the tendency to absorb UV rays so these two things put together can actually damage the cell and this can cause cancer
3. Damage immune system
Once the immune system is damaged it can even lead to death because the immune system is a soldier of our body it helps us to fight infection now if the immune system itself get damage even a small infection can kill the person because the immune system cannot able to fight against the infection
4. Snow Blindness and Cataract
It can also cause inflammation related to cornea because UV rays have a negative impact on the cornea, as a result, it can cause cataract or even it can cause permanent damage to the cornea
5. Damage plants
Due to UV rays it can adversely affect the process of photosynthesis, plants need visible light for photosynthesis but instead of this UV ray is available it will affect the process of photosynthesis this will also cause more and more water to evaporate through stomata therefore moist content in soil will reduce as a result of this plant will become very dry they will lose water
Aquatic plants can even die due to UV rays presence
Measures to control ozone layer depletion
Controlling the ozone layer depletion is all about controlling the usage which causes ozone layer depletion
1.limited production of CFCs
We have to limit the production of CFCs if there are fewer CFCs and then there is less probability that chlorine formation will take place in the upper layer so therefore the probability of destruction of the ozone layer is less
2.Minimize the usage of pesticides
Usage of chemicals such as pesticides or insecticides have also harmful impact on the existence of ozone layer
3.Use of eco- friendly households cleaning products
Many cleaning household products contain the high level of toxins which intervene the existence of ozone layer 4.Deforestation
Destruction or cutting of trees or forests is a fundamental cause of our several related environmental problems as we know trees release oxygen by the process of photosynthesis which forms the ozone gas above the atmosphere by oxidizing oxygen molecules so we can now imagine how trees help us to form ozone gas so by cutting a single trees might reduce the huge amount of ozone gas which acts as a blanket to our earth
5.Overpopulation
Deforestation is led by overpopulation by consequence overpopulation is the main boss of our environmental problems and is the major threats to earth our ecosystem might be an imbalance in upcoming generation due to overpopulation so we are in urge to control population as soon as possible
Credit: Roshni Mukherjee
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