Ozone Layer 2 Essay, Research Paper

The ozone layer shields the earth from most of the

harmful radiation and light comming from the sun. The

ozone reflects and absorbs the ultraviolet rays that try to

come in. Without this kind of protection, all living things

will be effected by these UV rays. Skin cancer develops in

most living mammals as a cause of an overabundance of

the suns ultraviolet rays.

The ozone layer is located in the earth’s

stratosphere. The ozone layer is located from about

fifteen-to-thirty kilometers above the earths surface. The

ozone is made up of three oxygen atoms bonded to form

O3. This mixture is different from the oxygen we breathe.

The ozone is colored blue and has a remarkably strong

odor. The ozone molecule is a very rare molecule. If you

are given ten million air molecules, only three molecules

will be the ozone molecule.

Even a small portion of the ozone will play an

important role of protecting the earth. The ozone aborbs a

portion of of the radiation that is given off by the sun. The

most important radiation the ozone absorbs is the

ultraviolet light, UVB. The UVB light has linked to skin

cancer, cataracts, damage to crops, and some types of

marine life.

The types of effects that are formed by

overexposure to these harmful UV rays are skin cancer

(melanoma and nonmelanoma), cataracts and other types

of eye damage, immune system supperession, and

premature aging of the skin. It is a fact that one in every

five Americans will develop some type of skin cancer in

their lifetime. Also, every hour one American dies of skin

cancer.

The most deadly type of skin cancer is melanoma.

This cancer is the most serious and fastest growing cancer

in the United States today. The case of this cancer in the

past two decades have doubled. This figure is still

expected to rise. Nonmelanoma skin cancer are not as

deadly as the melanoma cancer. In 1999 more than

960,000 cases of this cancer will form. From these

960,000 cases, 2,000 people will die. The disease can be

treated if detected early. The types of the nonmelanoma

cancers are basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell

carcinomas.The basal cell carcinomas forms small skin

colored bumps on the head and neck areas. This cancer

will not spread, but might cause a considerable amount of

bone damage. Squamous cell carcinomas form tumors

which are red scaly patches. This cancer, unlike the other,

can spread to other parts of the body.

Cataracts can also form from over exposure to the

sun. Cataracts are formed in the lens of the eye. The

symptoms are a cloudy vision from loss of trasparency.

This symptom can be treated by modern eye surgery. If

this problem gets worse, it could lead to blindness. Most

of these cancers and diseases can be prevented by helping

the ozone cure itself.

The factors which harm the ozone are mostly the

use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s). These products were

made over fifty years ago. The products which are labled

as CFC’s are refigerants, solvents, and foam blowing

agents. Other industrial chemicals such as methyl

chloroform and carbon tetrachloride also harm the ozone.

The chemical that is in all of these substances that kill the

ozone the fastest is chlorine. Over 100,000 molecules of

O3 can be destoyed by one molecule of chlorine.

There is a plus to all of this chaos. The ozone will

revive itsself, but not as fast as we can destroy it. It will

take at least fifty years of healing to completely heal. We

can prevent this killing of the ozone by conserving the

trips we make in our vehichles and not to use chlorine

products and other products which give off CFC’s.