what is the future of ozone depletion?
85875
Ozone is a form of oxygen(O3),a life saver. It blocks the UV rays from the sun entering into earth's atmosphere.In the stratosphere small amount of O3 r constantly bein made by the action of sunliht on O2. But due to human activities,the green house gases esp. Chlorofluorocarbon(CFC) & hydrochlorofluorocarbons r consstantly being released,that destroy O3 much faster than they r formed.\n\nIf this still continues,it 'll affect crop yield,damage fish larvae,melanoma,skin cancer,erythema,occular abnormalities,cataract may occur. It 'll also affect immune responses.\n\nTo stop all these,some of these ways can be adopted.CFC may be replaced by HFC,butane,propane,etc.servicing of refrigerators & AC should be regulated.Refrigerants should be recaptured & used.\n\nIn 1991-1992,Scientists working in European Arctic stratosphere Ozone Expt in Sweden sent 39 balloons with payload upto 500 kg & 800 ozone probes. Their findings revealed that ozone layer was reduced by 15-200% . Chlorine was also found in active form in the atmosphere.
345675
The Recipe For Ozone Loss\n\nTo summarise then, we have looked at the 'ingredients' or conditions necessary for the destruction of ozone that we see in Antarctica. The same applies more or less to the loss of ozone in the Arctic stratosphere during winter. Although in this case the loss is not nearly so severe.\n\nTo recap then, the requirements for ozone loss are:\n\nThe polar winter leads to the formation of the polar vortex which isolates the air within it.\n\nCold temperatures form inside the vortex; cold enough for the formation of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs). As the vortex air is isolated, the cold temperatures and the PSCs persist.\n\nOnce the PSCs form, heterogeneous reactions take place and convert the inactive chlorine and bromine reservoirs to more active forms of chlorine and bromine.\n\nNo ozone loss occurs until sunlight returns to the air inside the polar vortex and allows the production of active chlorine and initiates the catalytic ozone destruction cycles. Ozone loss is rapid. The ozone hole currently covers a geographic region a little bigger than Antarctica and extends nearly 10km in altitude in the lower stratosphere.
12935
The Earth has probably already peaked as a haven for plants and animals and begun its long descent into oblivion, according to scientists at the University of Washington who have plotted out the future of our planet.\n\nThese are not prophets of doom who have mounted the podium to warn us that we are killing ourselves through bad stewardship. They are scientists who say all good things must come to an end sometime, and at best we've got no more than half a billion years left.\n\nAfter that, the planet will return to its ancient past, inhabited only by bacteria and single-celled organisms, just as it was in its earliest years. But in time even those will vanish as the Earth is reduced to a lifeless chunk of rock, or swallowed entirely by an expanding Sun. \n\n...
1024045
It is believed that one of the causes of ozone depletion is due to the presence of CFC (Chloro-Fluoro Carbons) in the stratosphere. A common source of this used to be Freon - a coolant used in refridgeration / air-conditioning which has a relatively large lifespan once introduced into the atmosphere.\n\nThe ozone layer is responsible for absorbing some harmful UV rays (ultra-violet)  and their absence can lead to increase in skin ailments for humans such as skin cancer (especially in Australia ).\n\nI don't think it is related to melting of the ice-cap, warming temperatures - where another atmospheric gas -carbon dioxide is more directly involved.
356935
it's possible considering all the rapid global warming that has been occurring all over the world. i doubt it's gonna happen anytime soon but if we continue to dump so much toxic wastes into the air as well as greenhouse gases, it's gonna come much sooner than we think =/
564994
Not the easiest thing in the world to get to O3 from H20...\n\nPlus large ice balls in our atmosphere have an unpleasent history of killing things...
477128
I have to believe that we are on a downward spiral. We are depleting the primeval rain forests which provide oxygen and burning fossil ie carbon fuels which produce carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, in addition to excreting sulphur which produces sulphurous and sulphuric acid. The westernised/civilised world is reluctantly taking small steps, but the 3rd world is increasing at an alarming rate.\nGlobal warming is a fact, and the result of this within this century will be frightening both in terms of sea-level rises and also hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones. Let us see what damage is caused in the Gulf of Mexico THIS year....
1134469
Yes -but it will have to leave this planet-because we are killing the earth with pollution- maybe our decendants will populate mars or where ever.
10249
actually, this is one problem that has actually been helped by government.\n\nan international agreement known as the montreal protocol signed in 1988 has restricted the use of ozone depleting chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons, methyl chloroform, methyl bromide and the like.  atmospheric monitoring has shown that the levels of these chemicals in the atmosphere has started to turn over and decline.\n\naccording to the NOAA report on ozone depletion published in 2002, "Chemistry-climate models predict that springtime Antarctic ozone levels will be increasing by 2010 because of projected decreases of halogens in the stratosphere.  A return to pre-1980 total column ozone amounts in the Antarctic is expected by the middle of this century."\n\nso, in other words, we only have to keep doing the right thing and not using the chemicals which we know deplete the ozone, and the earth will heal itself by 2050.  cool eh!
192873
Dont listen to teh idiot above, how could cutting down trees help improve the ozone layer???\n\nThe answer is A because trees convert CO2 to O2, the more trees you cut down the less trees you have to make 02 from CO2 so there will be an increase in CO2
787129
the ozone deplation allows more rays to enter the earth's atmosphere.  Which then heats the atmosphere and raises the temps at the polar ice caps which melt.  The melted polarcaps will spill into the oceans that will spill over land.  Do you see where this is going.
446109
They are going to try and explore the possibilities of living on Mars in the future due to the fact that they believe the Earth will eventually become unlivable due to the warming of the planet. It probably won't happen in our lifetime but Man will pollute the Earth, the air, and the water so much that we will not be able to survive. The hole in the ozone layer is becoming a major problem.
149315
This answer can be simple, or it can be more complicated.\n\nThe simple answer is that during the polar winters (both the North AND the South Poles, actually although it is worse at the South Pole because it is colder there), there is not enough sunlight to make ozone, so stratospheric ozone decreases naturally. \n\nThe chemical reactions that do this are called the Chapman reactions:\n\nO2 + hv -> O + O(1)\nO + O2 -> O3 (2)\n\nO is monoatomic oxygen, O2 is the oxygen molecule and O3 is ozone. The term hv is the energy from ultraviolet rays from sunlight. (1/v = wavelength < ~ 240 nm \n\nAlthough the UV radiation splits the ozone molecule, ozone can reform through the following reactions resulting in no net loss of ozone: \n\nO3 + hv -> O2 + O (3)\nO + O2 -> O3 (2) as above\n\nOzone is also destroyed by the following reaction: \nO + O3-> O2 + O2 (4)\n\nOne would expect ozone to decrease when there was no sunlight from (4).  \n\nHowever, we have observed that even more ozone than these Chapman reactions would predict was being lost during the polar winters. And this is probably because of a reaction involve a man-made chemical, CFCs or chlorinated fluorocarbons, which are not being phased out by international agreement. This process works best when it is very cold and there is no sunlight. \n\nThere are much more sophisticated explanations. Here is a more complicated explanation I wrote:\n\nThe conditions that create regions of depleted ozone are enhanced during the winter months, when there are much lower temperatures. However, the conditions for ozone depletion peak in the springtime, at the end of the winter. This is somewhat unfortunate, because at that time the ozone holes then break up, and neighboring areas are subjected to a decrease in ozone protection at a time when ultraviolet radiation is greater, in the late spring and early summer. \n\nThe reaction that depletes ozone is apparently greatest on the surface of what some had thought were ice crystals in the stratosphere that form during the winter months. However , recent theories are that in fact these are not ice crystals, but crystals of nitric acid trihydrate ("NAT"), HNO3.3(H2O). Antarctica is much colder than the arctic, because it is not only a large land mass but also is the continent with the greatest average elevation, both contributing to the severity of its winter weather. This creates much colder temperatures in the entire air column, including the stratosphere (temperatures approach -80C, or -112 F), so there are more frozen NAT crystals and more ozone depletion.\n\nIt is also interesting that the reaction that destroys the ozone needs ultraviolet radiation to proceed, and this goes on during the time of the year when there is minimal sun. However, it should be noted that this peaks during the spring when the sun is returning, and the process occurs high in the stratosphere, so more light is present than it is at ground level, especially better refracted wavelengths like those in the ultraviolet region.
323732
I hope you mean the ozone layer, rather than a lair!\n\nBut, no, that is not true, and whoever told you that is now laughing at you!
1138913
There's not UV filtering, no ozone layer to protect it.  It will be burned by UV radiation.
782745
"Are we destroying the earth with technology or is the earth doing business as usual"\nI suggest you track the changes scientists have found in the entire history of the earth, warming, freezing, wet and even effects of smoke from Krakatoa. Then compare what is happening now with pollution and the depletion of the ozone layer and ask the readers to make their own conclusion.
558286
You are completely right, the amount of oxygen has indeed been reduced through the burning of fossil fuels. Reference attached to the Columbia University web page of the world's foremost authority on the global oxygen cycle.\n\nWhile no danger exists that our O2 reserve will be depleted, nevertheless the O2 content of our atmosphere is slowly declining--so slowly that a sufficiently accurate technique to measure this change wasn't developed until the late 1980s. Ralph Keeling, its developer, showed that between 1989 and 1994 the O2 content of the atmosphere decreased at an average annual rate of 2 parts per million. Considering that the atmosphere contains 210,000 parts per million, one can see why this measurement proved so difficult.