Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Ozone (O3) is a trace gas which has been of concern because of its unique dual role in different layers of the lower atmosphere. [1] Apart from absorbing UV-B radiation and converting solar energy into heat in the stratosphere, ozone in the troposphere provides greenhouse effect and controls the oxidation capacity of the atmosphere. [1]
The ozone hole was much more seen as a "hot issue" and imminent risk compared to global climate change, [13] as lay people feared a depletion of the ozone layer (ozone shield) risked increasing severe consequences such as skin cancer, cataracts, [23] damage to plants, and reduction of plankton populations in the ocean's photic zone. This was ...
These wavelengths cause skin cancer, sunburn, permanent blindness, and cataracts, [5] which were projected to increase dramatically as a result of thinning ozone, as well as harming plants and animals. These concerns led to the adoption of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which bans the production of CFCs, halons, and other ozone-depleting ...
Since the late 1970s, the use of CFCs has been heavily regulated because of their destructive effects on the ozone layer. After the development of his electron capture detector , James Lovelock was the first to detect the widespread presence of CFCs in the air, finding a mole fraction of 60 ppt of CFC-11 over Ireland .
The small unabsorbed part that remains of UV-B after passage through ozone causes sunburn in humans, and direct DNA damage in living tissues in both plants and animals. Ozone's effect on mid-range UV-B rays is illustrated by its effect on UV-B at 290 nm, which has a radiation intensity 350 million times as powerful at the top of the atmosphere ...
Emissions are the quantity of pollutants released from a particular source; exposure is the quantity of a pollutant breathed in by people or other living things. Where air pollution laws may seek to limit the emissions of a particular pollutant, or the concentration in a particular environment, the health impacts depend on people's exposure to ...
Organic compounds such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have generated an opening in the ozone layer, which admits higher levels of ultraviolet radiation, putting the globe at risk. The available fresh water being affected by the climate is also being stretched across an ever-increasing global population.
The ozone depletion potential (ODP) of a chemical compound is the relative amount of degradation to the ozone layer it can cause, with trichlorofluoromethane (R-11 or CFC-11) being fixed at an ODP of 1.0. Chlorodifluoromethane (R-22), for example, has an ODP of 0.05. CFC 11, or R-11 has the maximum potential amongst chlorocarbons because of the ...