Ozone Layer and Its Problems
Some of the world's brightest scientists have come up with the theory, that the human race is slowly depleting the ozone layer. By depleting the ozone layer the planet becomes warmer. Ozone depletion has been one of the most discussed issues in the past twenty years, when it comes to the environment. Many of the theories today say that if ozone depletion continues the planet will become warmer and the polar ice cap will melt.Anywhere from five to twenty-five miles above the earth is a protective blanket of gases know as the atmosphere. This atmosphere helps to hold in the air that we breathe and to protect the earth from the full effect of the sun's ultraviolet rays (Emmel 22). The upper part of the atmosphere is called the stratosphere; this is where the ozone layer is located. The ozone layer is the main tool for filtering out most of the sun's ultraviolet rays and only makes up one-millionth of the atmosphere. The ozone layer has one of the most important jobs in entire atmosphere. Its job is to absorb, reflect, or get rid of as many ultraviolet rays possible. Even with all of this some of the UV rays still get passed the ozone layer. But, because of the ozone layer there are not enough UV rays to h
Water vapor is an important "greenhouse" gas. It is a major reason why humid regions experience less cooling at night than do dry regions. However, variations in the atmosphere's carbon dioxide content are what have played a major role in past climatic changes. In fact, in recent decades there has been a global increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, largely as a result of the burning of fossil fuels. If the many other determinants of the Earth's present global climate remain more or less constant, the CO2 increase should raise the average temperature at the Earth's surface (Biggs 9). Environmental scientists are concerned that changes in the variable contents of the atmosphere, particularly changes caused by human activities, could cause the Earth's surface to warm up to a dangerous degree. Even a limited rise in average surface temperature might lead to at least partial melting of the polar icecaps and hence a major rise in sea level, along with other severe environmental disturbances. An example of a runaway greenhouse effect is Earth's near-twin planetary neighbor Venus. Because of Venus's thick carbon dioxide atmosphere, the planet's cloud-covered surface is hot enough to melt lead. last thirty year scientists believe the ozone layer has been depleted by two percent (Erratic 2).
Some common words found in the essay are:
Antarctica Biggs, Venus Venus's, , ozone layer, carbon dioxide, ultraviolet rays, greenhouse effect, uv rays, earth's surface, sun's ultraviolet rays, believe ozone layer, theories ozone, melting polar, ozone depletion, depleting ozone layer, atmospheric carbon,
Approximate Word count = 1118
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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