Ozone Research Paper

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Introduction
Ozone is the form of oxygen consisting of three atoms of oxygen instead of two. It is considered an air pollutant when it is found at ground levels and it is a major component of smog.1 It is formed by the reaction of various air pollutants when in the presence of sunlight.1 Ozone is used commercially as a bleaching agent and is also used to purify water supplies.1 On the other hand, ozone is toxic and is a gas which is harmful to any person's health when generated near the earth’s surface.1 The ozone that shields the Earth from the sun’s radiation is found in the stratosphere.1 The stratosphere is a layer of the upper atmosphere which is located 15-50 kilometres (km) above the ground.

Figure 2: The Ozone layers

Chlorofluorocarbons …show more content…

Figure 4: Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl4) molecule

Methyl chloroform is the first substance under the Montreal Protocol that has shown a distinct decrease in atmospheric abundance.5 The abundance of methyl chloroform has already decreased because its atmospheric lifetime is comparable with the time scale over which it has been regulated and the atmospheric response to reduced emissions is relatively prompt.5 Shorter lived chlorine compounds will decrease in abundance more quickly and the earliest contribution to the recovery of the stratospheric layer of the ozone will come from the shortest lived compounds.5 The atmosphere responds more quickly to reductions in emissions of shorter lived compounds and methyl chloroform happens to be the forerunner of this category.

Figure 5: Methyl Chloroform (C2H3Cl3) …show more content…

The thickness of the ozone layer above Europe has decreased significantly since the beginning of the 1980s and has been declining of a rate of 8% per decade.6 The global trend in the winter/spring period at northern mid-latitudes is a 5.4% decrease per decade.6 There are gradual falls in chlorine concentrations in the troposphere while on their way to the stratosphere which show the international policies to control ozone-depletion substances are succeeding.6 The long life of the ozone depleters (chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloroform) means the recovery of the ozone layer may not be complete until after

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