Nathadol Jomsiriwattana Group: 10-7

What evidence is there for ozone depletion? Construct your own argument for an
international agreement to stop ozone depletion.

As you know, nowadays global warming become more serious, many natural disaster,
climate change and some increasing temperature occurred in recently years. People starts
concerning and find some solutions for this problems. Everyone know greenhouse gases is
the main causes of global warming then many people think greenhouse gases are harmful and
bad for your life, how many people think this gases are advantage. Yes! Nothing in this world
has only bad side, and of course for greenhouse gases. This gases also have a lot of benefits.
For example, it keeps Earth constant temperature, it protects us from harmful radiation from
the sun. One of the main familiar greenhouse gas which help us from radiation is ozone or
oxygen with three atoms (

). Then what would happen if this gases, especially ozone, get

depleted? So for you to protect Earth from the ozone hole or lacking of ozone, we need to
know what the definition of ozone is and the factors that led to its depletion.
Ozone, everyone might familiar with this word and think it is the benefit gas, it
improves our health but how many know what is the exactly definition of ozone. Ozone is the
one type of greenhouse gases which contain three oxygen atoms by covalent bond which can
protect us from UV radiation which may harmful for our health, especially skin cancer, and
most of it contain in the stratosphere layer in atmosphere. Then ozone depletion means that
the ozone in the atmosphere less than what it supposes to be and create the ozone hole which
usually occur at Antartica.
Nothing in this world has only one side like ozone which does not has only advantage,
it also has disadvantage. Too much ozone on ground level of earth surface has a significant
health risk about respiratory system. For instance, chest pain, coughing, throat irritation,
congestion, bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma. It also damages crops, trees and other
vegetation, and also the ingredient of smog.
Until now ozone still reducing and the main cause of that problems are the reaction
between ozone and other chemical compound, usually chlorinated and brominated
compounds, and produce oxygen and other nascent oxygen. Most
of that chemical compound usually be anthropogenic, Ozone
Depleting Substance (ODS), Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),

Methyl chloroform (

), except CH
3
Br and CH
3
Cl which
is occur in nature. From the research 1 chlorine atom destroy about
100,000 ozone atoms.
According to Global Monitoring Division (GMD) which is the
Nathadol Jomsiriwattana Group: 10-7
technology which can measure the level of ozone in the last two decade, it tell us many
information about ozone depletion. It tell us that CFC-11, CFC-12, N
2
O, HCFC's, and other
halogenated gases have been causing ozone depletion since the mid-1970s by using the level
of ozone at Antartica and the amount of chemical gases in atmosphere.
Even though there are many causes of ozone depletion, there is only one main cause
which is human. In nature, it is normally that ozone get produced and destroyed at constantly
rate and become the nature cycle but that cycle was ruined by human. Then for you to stop
the ozone depletion, you just need to change your living behavior. For instance, reduce the
using of technology which can produce chlorinated and brominated compounds. If people still
ignore this problems, this problem will become irretrievable and people will need to face with
the huge disaster ever.


References

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2010, Aug 19). The Process of Ozone Depletion.
Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/process.html
Earth system research laboratory. Ozone Depletion. Retrieved from
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/about/ozone.html
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2010, Aug 19). Ozone. Retrieved from
http://www.epa.gov/ozone/
Caroline Tran, Dan Chong, Anne Keith, and Jordan Shively. Depletion of the Ozone Layer.
Retrieved from http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical_Chemistry/Kinetics/
Case_Studies%3A_Kinetics/Depletion_of_the_Ozone_Layer
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2010, Aug 19). Health Effects. Retrieved from
http://www.epa.gov/groundlevelozone/health.html
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2010, Aug 19). The Process of Ozone Depletion.
Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/process.html
Daniel, J. S., Solomon, S. & Albritton, D. L. J. Geophys. Res. D 100, 12711285 (1995)
Lubin, D. & Jensen, E. H. Nature 377, 710713 (1995).
Berg, R. J. W. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 93, 274278 (1996).