STRATOSPHERIC OZONE

DEPLETION
OZONE DEPLETION

Ozone depletion describes two distinct but related
phenomena observed since the late 1970s: a steady
decline of about 4% per decade in the total volume of
ozone in Earth's stratosphere (the ozone layer), and a
much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone
over Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon is
referred to as the ozone hole. In addition to these well-
known stratospheric phenomena, there are also
springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events.
OZONE DEPLETION: AN INTRODUCTION

Planet Earth has its own natural sunscreen that shields
us from the sun's damaging ultraviolet radiation. It's
called the ozone layer: a fragile band of gases beginning
15 kilometers above our planet, and reaching up to the
40-kilometre level. Human activities have caused a
substantial thinning of this protective covering not
only over the North and South Poles, but right over our
heads.
Stopping ozone layer depletion is one of the major
challenges facing the world today. The stakes are
incredibly high. For the ozone layer is truly a "conserver
of life," essential to the survival of all living things.

THE STRATOSPHERIC OZONE LAYER

The ozone layer lies in the stratosphere, in the upper level of our
atmosphere. The ozone in it is spread very sparsely. In fact, if you
could squish the ozone layer to the same air pressure we have at
sea level, it would be only about as thick as the sole of your shoe.
Stratospheric ozone filters out most of the sun's potentially harmful
shortwave ultraviolet (UV) radiation. This ozone has become
depleted, due to the release of such ozone-depleting substances as
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). When stratospheric ozone is depleted,
more UV rays reach the earth. Exposure to higher amounts of UV
radiation could have serious impacts on human beings, animals and
plants.

DEPLETION OF THE STRATOSPHERIC OZONE LAYER (OZONE
DEPLETION)

In 1985, a group of scientists made an unsettling discovery: a
marked decrease in stratospheric ozone over the South Pole, in the
Antarctic. The depletion appeared during the southern
hemisphere's spring (October and November) and then filled in.
Soon after the Antarctic hole was found, Canadian scientists
discovered that the ozone layer above the Arctic is also thinning
significantly.
The highest latitudes the north and south poles experience
the greatest amount of ozone loss, during their spring. Ozone
depletion is most pronounced in the Antarctic. But ozone depletion,
to a lesser degree, now occurs in the mid-latitudes. For example,
the amount of stratospheric ozone over the northern hemisphere
has been dropping by 4% per decade.