What is meant by ozone hole? What are the harmful effects of depletion of ozone layers?
Answers
Explanation:
In polar regions, stratospheric clouds provide the surface for chlorine nitrate and hypochlorous acid. They react to form chlorine molecules. Photolysis of chlorine molecules and HOCl gives chlorine free radicals.
The chlorine free radicals lead to the decomposition of ozone
This initiates a chain reaction. The chlorine free radical is continuously regenerated which depletes the ozone layer. It is called ozone hole.
Consequences of ozone depletion:
The ozone layer protects the earth from the harmful UV radiations of the sun. Due to its depletion, more radiation enters the earth's atmosphere. UV radiations cause aging of skin, cataract, skin cancer and sunburns. Hence, they are harmful. They cause the death of phytoplanktons which leads to a decrease of fish productivity. Excess exposure may even cause mutation in plants, increase UV radiation, decrease moisture content of soil and damage both plants and fibers.
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Answer:
Ozone hole
Ozone depletion is greatest at the South Pole. It occurs mainly in late winter and early spring (August-November) and peak depletion usually occurs in early October, when ozone is often completely destroyed in large areas.
This severe depletion creates the so-called “ozone hole” that can be seen in images of Antarctic ozone, made using satellite observations. In most years, the maximum area of the hole is bigger than the Antarctic continent itself. Although ozone losses are less radical in the Northern Hemisphere, significant thinning of the ozone layer is also observed over the Arctic and even over continental Europe.
Most of the ozone-depleting substances emitted by human activities remain in the stratosphere for decades, meaning that ozone layer recovery is a very slow, long process.
The chart below shows the development of the (annual maximum) size of the ozone hole over the Antarctic. The hole grew in the years following ratification of the Montreal Protocol, due to the lag caused by the fact that ozone-depleting substances remain in the stratosphere for a long time. The maximum size of the ozone hole is now decreasing.
Explanation: