Question

How would depletion of ozone in the stratosphere affect human life?

Answer 1

1. A naturally occurring layer of ozone at high altitude (stratosphere) absorbs potentially damaging ultraviolet radiations (UV-radiations) from Sun.
2. Therefore, this ozone layer is important for life forms on the earth but the amount of ozone in the stratosphere has dropped sharply in the recent past.
3. This decrease has been linked to synthetic chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are used widely in air conditioners, refrigerators and in fire extinguishers.
4. The depletion of ozone in the stratosphere occurs due to reaction between ozone and CFCs.

The thin ozone layer allows UV-radiations to reach earth's atmosphere and affecting human life in various ways -

1. These radiations eventually cause injury to all types of organisms on the earth as well as to the aquatic life.
2. Besides this, thinning of ozone layer has resulted in increase in earth's temperature and reduction in rainfall thus disturbing the ecosystem.
3. One per cent reduction in ozone increases UV-radiation on earth by 2%. It has increased the risk of skin cancer, eye diseases (cataracts) and loss of immunity.