Ozone Layer Depletion

Abstract

Until relatively recently, when environmentalists were troubled by ozone, their concerns were entirely focused on its role as a major component of urban air pollution. Following theoretical work in the mid-1970s that suggested that certain human activities may have a harmful effect on the ozone layer which exists in the stratosphere, interest in that aspect of the ozone problem gradually increased. While ozone may be a noxious gas at ground level, in the upper reaches of our atmosphere it plays a vital role in shielding the earth from deadly ultraviolet radiation. The thinner this shield, the greater the expected incidence of skin cancers and other health problems. In 1986, it was discovered that the concentration of ozone above Antarctica had virtually dropped to zero, creating the so-called “hole in the sky.” When chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were identified as the primary culprit in this dramatic and very sudden disappearance of ozone, scientific and public concerns reached a feverish pitch.

The depletion of the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, and the global environmental crisis are the most important issues that this country will have to face in the next decade and the next century.

—Senator Albert Gore writing in

Roan⁽¹⁾

Each chapter in this part of the book is headed by a brief quotation from a recent book on the subject.