Human Ecological "Stupidity": Ozone Depletion

The ozone is a layer of natural protective, colorless gases. The gasses react easily with other substances but is best known for the absorption of harmful rays of sunlight like UV-B. The very high ozone layer protects all life from the cancer-causing solar radiation. The reactions closer to the Earth's surface though, can be harmful to plants and to humans lung tissues. The more UV-B rays reaching the surface can cause many more problems. Along with hurting plants and humans directly, the radiation from harmful UV-B it can affect the climate all over the globe because of change in the wind patterns; malaria and other infections diseases could result from this as well. Food chains and webs will change if the radiation becomes too powerful. The solar radiation would damage many plants, causing their life cycle to be altered which in turn would change the whole food web.

Over both the earth's poles there are holes in the ozone layer. Twenty-five years ago there was a treaty between a few nations restricting the use of chemicals(Chlorofluorocarbons,called CFC's)  that destroy this protective layer of our atmosphere.The CFC's were most commonly found in spray aerosols used by industrial companys.The chemicals have not been released into the atmosphear since the treaty but the ozone hole above the Antarctic pole has grown larger in every picture that NASA has released (shown below). This is because the CFC's stay in the atmosphere continuing to destroy the protective layer.

On 24 September 2006 the largest hole in the ozone was recorded over the Antarctice Pole. The solution to this issue has been adressed, there have been measures taken to stop the use of CFC's, but it is estimated that another 50 years will have to pass before the chlorine levels to return to natural. Other products besides CFC's may not be enviromentally friendly; these products should also be limited to prevent further damage to the ozone.

Here is a short video clip of the ozone hole every October from 1979 until 2007, notice the largest hole in 2006.

Sources:
http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/
http://www.epa.gov/ozone/
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/ozone-depletion-overview/

This Semester..

This coming semester I am excited for many of the things we are going to be studing. The one topic I am most excited for is probably Heredity because it just sounds interesting to me. Even though all of the topics sound interesting I'm not looking forward to the Biochemistry or Cell units as much because I don't always enjoy dealing with cells.

Come out and support the Varsity Volleyball team this week at Ravenna at 5 pm. We play Ravenna and Freemont!(:

Me!

I am a varsity volleyball player and senior at Sparta. I'm very unsure about what career I want to pursue. AP Biology seemed like an interesting and challenging course and I am intrested in science. I'd like to learn more about biology and hopefully get college credit by doing well on the AP test.