Bill Eastman wrote:
>
> Off topic but I have an opinion so it's fair game.
> My understanding of the ozone layer is that the ozone is made by the UV
> light putting energy into standard oxygen molecules. 3O(2) + energy =
> 2O(3). If this is the case, then that reaction would happen any time there
> is sufficient energy to cause it. So, the ozone layer is a self
> rejuvenating, self limiting filter. If it gets thinned out, the UV energy
> makes more until the energy left is insufficient to drive the reaction. If
> the layer is too thick then the reactions stops. No sun, no ozone. If we
> release something else that soaks up UV, then it replaces ozone but will
> not increase the amount of UV radiation reaching the earth.
Exactly my own thoughts, Bill. The other factor, though, is ozone destruction.
What if the rate of destruction exceeds the rate or production? Even Concorde
only
burns a thin little corridor through the middle of a wopping great mass of
ozone,
but what about the thousands of jets that circle the Earth every day? So why
are
the holes over the poles, expand in their winter and shrink in their summer?
Maybe
the rotation of the Earth thins the ozone at the poles and thickens it at the
equator. Who knows.
PaulH.
|