What is the effect of CFC on Ozone Layer?

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and halons destroy the earth’s protective ozone layer, which shields the earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV-B) rays generated from the sun. CFCs and HCFCs also warm the lower atmosphere of the earth, changing global climate.

What happens to CFCs in the upper atmosphere?

The abundance of CFC-11 decreases as the gas reaches higher altitudes, where it is broken down by high energy solar ultraviolet radiation. Chlorine released from this breakdown of CFC-11 and other CFCs remains in the stratosphere for several years, where it destroys many thousands of molecules of ozone.

How does CFC destroy the ozone layer?

Once in the atmosphere, CFCs drift slowly upward to the stratosphere, where they are broken up by ultraviolet radiation, releasing chlorine atoms, which are able to destroy ozone molecules. The seasons have an impact on the Antarctic ozone hole. When sunlight returns in the spring, the chlorine begins to destroy ozone.

What is the effect of ozone in the upper atmosphere?

If the ozone concentration in the upper atmosphere is large enough, most of the high-energy ultraviolet light from the sun is absorbed before reaches the surface of the Earth where it can damage plants and cause skin cancer.

Why do CFCs stay in the atmosphere for so long?

CFCs reach the stratosphere because the Earth’s atmosphere is always in motion and mixes the chemicals added into it. Gases such as CFCs that do not dissolve in water and that are relatively unreactive in the lower atmosphere are mixed relatively quickly and therefore reach the stratosphere regardless of their weight.

What is the function of ozone in the atmosphere?

Ozone protects life on Earth from the Sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) near the Earth’s surface, ozone is created by chemical reactions between air pollutants from vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and other emissions.

Why ozone layer is important for human life describe?

Why is Ozone Layer important? Ozone protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the Sun. With a weakening of the Ozone Layer shield, humans would be more susceptible to skin cancer, cataracts and impaired immune systems.