Ozone and global warming

Posted on July 31, 2009 in Latest News

The subject of ozone depletion and global warming has always been a tricky one to understand. The ozone layer is a layer of the ozone gas- which is an allotrope of oxygen- which envelops the earth. It has traditionally saved us from the harmful ultraviolet radiation of the sun.

However in the last few decades, scientists across the world confirm a hole in the ozone layer around the south pole above the continent of Antarctica. In view of the rising propaganda around climate change and global warming, many people have begun to associate the hole in the ozone as a consequence of global warming. This is not true.

The source of the confusion is this. CFC’s or ChloroFlouro Carbons are known to cause the hole in the ozone layer. CFC’s also act as a green house gas thus contributing to the phenomenon of global warming. Ozone is also a green house gas which traps infra-red radiation in the atmosphere, thus increasing the temperature of the earth. The formation of the ozone hole is a direct result of the effect of CFC’s on the ozone layer and not a consequence of global warming. The effect of CFC’s in the contribution towards global warming is often said to be neutralized on the account of the mitigating consequence of the depletion of the green house gas- ozone.

Lin J

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