What's Happening to Our Ozone?

Causes and implications: The blatant use of pesticides, volatile chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), halons, methyl bromide, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform (EPA 2008). All these are manmade and are in common things we use every day, I remember the big campaign over aerosol hairspray and the fact that women use so much of it, but ironically this was happening as they were creating stronger more dangerous chemicals for pesticides and spraying these chemicals on thousands of acres of land. Looking at the two I would say the pesticide spraying did way more damage than women and hairspray, and another irony with the pesticides is as it depletes the ozone layer the UV rays are killing the food source these pesticides are trying to "protect". Along with these issues we face health issues with the depletion of the ozone layer, like the rise in skin cancer, or poor air quality that causes breathing problems and a variety of different health problems. If you think about it there is a vicious circle here, poor air quality leads to people being inside using more energy (air conditioners) causing a bigger carbon imprint, causing global warming and more of a loss in ozone, not getting vitamin D (which we seem to be more and more deficient in lately), causing more health issues and I can go on and on. Bottom line, as I keep going back to, is every single (natural) thing on this planet depends on balance, when one thing is disrupted it creates a chain reaction that will eventually kill the planet if we don't change our ways.

Scientists predict that the ozone layer can and will repair itself by 2050 if the right steps are taken to lessen or prevent the use of the chemicals that have been depleting it in the first place. The EPA and other worldwide environmental agencies have taken some steps to lessen or stop the use of the chemicals that have been at the heart of the problem by banning the use of some chemicals (EPA 2008).

We need to be concerned about the ozone depletion because it affects our health and the future of our planet, without intervention with this problem our children and grandchildren will not survive since our planet will not survive. We are already seeing the effects of pollution and air quality in the rise in illness caused by this so if let go it will only get worse. These problems of air quality are obviously worse in cities and suburbs because of the concentration of cars and their emissions, buildings and the use of energy, lack of trees and greenery to produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, everything is compacted and concentrated in these areas. Cutting down on energy use, electric or "green" cars, creating more areas of plants and greenery could all help these areas cut down their impact on the pollution and ozone depletion.

People could be more pro-active by cutting down on their driving and their use of energy, turn off things they don't need or use, turn their thermostats down, dry their clothes outside, stop using harmful chemicals, the list goes on. Plant gardens and grow organically, no chemical pesticides, walk when possible, make trips in the car only when necessary and combine errands so it's one trip instead of many, buy "green" products, anything that involves a more natural lifestyle. All these things can help both the ground and atmospheric ozone while helping ourselves by improving our health and the health of our planet.

Here's an article about the top ten worst polluting companies and of course they are in the United States, (we really have to change things in this country): http://247wallst.com/2009/04/02/the-%e2%80%9cgreen%e2%80%9d-hypocrisy-america%e2%80%99s-corporate-environment-champions-pollute-the-world/

I remember when the ozone issue started coming to light and people made jokes about women using hairspray (aerosol) and the depletion of the ozone, but the use of pesticides has a ongoing effect that causes a chain reaction much worse for the ozone. The pesticides kill bugs, even beneficial ones, the chemicals go into the air and seep into the ground killing plant life also, the plant life is needed for air quality so everything the pesticides do has detrimental effects on the environment overall. It upsets the natural balance of the planet. I found an article relating to pesticides and the ozone here is a little bit of it: "Methyl bromide is a highly toxic fungicide and the second most widely applied pesticide in the world. It is primarily used on "high value" export crops bound for North America, European, and East Asian markets, such as tomatoes, peppers, grapes, strawberries, tobacco and flowers. Methyl bromide is also used to protect stored grains. The pesticide is effective against a wide range of pests including insects, worms, and pathogenic microorganisms.

However, methyl bromide has a dramatic environmental impact. After being sprayed on crops, the pesticide drifts into the upper atmosphere where it damages the ozone layer, which blocks ultraviolet (UV) rays from reaching the Earth's surface. Although a shorter-lived substance than chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - a better-known family of ozone-depleting compounds - methyl bromide destroys ozone molecules at 50 times the rate of CFCs. In a 1994 scientific assessment, the World Meteorological Organization concluded that phasing out this chemical is the single largest step that governments can take to protect the ozone layer" (Fairholm, 1997).

So the short and long term effects of these chemicals and the amount used in the world is having the biggest effect on the planet and the ozone, I don't think there is anything else used in such volume that has the same effect.

National Library of Medicine, (2008, November 6). Ozone. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from Toxtown Web site: http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/chemicals.php?id=20

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (2009, January 26). Ozone - good up high bad nearby. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site: http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/gooduphigh/good.html#3

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (2008, August 25). Ozone layer depletion-science. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site: http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/q_a.html#q4

Fairholm, J. (1997 April 11). Saving the ozone layer: Alternatives to methyl bromide . Retrieved April 9, 2009, from IDRC Web site: http://archive.idrc.ca/books/reports/1997/14-01e.html