School
of
Chemistry
Ozoneby Chris Archeremail ca1998@bris.ac.ukOzone makes up only a tiny fraction of the Earth's atmosphere. In fact if all the ozone were to be brought down to ground level, the layer of pure ozone would be only 3.5mm thick. However, atmospheric ozone levels have important consequences for the plants and animals on Earth. Ozone close to the Earth's surface is a harmful pollutant which can cause damage to lung tissue and some plants, whereas stratospheric ozone provides a shield, absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. By about 600 million years ago the amount of ozone in the atmosphere was sufficient to shield Earth from biologically lethal UV radiation. This allowed the evolution of organisms which could live on land. |
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Top left: image taken from www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov Top: images taken from www.chm.bris.ac.uk |
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