Global Effects of Ozone Depletion Essay -- Environment Ozone Layer Ess

Global Effects of Ozone Depletion Ozone depletion in the earths cash dispenser is under constant scrutiny by the American press and people. possibly the concern is warranted the ozone layer protects life on earth by absorb 97-99% of the damaging ultraviolet radiation from the sun (U.S. Environmental vindication Agency, 2006). everyplace the past twenty years, the stratospheric ozone has decreased approximately 3% per decade. Possible concerns abide been raised about loss of polar caps, DNA damage, increased piece health risks, and environmental process disturbance. Emerging research has helped clarify do of global ozone depletion. Three aras that have received recent scientific precaution include UV effects upon macroalgae, decomposition, and due north fixation. Ozone is depleted both by natural and industrial sources. One natural source of depletion is erratic organohalogens, which are catchd by marine macroalgae (Laturnus, et. al., 2004). Scientists are not sure why macroalgae produce organohalogens, but many believe it is due to stress. UV radiation is a known source of plant stress. If this is the case, then plants would likely produce to a greater extent organohalogens if exposed to increased UV radiation. To test this hypothesis, a group of Swedish scientists applied increased levels of radiation to five marine macroalgal species. After four hours, the levels of organohalogens produced by the macroalgae were measured. The scientists found that exposure to ultraviolet radiation rendered a remarkable increase in the concentration of four or more of the volatile organohalogens for each of the studied macroalgal species (Laturnus, et. al., 2004). Although the findings appear quite disturbing initially, the inc... ...a A. Sala, Osvaldo E. Robson, T. Matthew Caldwell, Martyn M. Scopel, Ana L. 2005. Direct and collateral effects of solar ultraviolet-B radiation on long-term decomposition. Global counterchange Biology 1119821989. Solheim, Bjorn Zielke, Matthias Bjerke, Jarle W. Rozema, Jelte. 2004. Effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on nitrogen fixation in arctic ecosystems. Plant Ecology 182109118. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2006. Ozone. http//www.epa.gov/maia/-html/ozone.html Wikipedia Encyclopedia. 2006. Ozone Depletion. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-Ozone_depletion Yang, Eun-Su Cunnold, Derek M. Salawitch, Ross J. McCormick, M. Patrick Russell, James III Zawodny, Joseph M. Oltmans, Samuel Newchurch, Michael J. 2006. Attribution of recovery in lower-stratospheric ozone. diary of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 111 (D17) Art. No. D17309.