What is the difference between the greenhouse effect and the hole in the ozone layer?
Ozone is a gas made up of oxygen atoms. The ozone hole is caused by the effect of pollutants in the atmosphere destroying stratospheric ozone. These pollutants include CFCs, halons and nitrous oxides which destroy the ozone. Some of these gases, such as nitrous oxide, are also greenhouse gases. If there is a hole in the ozone layer then this means that more harmful ultra-violet rays get through than are good for us or many other life forms, plant or animal. Too much ultra-violet light can result in: • Skin cancer • Eye damage such as cataracts • Immune system damage • Reduction in phytoplankton in the oceans that forms the basis of all marine food chains including those in Antarctica • Damage to the DNA in various life-forms. So far this has been as observed in Antarctic ice-fish that lack pigments to shield them from the ultra-violet light (they’ve never needed them before).
Dear EPA Buster, Indeed they are related, in fact they are first cousins! However, if the ozone layer fixes itself, the greenhouse effect will not stop. I will explain. The Ozone Layer: The hard truth of the matter is that the solar system is not a healthy place to live. We are constantly being bombarded by large amount of radiation from the sun, much of it in the form of ultra-violet rays. You may have noticed what sort of damage this can cause if you’ve ever walked outside in the summertime for a few hours and then walked back in a charred rendition of a human lobster. As is this is pretty mild. The radiation we currently get is about 1 to 5 percent of what is actually thrown at us. The reason why it is still reasonably safe to walk outside during the daytime is that the other 95 to 99% of the radiation is reflected back into the solar system by a gigantic protective cushion of atmosphere that happens to be perfect for bouncing radiation back where it belongs. The hole is not actuall
