Causes of ozone holes. Ozone holes
About forty years ago, it was first discovered that the ozone layer in the earth's atmosphere was beginning to deplete. The first to notice this were English scientists working at a research base in Antarctica. They found that over Hally Bay station, the thickness of the ozone was almost halved! At that time, the possible causes of this phenomenon had not yet been studied, so all that scientists could do was observe the development of the situation. And the results did not please them at all - the ozone holes not only did not close, but even spread far beyond the South Pole. This is how information appeared about a new global catastrophe.
What exactly are ozone holes?
Ozone is a gas that is produced from oxygen by ultraviolet radiation coming from the Sun. It, in turn, prevents the passage of this radiation, the effect of which is destructive for all living organisms. A layer of this gas is located at an altitude of about twenty kilometers above the surface and protects the planet from the negative effects of solar energy. Ozone holes are places where the thickness of gas decreases for some reason. At this stage, it is still enough to block ultraviolet radiation, but if humanity does nothing to change the situation, after some time the depletion of the ozone layer will lead to the fact that harmful radiation can easily penetrate into the atmosphere, and then the existence of life on Earth will simply become impossible. impossible.
Why do ozone holes occur?
Space exploration
And yet, despite the wide variety of possible versions, the most likely one remains anthropogenic. Indeed, in the middle of the last century, there were numerous launches of space rockets, each of which, when taking off, left a “hole” in the atmosphere, breaking through the ozone layer. In just thirty years of space exploration, 30% of the Earth’s protective barrier, which had been formed over four billion years, was destroyed!
Freon
Freon, which is widely used both in everyday life and in industry, is a destructive substance for ozone. It was contained in almost all gas cans of the last century: in hair sprays, perfumes, deodorants, fire extinguishers. It was even in refrigerators and air conditioners! It is not surprising that every day more and more ozone holes appeared, and the protective layer became thinner and thinner.
Solutions
Today the problem remains acute and relevant. Numerous agreements have been adopted under which substances harmful to the ozone layer are prohibited from use in production and industry. But this is not enough, because the question is not only to stop the destruction of ozone, but also to restore it. But this problem has not yet been solved.
The Earth's atmosphere contains several layers located at different heights. One of the most important is the ozone layer, located in the stratosphere. In order to figure out what the ozone hole is, you need to understand the function of this layer and the importance of its existence for life on the planet.
Description
The height of the ozone layer varies depending on the temperature regime of a particular area, for example, in the tropics it is in the range between 25 and 30 km, and at the poles - from 15 to 20 km. Ozone gas is created when oxygen molecules are exposed to solar radiation. The process of ozone dissociation leads to the absorption of most of the dangerous ultraviolet radiation emitted by the Sun.
The thickness of the layer is usually measured in Dobson units, each of which is equal to an ozone layer of 10 micrometers, subject to normal pressure and temperature. The minimum thickness below which the layer ceases to exist is considered to be 220 units. Dobson. The presence of the ozone layer was established by French physicists Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson at the beginning of the twentieth century using spectroscopic analysis.
Ozone holes
There are many theories about what exactly is causing the thinning of the planet’s ozone layer. Some scientists blame anthropogenic factors for this, while others consider it a natural process. Ozone holes are a decrease or complete disappearance of this gas from the stratosphere. This phenomenon was first recorded in 1985; it was located over an area of about 1 thousand sq km in the Antarctic region.
The appearance of this hole was cyclical; it appeared in August and disappeared in December. At the same time, another, slightly smaller hole appeared in the Arctic region. With the development of technology, it has become possible to record the formation of gaps in the ozone layer in real time, and now scientists can confidently say that there are several hundred of them on the planet. The largest ones are located at the poles. 
Causes and consequences of ozone holes
There is a theory that ozone holes occur due to natural causes. According to it, since the conversion of oxygen into ozone occurs as a result of exposure to solar radiation, in its absence during the polar winter this gas is not produced. During a long night, the already formed ozone, due to its large mass, falls into the lower layers of the atmosphere, where it is destroyed by pressure. This version perfectly explains the appearance of holes over the poles, but does not in any way clarify the formation of their large-scale analogues over the territories of Kazakhstan and Russia, where polar nights are not observed.
Recently, the scientific community has agreed that there are both natural and human-caused causes of ozone layer ruptures. The anthropogenic factor includes an increase in the concentration of certain chemicals in the Earth's atmosphere. Ozone is destroyed by reactions with chlorine, hydrogen, bromine, hydrogen chloride, nitrogen monoxide, methane, as well as freon and its derivatives. The causes and consequences of ozone holes have not yet been fully established, but almost every year brings new discoveries in this area.
Why are ozone holes dangerous?
Ozone absorbs extremely dangerous solar radiation, preventing it from reaching the planet's surface. When the layer of this gas becomes thinner, everything on Earth is exposed to normal radioactive radiation. This provokes the growth of cancer, mainly localized on the skin. For plants, the disappearance of ozone is also detrimental; various genetic mutations and a general decrease in vitality occur in them. Recently, humanity has become increasingly aware of the dangers of ozone holes for life on Earth.
Conclusion
Realizing the danger of ozone destruction, the international community took a number of measures aimed at reducing the negative impact on the atmosphere. In 1987, a protocol was signed in Montreal that obliges to minimize the use of freon in industry, since it is this gas that provokes the formation of holes outside the polar regions. However, the freon already released into the atmosphere will take about a hundred years to decompose, so the number of ozone holes in the Earth’s atmosphere is unlikely to decrease in the near future.
The earth is designed in such a way that its unique ecosystem is preserved. These purposes are served by layers of the atmosphere that cover the planet from the penetration of ultraviolet rays, radiation, and space debris. In nature, everything is perfect, and interference in its structure leads to various cataclysms and disruption of the established order. At the end of the 20th century, a clear problem emerged that affects all of humanity. An ozone hole formed in the Antarctic region and attracted the attention of scientists from all over the world. The critical situation of the environment has been aggravated by another serious problem.
It was found that a gap more than a thousand kilometers in size had formed in the ozone layer surrounding the earth's surface. Radiation enters through it, adversely affecting people, animals and vegetation. Ozone holes and thinning of the gas envelope were later discovered in several more places, which caused a stir in public circles.
The essence of the problem
Ozone is formed from oxygen that is exposed to ultraviolet rays. Thanks to this reaction, the planet becomes shrouded in a layer of gas through which radiation cannot penetrate. This layer is located at an altitude of 25-50 kilometers above the surface. The thickness of ozone is not very large, but it is quite enough for all living things to exist on the planet.
What the ozone hole is was learned in the 80s of the last century. This sensational discovery was made by English scientists. In places where ozone is destroyed, the gas is not completely absent; its concentration decreases to a critical level of 30%. The gap formed in the stratosphere layer allows ultraviolet rays to pass to the ground, capable of burning living organisms.
The first such hole was discovered in 1985. Its location is Antarctica. The peak time when the ozone hole expanded was August, and by winter the gas became denser and practically closed the hole in the stratospheric layer. Critical altitude points are located at a distance of 19 kilometers from the ground.
The second ozone hole has appeared over the Arctic. Its size was much smaller, but otherwise there was a striking similarity. The critical heights and disappearance times coincided. Currently, ozone holes are appearing in different places.
How does the ozone layer thin out?
Scientists attribute the problem with the thinning of the ozone layer to natural phenomena occurring at the poles of the globe. According to their theory, during the long polar nights, the sun's rays do not reach the earth, and ozone cannot be formed from oxygen. In this regard, clouds with a high content of chlorine are formed. It is this gas that destroys the gas that is so necessary to protect the planet.
The earth went through a period of volcanic activity. This also had a detrimental effect on the thickness of the ozone layer. Emissions of combustion products into the atmosphere destroyed the already thin layer of the stratosphere. The release of freons into the air is another reason for the thinning of the protective layer of the earth.
The ozone hole disappears as soon as the sun begins to shine and interact with oxygen. Due to air currents, the gas rises and fills the resulting void. This theory proves that ozone circulation is constant and inevitable.
Other causes of ozone holes
Despite the fact that chemical processes play a dominant role in the formation of ozone holes, human impact on nature creates the main prerequisites. Naturally occurring chlorine atoms are not the only substances that harm ozone. The gas is also destroyed by exposure to hydrogen, bromine and oxygen. The reasons for the appearance of these compounds in the air lie in human activities on the planet. The prerequisites are:
- functioning of plants and factories;
- lack of treatment facilities;
- atmospheric emissions from thermal power plants;
Nuclear explosions had a detrimental effect on the integrity of the atmosphere. Their consequences still affect the ecology of the planet. At the moment of the explosion, a huge amount of nitrogen oxides are formed, which, rising, destroy the gas that protects the earth from radiation. Over 20 years of testing, more than three million tons of this substance were released into the atmosphere.
Jet airplanes have a devastating effect on the ozone layer. When fuel burns in turbines, nitrogen oxides are released, they directly enter the atmosphere and destroy gas molecules. Currently, out of a million tons of emissions of this substance, a third comes from airplanes.
It would seem that mineral fertilizers are harmless and useful, but in fact they also have a detrimental effect on the atmosphere. When interacting with bacteria, they are processed into nitrous oxide, and then, under the influence of chemical reactions, they change their shape and become oxides.
Thus, the ozone hole is a product not only of natural phenomena, but also. Rash decisions can lead to unexpected results.
Why is the disappearance of the ozone layer around the planet dangerous?
The sun is the source of heat and light for everything on the planet. Animals, plants and humans thrive thanks to its life-giving rays. This was noted by the people of the ancient world, who considered the Sun God to be the main idol. But the star can also become the cause of the death of life on the planet.
Through the ozone holes formed under the influence of the tandem of man and nature, solar radiation can reach the earth and incinerate everything that was once nurtured. The harmful consequences for humans are obvious. Scientists have found that if the protective gas or its layer becomes thinner by one percent, then seven thousand more cancer patients will appear on earth. First of all, people's skin will suffer, and then other organs.
The consequences of the formation of ozone holes affect not only humanity. Vegetation suffers, as well as fauna and inhabitants of the deep sea. Their mass extinction is a direct consequence of processes occurring in the sun and in the atmosphere.
Ways to solve the problem
The reasons for the appearance of ozone holes in the atmosphere are varied, but boil down to one essential fact: thoughtless human activity and new technological solutions. Freons that enter the atmosphere and destroy its protective layer are a product of the combustion of various chemicals.
To stop these processes, radically new scientific developments are needed that will make it possible to produce, fuel, produce and fly without the use of nitrogen, fluorine and bromine, as well as their derivatives.
The problem is associated with inefficient production and agricultural activities. It's time to think:
- on the installation of treatment facilities on smoking pipes;
- on replacing chemical fertilizers with organic ones;
- about the transition of transport to electricity.
Over the past sixteen years, since 2000, quite a lot has been done. Scientists have achieved amazing results: the size of the ozone hole over Antarctica has decreased by an area equal to the territory of India.
The consequences of careless and inattentive attitude towards the environment are already making themselves felt. In order not to aggravate the situation to an even greater extent, it is necessary to address the problem at the global level.
This huge hole in the earth's ozone layer was discovered in 1985; it appeared over Antarctica. It is more than one thousand kilometers in diameter and approximately nine million kilometers square in area.
Every year in the month of August, the hole disappears and it happens as if this huge ozone gap never existed.
Ozone hole - definition
An ozone hole is a decrease or complete absence of ozone concentration in the Earth's ozone layer. According to the report of the World Meteorological Organization and the generally accepted theory in science, a significant decrease in the ozone layer is caused by an ever-increasing anthropogenic factor - the release of bromine- and chlorine-containing freons.
There is another hypothesis, according to which the very process of formation of holes in the ozone layer is natural and in no way connected with the results of the activities of human civilization.
A combination of factors causes a decrease in ozone concentration in the atmosphere. One of the main ones is the destruction of ozone molecules during reactions with various substances of natural and anthropogenic origin, as well as the absence of sunlight and radiation during the polar winter. This includes the polar vortex, which is particularly stable and prevents the penetration of ozone from the circumpolar latitudes, and the resulting stratospheric polar clouds, the surface of which particles act as a catalyst for the ozone decay reaction.
These factors are typical for Antarctica, and in the Arctic the polar vortex is much weaker due to the fact that there is no continental surface there. The temperature here is higher by some amount, unlike Antarctica. Polar stratospheric clouds are less common in the Arctic and tend to break up in early autumn.
What is Ozone?
Ozone is a toxic substance that is harmful to humans. In small quantities it has a very pleasant smell. To make sure of this, you can take a walk in the forest during a thunderstorm - at the time you will enjoy the fresh air, but later you will feel very bad.
Under normal conditions, there is practically no ozone at the bottom of the Earth's atmosphere - this substance is present in large quantities in the stratosphere, starting somewhere around 11 kilometers above the earth and extending to 50-51 kilometers. The ozone layer lies right at the very top, that is, approximately 51 kilometers above the earth. This layer absorbs the deadly rays of the sun and thereby protects our lives and not only ours.
Before the discovery of ozone holes, ozone was considered a substance that poisons the atmosphere. It was believed that the atmosphere was full of ozone and that it was this that was the main culprit of the “greenhouse effect”, with which something needed to be done.
In the present, humanity, on the contrary, is trying to take steps to restore the ozone layer, since the ozone layer is becoming thinner throughout the Earth, and not just over Antarctica.
“We can, perhaps, say that the purpose of man is, as it were, to destroy his race, having first made the globe uninhabitable.”
J.B. Lamarck.
Since the formation of a highly industrialized society, dangerous human intervention in nature has sharply increased, it has become more diverse and threatens to become a global danger to humanity. A real threat of a global environmental crisis looms over the world, understood by the entire population of the planet. The real hope for its prevention lies in continuous environmental education and enlightenment of people.
The main reasons leading to environmental disaster can be identified:
· pollution;
· poisoning of the environment;
· depletion of the atmosphere in oxygen;
· formation of ozone “holes”.
This message summarizes some literature data on the causes and consequences of the destruction of the ozone layer, as well as ways to solve the problem of the formation of “ozone holes”.
Chemical and biological characteristics of ozone
Ozone is an allotropic modification of oxygen. The nature of the chemical bonds in ozone determines its instability (after a certain time, ozone spontaneously turns into oxygen: 2O 3 → 3O 2) and high oxidizing ability. The oxidative effect of ozone on organic substances is associated with the formation of radicals: RH + O 3 → RО 2. +OH.
These radicals initiate radical chain reactions with bioorganic molecules (lipids, proteins, nucleic acids), which leads to cell death. The use of ozone to sterilize drinking water is based on its ability to kill microbes. Ozone is also important for higher organisms. Prolonged exposure to an environment containing ozone (for example, in physiotherapy rooms and quartz irradiation) can cause severe damage to the nervous system. Therefore, ozone in large doses is a toxic gas. The maximum permissible concentration in the air of the working area is 0.1 mg/m3.
There is very little ozone, which smells so wonderful during a thunderstorm, in the atmosphere - 3-4 ppm (per mille) - (3-4) * 10 -4%. However, its presence is extremely important for the flora and fauna of the planet. After all, life that originated in the ocean depths was able to “crawl” onto land only after the ozone shield was formed 600–800 million years ago. By absorbing biologically active solar ultraviolet radiation, it ensured its safe level on the surface of the planet. Life on Earth is unthinkable without the ozone layer, which protects all living things from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The disappearance of the ozonosphere would lead to unpredictable consequences - an outbreak of skin cancer, the destruction of plankton in the ocean, mutations of flora and fauna. Therefore, it is so important to understand the causes of the ozone “hole” over Antarctica and the decrease in ozone levels in the Northern Hemisphere.
Ozone is formed in the upper stratosphere (40-50 km) during photochemical reactions involving oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and chlorine. Atmospheric ozone is concentrated in two areas - the stratosphere (up to 90%) and the troposphere. As for the tropospheric ozone layer distributed at an altitude of 0 to 10 km, it is precisely due to uncontrolled industrial emissions that it is becoming more and more abundant. In the lower stratosphere (10-25 km), where ozone is most abundant, the main role in seasonal and longer-term changes in its concentration is played by air mass transfer processes.
The thickness of the ozone layer over Europe is decreasing at a rapid pace, which cannot but worry the minds of scientists. Over the past year, the thickness of the ozone “coat” has decreased by 30%, and the rate of deterioration of the natural protective shell has reached the highest point in the last 50 years. It has been established that chemical reactions that destroy ozone occur on the surface of ice crystals and any other particles trapped in the high stratosphere above the polar regions. What danger does this pose to humans?
The thin ozone layer (2-3 mm when distributed around the globe) is unable to prevent the penetration of short-wave ultraviolet rays, which cause skin cancer and are dangerous to plants. Therefore, today, due to the high activity of the sun, sunbathing has become less useful. In general, environmental centers should give recommendations to the population on how to act depending on the activity of the sun, but in our country there is no such center.
Climate change is associated with a decrease in the ozone layer. It is clear that changes will occur not only in the area over which the ozone hole “stretches.” The chain reaction will entail changes in many deep processes of our planet. This does not mean that rapid global warming will begin everywhere, as they scare us in horror films. Still, this is too complex and time-consuming process. But other disasters may arise, for example, the number of typhoons, tornadoes, and hurricanes will increase.
It has been established that “holes” in the ozone layer appear over the Arctic and Antarctica. This is explained by the fact that acid clouds form at the poles, destroying the ozone layer. It turns out that ozone holes arise not from the activity of the sun, as is commonly believed, but from the daily activities of all the inhabitants of the planet, including you and me. Then the “acid gaps” shift, most often to Siberia.
Using a new mathematical model, it was possible to link together data from ground-based, satellite and aircraft observations with the levels of likely future emissions of ozone-depleting compounds into the atmosphere, the timing of their transport to Antarctica and weather in southern latitudes. Using the model, a forecast was obtained according to which the ozone layer over Antarctica will recover in 2068, and not in 2050, as was believed.
It is known that currently the level of ozone in the stratosphere over areas far from the poles is approximately 6% below normal. At the same time, in the spring, the ozone content over Antarctica can decrease by 70% relative to the annual average. The new model makes it possible to more accurately predict the levels of ozone-depleting gases over Antarctica and their temporal dynamics, which determine the size of the ozone “hole.”
The use of ozone depleting substances is limited by the Montreal Protocol. It was believed that this would lead to a rapid “tightening” of the ozone hole. However, new research has shown that in reality the rate of decline will only become noticeable in 2018.
History of ozone research
The first observations of ozone date back to 1840, but the ozone problem received rapid development in the 20s of the last century, when special ground stations appeared in England and Switzerland.
An additional way to study the connections between ozone transfer and atmospheric stratification has been opened by aircraft soundings of atmospheric ozone and releases of ozone probes. The new era is marked by the emergence of artificial Earth satellites that observe atmospheric ozone and provide a wealth of information.
In 1986, the Montreal Protocol was signed to limit the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances that deplete the ozone layer. To date, 189 countries have joined the Montreal Protocol. Time limits have been established for the cessation of production of other ozone-depleting substances. According to model forecasts, if the Protocol is observed, the level of chlorine in the atmosphere will decrease by 2050 to the level of 1980, which could lead to the disappearance of the Antarctic “ozone hole”.
Reasons for the formation of the “ozone hole”
In summer and spring, ozone concentrations increase. It is always higher over the polar regions than over the equatorial ones. In addition, it changes on an 11-year cycle, coinciding with the solar activity cycle. All this was already well known when in the 1980s. Observations have shown that over Antarctica there is a slow but steady decrease in stratospheric ozone concentrations from year to year. This phenomenon was called the “ozone hole” (although, of course, there was no hole in the proper sense of the word).
Later, in the 90s of the last century, the same decrease began to occur over the Arctic. The phenomenon of the Antarctic “ozone hole” is not yet clear: whether the “hole” arose as a result of anthropogenic pollution of the atmosphere, or whether it is a natural geoastrophysical process.
Among the versions of the formation of ozone holes are:
· influence of particles emitted during atomic explosions;
· flights of rockets and high-altitude aircraft;
· reactions of certain substances produced by chemical plants with ozone. These are primarily chlorinated hydrocarbons and especially freons - chlorofluorocarbons, or hydrocarbons in which all or most of the hydrogen atoms are replaced by fluorine and chlorine atoms.
Chlorofluorocarbons are widely used in modern household and industrial refrigerators (that’s why they are called “freons”), in aerosol cans, as dry cleaning agents, for extinguishing fires in transport, as foaming agents, for the synthesis of polymers. World production of these substances has reached almost 1.5 million tons/year.
Being highly volatile and quite resistant to chemical influences, chlorofluorocarbons enter the atmosphere after use and can remain in it for up to 75 years, reaching the height of the ozone layer. Here, under the influence of sunlight, they decompose, releasing atomic chlorine, which serves as the main “disturber of order” in the ozone layer.
The widespread use of fossil resources is accompanied by the release of large masses of various chemical compounds into the atmosphere. Most anthropogenic sources are concentrated in cities, occupying only a small part of the territory of our planet. As a result of the movement of air masses on the leeward side of large cities, a multi-kilometer plume of pollution is formed.
The sources of air pollution are:
1) Road transport. It can be assumed that the contribution of transport to air pollution will increase as the number of cars increases.
2) Industrial production. The basic products of basic organic synthesis are ethylene (almost half of all organic substances are produced on its basis), propylene, butadiene, benzene, toluene, xylenes and methanol. Emissions from the chemical and petrochemical industries contain a wide range of pollutants: components of the feedstock, intermediate, by-products and target synthesis products.
3) Aerosols. Chlorofluorocarbons (freons) are widely used as volatile components (propellants) in aerosol packages. For these purposes, about 85% of freons were used and only 15% in refrigeration and artificial climate installations. The specificity of using freons is such that 95% of their quantity enters the atmosphere 1-2 years after production. It is believed that almost the entire amount of freon produced must sooner or later enter the stratosphere and be included in the catalytic cycle of ozone destruction.
The earth's crust contains various gases in a free state, sorbed by different rocks and dissolved in water. Some of these gases reach the Earth's surface through deep faults and cracks and diffuse into the atmosphere. The existence of hydrocarbon respiration in the earth's crust is indicated by the increased methane content in the ground layer of air above oil and gas basins compared to the global background.
Studies have shown that the gases of Nicaragua's volcanoes contain noticeable amounts of HF. Analysis of air samples taken from the crater of the Masaya volcano also showed the presence of freons along with other organic compounds. Halocarbons are also present in gases from hydrothermal vents. These data required evidence that the detected hydrofluorocarbons were not of anthropogenic origin. And such evidence was obtained. Freons have been discovered in air bubbles in 2,000-year-old Antarctic ice. NASA specialists undertook a unique study of the air from a hermetically sealed lead coffin, discovered in Maryland and reliably dated to the 17th century. Freons were also found in it. Another confirmation of the existence of a natural source of freons was “raised” from the seabed. CFCl 3 was found in water recovered in 1982 from depths of more than 4,000 meters in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, at the bottom of the Aleutian Trench and at a depth of 4,500 meters off the coast of Antarctica.
Misconceptions about ozone holes
There are several widespread myths regarding the formation of ozone holes. Despite their unscientific nature, they often appear in the media - sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes supported by conspiracy theorists. Some of them are listed below.
1) The main ozone destroyers are freons. This statement is true for middle and high latitudes. In the rest, the chlorine cycle is responsible for only 15-25% of ozone loss in the stratosphere. It should be noted that 80% of chlorine is of anthropogenic origin. That is, human intervention greatly increases the contribution of the chlorine cycle. Before human intervention, the processes of ozone formation and destruction were in equilibrium. But freons emitted by human activity have shifted this balance towards a decrease in ozone concentration. The mechanism of ozone destruction in the polar regions is fundamentally different from that at higher latitudes; the key stage is the conversion of inactive forms of halogen-containing substances into oxides, which occurs on the surface of particles of polar stratospheric clouds. And as a result, almost all ozone is destroyed in reactions with halogens (chlorine is responsible for 40-50% and bromine is responsible for about 20-40%).
2) Freons are too heavy to reach the stratosphere .
It is sometimes argued that since freon molecules are much heavier than nitrogen and oxygen, they cannot reach the stratosphere in significant quantities. However, atmospheric gases are completely mixed, rather than separated or sorted by weight. Estimates of the required time for the diffusion stratification of gases in the atmosphere require times of the order of thousands of years. Of course, in a dynamic atmosphere this is impossible. Therefore, even such heavy gases as inert gases or freons are evenly distributed in the atmosphere, including reaching the stratosphere. Experimental measurements of their concentrations in the atmosphere confirm this. If the gases in the atmosphere did not mix, then such heavy gases from its composition as argon and carbon dioxide would form a layer several tens of meters thick on the Earth’s surface, which would make the Earth’s surface uninhabitable. Fortunately this is not the case.
3) The main sources of halogens are natural, not anthropogenic
Sources of chlorine in the stratosphere
It is believed that natural sources of halogens, such as volcanoes or oceans, are more significant for the process of ozone destruction than those produced by humans. Without questioning the contribution of natural sources to the overall balance of halogens, it should be noted that they generally do not reach the stratosphere due to the fact that they are water-soluble (mainly chloride ions and hydrogen chloride) and are washed out of the atmosphere, falling as rain on the ground.
4) The ozone hole must be located above the sources of freons
Dynamics of changes in the size of the ozone hole and ozone concentration in Antarctica by year.
Many people do not understand why the ozone hole forms in Antarctica when the main emissions of CFCs occur in the Northern Hemisphere. The fact is that freons are well mixed in the troposphere and stratosphere. Due to their low reactivity, they are practically not consumed in the lower layers of the atmosphere and have a lifespan of several years or even decades. Therefore, they easily reach the upper layers of the atmosphere. The Antarctic “ozone hole” does not exist forever. It appears at the end of winter - beginning of spring.
The reasons why the ozone hole forms in Antarctica are related to the local climate. The low temperatures of the Antarctic winter lead to the formation of a polar vortex. The air inside this vortex moves mainly along closed trajectories around the South Pole. At this time, the polar region is not illuminated by the Sun, and ozone does not arise there. With the arrival of summer, the amount of ozone increases and returns to its previous level. That is, fluctuations in ozone concentration over Antarctica are seasonal. However, if we trace the yearly averaged dynamics of changes in ozone concentration and the size of the ozone hole over the past decades, then there is a strictly defined tendency for ozone concentration to fall.
5) Ozone is only destroyed over Antarctica
Dynamics of changes in the ozone layer over Arosa, Switzerland
This is not true; ozone levels are also falling throughout the atmosphere. This is shown by the results of long-term measurements of ozone concentrations in different parts of the planet. You can look at the graph of changes in ozone concentration over Arosa (Switzerland).
Ways to solve problems
To begin global recovery, it is necessary to reduce the access to the atmosphere of all substances that very quickly destroy ozone and are stored there for a long time. People need to understand this and help nature start the process of restoring the ozone layer; in particular, new forest plantings are needed.
To restore the ozone layer, it needs to be recharged. At first, for this purpose, it was planned to create several ground-based ozone factories and “throw” ozone into the upper layers of the atmosphere on cargo planes. However, this project (probably it was the first project to “treat” the planet) was not implemented. A different way is proposed by the Russian consortium Interozon: producing ozone directly in the atmosphere. In the near future, together with the German company Daza, it is planned to raise balloons with infrared lasers to a height of 15 km, with the help of which they can produce ozone from diatomic oxygen. If this experiment turns out to be successful, in the future it is planned to use the experience of the Russian Mir orbital station and create several space platforms with energy sources and lasers at an altitude of 400 km. Laser beams will be directed into the central part of the ozone layer and will constantly replenish it. The energy source can be solar panels. Astronauts on these platforms will only be required for periodic inspections and repairs.
Time will tell whether the grandiose peace project will be realized.
Taking into account the emergency of the situation, it seems necessary:
Expand the complex of theoretical and experimental research on the problem of preserving the ozone layer;
Create an International Fund for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer through active means;
Organize an International Committee to develop a strategy for the survival of humanity in extreme conditions.
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