Question

What depletes ozone in the stratosphere? How does this affect human life?

Answer 1

Hint:One component of the stratosphere, the second layer of the Earth's atmosphere, is the ozone layer. The stratosphere is the mass of protective gases that cling to our world. Since it is stratified, or layered, the stratosphere gets its name: the stratosphere gets warmer when elevation rises.

Complete step by step answer: A part of the radiation from the sun is taken up by the ozone layer in the stratosphere, stopping it from reaching the surface of the earth. They kill molecules of ozone as chlorine and bromine atoms come into contact with ozone in the stratosphere. About 100,000 ozone molecules may be killed by one chlorine atom before it is removed from the stratosphere.
Some materials, when exposed to extreme UV light in the stratosphere, release chlorine or bromine. These compounds, which include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform, lead to ozone depletion and are called ozone-depleting substances (ODS). The part of UV light called UVB is taken up by the ozone layer. Many adverse effects, including skin cancers, cataracts, etc., have been related to UV.

Additional information:
In the atmosphere, ozone is just a trace gas, with just about 3 molecules per 10 million molecules of air. Yet they do a really important job. The ozone layer absorbs pieces of radiation reaching Earth from the sun like a sponge. Although some of the sun's radiation is appropriate for us to survive, too much of it can harm living things. As a barrier to life on Earth, the ozone layer works.
Ozone is effective at trapping a form of radiation called ultraviolet radiation, or UV light, which can penetrate the protective layers of organisms, such as skin, harming plant and animal DNA molecules. There are two major types of UV rays-UVA and UVB. UVB is the cause of skin disorders such as sunburn and cancers such as carcinoma of basal cells and carcinoma of squamous cells.
People used to believe that, since it does not cause burns, UVA light, the radiation used in tanning beds, is harmless. Scientists now know, however, that UVA light is much more damaging than UVB, penetrating deeper and causing deadly skin cancer, melanoma, and premature aging. Around 98 percent of this devastating UV light is absorbed by the ozone layer, the sunscreen of our Planet.

Note: The thin ozone layer across the atmosphere, which prevents harmful UV rays from entering, is called the ozone shield.
The two ozone-depleting compounds are methane and chlorofluorocarbon gas. CFCS releases active chlorine (Cl atoms) as ozone-releasing molecular oxygen is degraded by UV rays and Cl atoms. Ozone depletion causes UVB radiation to penetrate the soil, which affects DNA. This causes mutations in humans that contribute to skin cancer and also reduces the rate of photosynthesis in plants.