Question

What is the significance of Ozone and what are the effects of its depletion?

Answer 1

Ozone in the atmosphere acts as a protective umbrella for us by absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun.
Effects of Ozone depletion :

1. The ozone layer screens out more than 99 percent of the incoming solar energy. Ultraviolet radiation of these wavelengths is harmful to most forms of terrestrial life, causing eye irritation, skin cancer, and many other diseases, depending on the amount of radiation.
2. It impairs the growth of certain crop plants and adversely affects a wide variety of organisms from bacteria to vertebrates.
3. Microorganisms may undergo a high rate of mutation because of the high sensitivity of the DNA to ultraviolet light.
4. The increased ultraviolet radiation may lead to faster deterioration of plants, fabrics, plastics, and other materials.

Effects of Global Warming: Global warming can cause changes in rainfall patterns leading to flooding in some areas and drought in others. Monsoon flooding is expected to cause great loss of life in India, Bangladesh, and South-East Asian countries. Over the last 100 years, because of Global Warming, the ice reserves have melted and the sea level has risen by about 10 to 25 cm. If this trend continues, areas will be submerged under seawater.