Ozone Should Be Protected Essay

About a million tons of paper are used every day around the world and 93% of it comes from trees. Half of municipal waste is paper. About 20,000,000 trees are cut annually. (Mittal, 2009) Trees are very important to the environment, cutting them is affecting the environment negatively. In a year for this task alone, we print a total of 2,700 pages of paper. 8 trees of 8-inch diameter and 45 feet produce 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of paper. 500 sheets of paper weights 5 pounds, which is about 1,000 to 2,000 sheets per tree. By saving 2,700 sheets of paper a year we will be saving a tree. (Schildgen,

In today’s society, more and more threats to the welfare of our earth and atmosphere are being discovered. Some world leaders dismiss these concerns, 1) because they choose to remain ignorant of the condition of the planet’s environment, 2) because it would cost them “too much money” to fix the problem, 3) because it is easier not to deal with the problem, or 4) they simply do not care. We cannot simply ignore these problems, for any of these reasons, because the longer we wait to address them, the more dire the situation becomes. The scientists who study these threats to our environment want to solve this issue. That’s what scientists do; they form a hypothesis and test every variable until they find a solution. Mario Molina studied the effects of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on the ozone, finding that they aided the depletion of the ozone in earth’s upper atmosphere, just another threat to the earth’s environment.

Three to six billion trees are cut down each and every year! Deforestation is a huge problem in the rainforests. Because these forests are home to much of the Earth’s species of life. Covering 30 percent of our land forests provide homes, protection, and oxygen for humans and other wildlife in the forests. There are 7.125 billion people that count on the benefits provided by the forest, which is: food, clothing, traditional medicine and shelter. If something isn 't done soon to reduce our carbon footprint, we will not have forests of any type to soak up the carbon dioxide(CO2) in the atmosphere.

The ozone layer is in the Earth’s stratosphere and the necessity of this layer is to protect the Earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation rays. “Since the late 1970s, an ozone hole has formed over Antarctica each austral spring (September / October), in which up to 66 percent of the total ozone is depleted” (Ozone Layer Protection). What directly causes holes in ozone are Chloroflourocarbons (CFCs), which rapidly damage the ozone layer. However, with the rising global warming temperature the CFCs’ process is catalysed, further damaging the ozone layer. “According to the estimates made by Dasgupta and Bhaumik (1995), it is likely that 10% decrease in ozone will lead to 20% increase in UV irradiance” (Gangul and Iyer 2006). Once an uncontrolled amount of UV radiation is exposed to lifeforms, especially to humans, “According to the estimates made by Vander Leun and De Gruijl (1993), 1% decrease in total stratospheric columnar ozone (SCO) will lead to 2.3% increase in non-melanoma skin cancer, 2% increase in cutaneous melanoma and 0.5% increase in the incidence of cataracts” (Gangul and Iyer 2006). More devastating effects from the depleting ozone layer are more destruction to agricultural fields, warming of oceans and increased acidity which is diminishing the amounts of phytoplankton, which can immensely affect the stability of the food chain. Therefore, the depletion of

In 1988, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had conclusive proof products adding to the output of carbon dioxide and methane gases in the atmosphere were causing the earth to warm; and, if not stopped will make it inhabitable for human life. In the 1970’s the United States had conclusive proof that products releasing Chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere were causing the ozone layer to deplete; and, that if continued would be dangerous for human life. The United States took international global action, by joining the Montreal Protocol, to phase out the products producing chlorofluorocarbon and the ozone layer has been successfully replenished .

Phrases such as “climate change” and “global warming” are often thrown around on the news and in politics; however their meaning and significance was never clear to me. I enjoyed my reading of the Susan Solomon interview because, it was very informative and easy to understand. Solomon’s outstanding achievements as a female scientist are inspiring and remarkable. Her groundbreaking studies in Antarctica concerning the ozone hole, prove to us how important it is to take care of our planet. Human produced substances known as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) have damaged our ozone beyond repair. It is hard to believe that humans can be so careless as to destroy their own Earth. Thankfully, “the nations of the world agreed to stop producing CFCs” in 1987.

Below are four photos of the ozone layer at different times. The purple parts of the pictures represent the thinnest parts of the ozone layer. The blue parts are the next thinnest part of the ozone layer. The green parts of the pictures represent the normal thickness of the ozone layer. The red and yellow parts represent a buildup of ozone. The reason for the dramatic decrease in the ozone between September 17, 1979 and October 7, 1989 (top left and top right photos) is because of the introduction of CFCs or chlorofluorocarbons (Alford).

Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest

Ninety percent of the earth’s trees between three and four hundred years old have been cut down. The remaining ten percent is all we will ever have (Gallant, 97). The definition of deforestation by the Random House Dictionary of the English Language is "to divest or clear of forests or trees.” Deforestation is one of the most significant issues of our time; considerable measures must be taken to prevent further pillaging of our unique forest resource.

Deforestation is the cutting down of a large area of trees and the destruction of forests by people. Forests are what we call an exhaustible resource, one which can be used up if it is not used carefully. Over the last few decades, deforestation has threatened the rainforests with total extinction. To understand why deforestation is such an important issue, you first have to understand why trees matter. Trees improve in many ways the life of all species, including the human race.

The world continuously faces a variety of threats every day, from natural disasters to terrorist, but one threat that society predominately contributes to all on their own, is climate change. There are many feasible explanations for the global threat of climate change. These explanations include but are not limited to, the act of deforestation to the rainforest and other trees, green house gas emissions, and sulfate aerosol, which cause poor air quality.

The environment generally refers to the surrounding’s of an object or an individual. It can be in the form of the physical environment, biophysical environment, built environment, social environment and the natural environment among other forms. The natural environment refers to the naturally occurring flora and fauna together with the land on which they occupy.

"Scientists agree that the main reason for global warming is the depletion of the ozone layer

The issue of global warming should be on the list of our top priorities. Studies show that the average of global temperatures have risen since the Industrial Revolution began. Since the Industrial Revolution, human emissions has quadrupled the frequency of certain heat extremes and many scientists have warned that a failure to bring greenhouse gases under control could eventually lead to a 62-fold increase in extreme heat blasts (Gillis Justin A17). Most of the increase is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. These activities contribute to a build-up in carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth’s atmosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere is made of gases like nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen. These gases act as a blanket that covers and gives us warmth, but once these gases such as carbon dioxide absorbs heat, but does not release it back into space in which causes the increase in global temperature. This is called the greenhouse effect because it only traps heat but does not release it.

Deforestation is a major global problem with serious consequences to the planet. These consequences have a negative effect on the climate, biodiversity, the atmosphere and threatens the cultural and physical survival of life. Deforestation is the permanent destruction of indigenous forests and woodlands. It has resulted in the reduction of indigenous forests to four-fifths of their pre-agricultural area, so that now indigenous forests cover only 21% of the earth's land surface. The world Resources Institute regards deforestation as one of the worlds most pressing land use problem.