The stratosphere consists of a relatively high concentrations of . Ozone depletion is caused by the building up of man-made chemicals in the atmosphere. One of the main chemicals is generally known as CFC. CFC’s do not break down they float in the atmosphere, they rise for about eight years until they reach the ozone layer where they are broken apart by large amounts of ultraviolet radiation. CFC's are able to “live” for about 20 to 100 years. Ozone depletion gets worse when the stratosphere is very cold. Other ozone depletion chemicals are put into the atmosphere by modern transportation aircraft that we use today. The airplanes that fly high in the stratosphere are dangerous to the ozone. The gasses from the planes flying in the upper stratosphere can stay in the stratosphere for up to two years. CFCs release chlorine atoms, it is these atoms that actually destroy the ozone. Ozone is constantly being produced and destroyed in the natural cycle. When the ozone production and destruction are balanced, ozone levels stay stable. Large increases in the gasses however have changed that balance, removing ozone faster than natural ozone creation. Therefore, ozone gets less and the tempertures and precipitation changes could increase diseases and the dieng out of living things, since these do not have the ability of adapting as quickly.
Greenhouse
The greenhouse effect is the warming of the earth's surface, which gets more intense when the amount of carbon dioxide increases in the atmosphere. It permits incoming solar radiation to reach the surface of the earth. The atmosphere allows a large percentage of rays of visible light from the Sun to reach the Earth's surface and heat it this way. Some of this energy is reradiated by the earth in long-wave infrared radiation, most of it is absorbed by molecules of carbon dioxide and water vapour in the atmosphere and is reflected back to the surface to heat it even more. The effect of the “Greenhouse” on the environment is that the trapping of this infrared radiation causes the earth's surface to warm to a higher temperature than it would otherwise. Such global warming causes the polar ice caps to melt rapidly and the result of this is higher waters. The rise in temperature will also produce extreme situations of drought and rainfall, which will be seriously disrupting the food production in certain regions on the earth.
Many things can be done to reduce the greenhouse gas emission, not only by the government but also by every indivdual. Since most of our energy comes from oil, coal and gas, things that reduce energy use will reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide. Individuals can save energy with making the right choices. In heating, by using alternative energy sources that produce less CO2, mainly renewable energy sources. Choices of transportation, by generally driving less. The Governments can help by controlling the businesses, because some industries such of electronics, metals and chemicals can lower their output of greenhouse gases. All companies can cut their CO2 emissions by making their industrial processes more safe, using improved systems and other forms of energy. Fossil fuel use as well as producing greenhouse gases creates other bad products. These products are also pollutants, like sulphur dioxide, soot, and ash. These pollutants change the properties of clouds. Clouds are formed when water droplets join with particles such as pollen. Polluted air gets the result of clouds with larger number of droplets than unpolluted clouds. This then makes more of the sun's heat and energy reflected back into space. This kind of reduction of heat reaching the earth is known as Global Dimming.
