Global Warming
The global warming detection happened during the industrial revolution in England in the XIX century, but it was insignificant at that time. However, the society and consequently the consumption has grown through the years, sending pollutant gases to the atmosphere.
The global warming is the increase of the average temperature of the ocean and the air near the Earth’s surface. This increase has been more noticeable since the XX century and is rising more and more everyday. This growth is due to big concentrations of greenhouse gases, burning fossil fuels and deforestation.
The consequences of this temperature increase are devastating to our planet and well being, for example, the medium level of the sea raise due to the melting of the polar ice caps. The arise and growth of new deserts and the temperature raise causes the land and ocean water evaporation which, when combined with deforestation, promotes this kind of climatic catastrophies (hurricanes, tornados, heat waves, etc.).
The most affected areas of the planet are the Middle East because of the increase of the medium level of the sea, Asian Southeast due to the temperature raise which harms rural lands and the industrialized Latin America.
The ozone is an oxidant gaseous elementary substance, light blue, very poisonous with a scent similar to the bleach’s. Its inhalation, even in small quantities, might cause death.
The ozone is formed when there is an electric discharge in an environment rich in oxygen. Oxygen is the gas responsible for the distinctive smell near electric equipments. We call the ozone formed by this process tropospheric ozone (“the good ozone”), which is the one that protects us from the dangerous effect of the ultraviolet radiation (UV), absorbing it.
The destruction of ozone causes a group of chemical reactions produced by human beings. When the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are sent to the atmosphere they react with the ozone causing a reduction of its concentration. The decrease of the ozone layer's thickness favors the transition of UV rays to the Earth’s surface. That’s the reason why the ozone layer is so important and must be preserved; it prevents the UVc radiation from passing through the atmosphere, absorbing them totally, filtrates the UVb rays and almost doesn’t filtrate the Uva radiation which is useful and good within limits.
The Man is destructing this element of our planet which is so important and the consequences of this destruction are very dangerous for the entire human race.
Ozone layer
destruction
Mafalda Duarte