Ozone is a natural gas composed of three atoms of oxygen (O3) playing a vital role of shielding living organisms from the sun’s harmful Ultra Violet (UV) rays. The ozone layer found in the lower stratosphere (20-30km) contains a relatively high concentration of ozone. Ozone layer depletion, is simply the wearing out (reduction) of the amount of ozone in the stratosphere. Depletion begins when ozone depleting chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), HCFCS, Halons…get into the stratosphere. Ultra violet radiation from the sun breaks up these chemicals which releases Chlorine atoms. Chlorine atoms react with Ozone, starting a chemical cycle that destroys the good ozone in that area. One chlorine atom can break apart more than 100,000 ozone molecules.
