Synonyms
(Stratospheric) Ozone depletion; (Stratospheric) Ozone hole
Definition
Involving the depletion of ozone (O3) in the stratosphere (located 10–50 km in the atmosphere above the Earth’s surface), where it protects organisms living on the Earth’s surface. This is caused by chlorine molecules in ozone-depleting substances that react catalytically with ozone, destroying it (Tsai, 2002).
Background to risks
Whereas the accumulation of ground-level (tropospheric) ozone can be harmful to human health, stratospheric ozone protects human health and the environment from ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The ozone layer acts as a shield by filtering out ultraviolet B (UVB), which is linked to increased skin cancer and reduced immunity in humans, DNA damage in other animals, and impacts crop productivity (Roscoe, 2001).
Chlorofluorocarbons
Ozone depletion is caused by reactive chlorine and bromine compounds that are derived from human-made ozone-depleting substances, such as chlorofluorocarbons...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Bibliography
Hu, Y., and Fu, Q., 2009. Antarctic stratospheric warming since 1979. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 9, 1703–1726.
Norman, C. S., DeCanio, S. J., and Fan, L., 2008. The Montreal protocol at 20: ongoing opportunities for integration with climate protection. Global Environmental Change, 18, 330–340.
Platt, U., and Hönninger, G., 2003. The role of halogen species in the troposphere. Chemosphere, 52, 325–338.
Restrepo, G., Weckert, M., Brüggemann, R., Gerstmann, S., and Frank, H., 2008. Ranking of refrigerants. Environmental Science and Technology, 42, 2925–2930.
Roscoe, H. K., 2001. The risk of large volcanic eruptions and the impact of this risk on future ozone depletion. Natural Hazards, 23, 231–246.
Straehelin, J., Mäder, J., Weiss, A. K., and Appenzeller, C., 2002. Long-term ozone trends in Northern mid-latitudes with special emphasis on the contribution of changes in dynamics. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 27, 461–469.
Tsai, W. T., 2002. A review of environmental hazards and adsorption recovery of cleaning solvent hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 15, 147–157.
Tsai, W. T., 2005. An overview of environmental hazards and exposure risk of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Chemosphere, 61, 1539–1547.
Varotsos, C., 2003. What is the lesson from the unprecedented event over Antarctica in 2002? Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 10, 80–81.
Varotsos, C., 2004. Atmospheric pollution and remote sensing: implications for the southern hemisphere ozone hole split in 2002 and the northern mid-latitude ozone trend. Advances in Space Research, 33, 249–253.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
Thornbush, M.J. (2013). Ozone Loss. In: Bobrowsky, P.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_259
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_259
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-8699-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4399-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences