OZONE Ozone (O3) is a highly reactive gas composed of three oxygen atoms.

Depending on where it is in the atmosphere, ozone affects life on Earth in either good or bad ways. Stratospheric ozone is formed naturally through the interaction of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation with molecular oxygen (O2). The stratospheric "ozone layer" extends from approximately six to thirty miles above the Earth's surface and reduces the amount of harmful UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface. Tropospheric, or ground-level, ozone forms primarily from reactions between two major classes of air pollutants: volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These reactions depend on the presence of heat and sunlight, meaning more ozone forms in the summer months. Ozone is produced naturally in the stratosphere when highly energetic solar radiation strikes molecules of oxygen, O2, and because the two oxygen atoms to split apart in a process called photolysis. If a freed atom collides with another O2, it joins up, forming ozone O3.
Photolysis is the splitting or decomposition of a chemical compound by means of light energy or photons.

Oxygen gas (two molecules of oxygen, or O2) is present in the atmosphere. High energy UV light collides with the oxygen molecule, causing it to split into two oxygen atoms. These atoms are unstable, and they prefer being "bound" to something else. The free oxygen atoms then smash into other molecules of oxygen, forming ozone. Whats the overall reaction? O1 (atom) + O2 (oxygen gas) -> O3 (ozone) The ozone is destroyed in the very process that protects us from UV rays emitted by the sun. When ozone (O3) absorbs UV light, it will split the molecule into one free oxygen atom (O1) and one molecule of oxygen gas (O2). O3 (ozone) -> O1 (atom) + O2 (oxygen gas) Ozone is valuable to us because of the way it is destroyed it absorbs UV radiation in the process. Even low-energy radiation can split ozone. Most of the ozone in the stratosphere is formed over the equatorial belt, where the level of solar radiation is greatest. The circulation in the atmosphere then transports it towards the pole. So, the amount of stratospheric ozone above a location on the Earth varies naturally with latitude, season, and from day-to-day. Ozone is also naturally broken down in the stratosphere. In an unpolluted atmosphere there is a balance between the amount of ozone being produced and destroyed and so the total concentration remains relatively constant. At different temperatures and pressures (i.e. varying altitudes), there are different production and destruction reaction rates leading to a variation in concentration. The highest ozone concentrations are in the lower stratosphere, between about 18 and 26 km.

Ozone also occurs in very small amounts in the troposphere. It is produced at ground level through a reaction between sunlight and, e.g., gases emitted from cars. As a pollutant it should not be confused with the separate problem of stratospheric ozone depletion.

OZONE DEPLETION Over 60 years ago, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were invented in the United States, and they soon found many uses throughout the world in refrigeration, air conditioning, and other industrial processes. Due to scientific evidence that CFCs and other chemicals destroy ozone in the upper atmosphere, the United States, the country which has traditionally been the largest emitter of CFCs worldwide, is rapidly scaling back the use of these chemicals and phasing out their production. The ozone (O3) layer in the stratosphere protects life on earth from exposure to dangerous levels of ultraviolet light. It does so by filtering out harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. When CFCs and other ozone-degrading chemicals are emitted, they mix with the atmosphere and eventually rise to the stratosphere. There, the chlorine and the bromine they contain catalyze the destruction of ozone. This destruction is occurring at a more rapid rate than ozone can be created through natural processes. The degradation of the ozone layer leads to higher levels of ultraviolet radiation reaching Earth's surface. This in turn can lead to a greater incidence of skin cancer, cataracts, and impaired immune systems, and is expected also to reduce crop yields, diminish the productivity of the oceans, and possibly to contribute to the decline of amphibious populations that is occurring around the world. The chemicals most responsible for the destruction of the ozone layer are chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, methyl bromide, methyl chloroform, and halons. Chlorofluorocarbons have long been widely used as coolants in refrigerators and air conditioners and as foaming agents, solvents, and aerosol propellants. Carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform are solvents used for essential industrial applications. In the United States, carbon tetrachloride is now used almost entirely as a feedstock for the production of chlorofluorocarbons. Hydrogenated CFCs (HCFCs) have many of the same uses as CFCs and are increasingly employed as interim substitutes for CFCs. Halons have been used in fire extinguishers.
Catalysis is the change in rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of a substance called a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations.

When ultraviolet light waves (UV) strike CFC* (CFCl3) molecules in the upper atmosphere, a carbon-chlorine bond breaks, producing a chlorine (Cl) atom. The chlorine atom then reacts with an ozone (O3) molecule breaking it apart and so destroying the ozone. This forms an ordinary oxygen molecule(O2) and a chlorine monoxide (ClO) molecule. Then a free oxygen** atom breaks up the chlorine monoxide. The chlorine is free to repeat the process of destroying more ozone molecules. A single CFC molecule can destroy 100,000 ozone molecules. The destruction of ozone in Cycle 1 involves two separate chemical reactions. The net or overall reaction is that of atomic oxygen with ozone, forming two oxygen molecules. The cycle can be considered to begin with either ClO or Cl. When starting with ClO, the first reaction is ClO with O to form Cl. Cl then reacts with (and thereby destroys) ozone and reforms ClO. The cycle then begins again with another reaction of ClO with O. Because Cl or ClO is reformed each time an ozone molecule is destroyed, chlorine is considered a catalyst for ozone destruction. Atomic oxygen (O) is formed when ultraviolet sunlight reacts with ozone and oxygen molecules. Cycle 1 is most important in the stratosphere at tropical and middle latitudes, where ultraviolet sunlight is most intense.

Significant destruction of ozone occurs in polar regions because ClO abundances reach large values. In this case, the cycles initiated by the reaction of ClO with another ClO (Cycle 2) or the reaction of ClO with BrO (Cycle 3) efficiently destroy ozone. The net reaction in both cases is two ozone molecules forming three oxygen molecules. The reaction of ClO with BrO has two pathways to form the Cl and Br product gases. Ozone destruction Cycles 2 and 3 are catalytic, as illustrated for Cycle 1, because chlorine and bromine gases react and are reformed in each cycle. Sunlight is required to complete each cycle and to help form and maintain ClO abundances.