I've heard that the ozone layer is repairing itself as we speak. It this true??

Answer 1

If you follow the history of the event it becomes clear that it was a good thing that we held the scientific convention on the matter and banned chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone destructive chemicals. Once the ban was in place there was a marked trend toward repair. However subsequently other problems have arisen in the atmosphere, as new industrial technologies have come into existence that get around the convention, and as the atmosphere continues to take a beating from industrial pollution.

There has also been considerable evidence that a few basic events, including the accident at Chernobyl and some volcanos had large destabilizing influences on the structure of the thermosphere and exosphere.

Some of the posters have suggested that since we cannot fully identify the extent of human contributions to the ozone hole, we must assume that perhaps it is all completely 'natural' and therefore our influence on it is to be discounted. This is of course similar to the argument against addressing global warming.

To that I would say that it is foolish to believe that six billion people, four billion cars, hundreds of thousands of factories, atmosphere penetrating rocketry and all the atmospheric disturbance humans create has no effect.

Yes, we may not know the full extent of our impact, but that only means we need to study the subject with greater attention, and proceed more cautiously with our technologies.

It cannot be said too often that this is the only liveable planet we know of, and we are unlikely to find another for quite some time, if ever again.

Answer 2

We don't know enough about the ozone layer. Yes it is constantly repairing itself. We are constantly destroying it. But scientists are not even sure if we made the hole above the south pole, or if it has been there all along. The good news is that we are doing alot less harm now than we were doing a couple decades ago. Look at the air quality index in Los Angeles then compared to now and you will see the amount we have improved our way of living.

Answer 3

Ozone is constantly created and destroyed naturally. Ozone is made by Oxygen reacting to sunlight, that happens a lot. There is no actual "Ozone Hole", the layer of ozone will thin in places from time to time. The first person to observe this phenomenon was Galileo in the 1600's.

Answer 4

yes; in the natural order of things O2 is broken down into O by UV ray in the upper atmosphere and then combined with regular O2 molecules into O3 which is ozone. However some of the CFC we released into the atmosphere last for quite a while and can destroyed huge amounts of O3 before getting broken down so right now i think the ozone layer is still experiencing a net loss.

Answer 5

We don't know for sure whether man had anything to do with the decrease in the ozone layer that has been talked about so much. Perhaps it has come and gone over the years. Our data from the past is very limited.

Answer 6

I was wondering too how can the ozone layer can be repaired as it is getting thinner and thinner until today..

Answer 7

Yes, it is always trying to repair itself. The damage that we do to it might be more than it can repair and it can't keep up!

Answer 8

It's always in a state of trying to repair itself. It's the equilibrium of nature, but the fact of the matter is that we do more harm to it than it can repair. It's like trying to build a house when someone is behind you smashing most of what you build with a sledgehammer.

Answer 9

Gaia rules! the mother earth will only put up with so much of our crap! most likley will fix itself if it has to kill all of us in the process...

Answer 10

Yes, this is true, amazingly enough. This proves that it is probably not too late to fix the other big problem we humans have created, namely global warming.