Is ozone in the air good or bad?

Question

I mean, like, every summer the ozone gets so bad they have these Ozone Alert days where you aren't supposed to mow the lawn or fill up the SUV with gas. Then on the other hand, people have been pitching fits for 20 years about the way freon destroys ozone in the upper atmosphere. I'm confused.

Answer 1

Now that you mention it, those ozone alerts started right about the time they banned freon in 12 oz. cans. Sort of like the way the very first Earth Day in the early 70s was about when they raised a big stink about Global Cooling, yet NASA data says that the polar ice caps actually started melting then.

Answer 2

Ozone is a pollutant when it is in the troposphere (where we are). Ozone is produced when nitrogen oxide gas from cars and power plants or volatile organic compounds reacts with oxygen in the air in presence of sunlight (this is why ozone alert is highest in summer during the day. This is when sunlight is the strongest). Ozone causes respiratory problems.

This problem can be reduced by reducing air pollution that make ozone and staying indoors during high ozone warning days.

Ozone is also produced by solar radiation in the stratosphere (way up high). Here, it is beneficial to us because it blocks UV-B radiation, which is harmful to life (causes cancer and cateracts in us, kills microbes, bad for plants, etc)

There used to be a chemical called CFC that was widely used (now banned) that still continues to destroy this good ozone. It will take few decades, but the ozone hole wouldn't be a concern one day.

Check out the EPA site below. Its got all the info you need.

Answer 3

Ground level ozone (near the Earth's surface where we live and breathe) is an air-pollutant and can cause respiratory problems, eye irritation, and so on. Upper level ozone (high in the atmosphere) is the ozone that helps protect us from ultraviolet radiation. They are chemically the same -- ozone is O3 no matter where it is.

Answer 4

Ozone in the upper atmosphere is what is called the Ozone layer and it protects the planet and all of us from harmful raditation from the sun but you are taking about smog. Smog is produced by pollution from cars and factories and power generation and it is low level ozone. That means it's near the ground and near us, we breath it and it's harmful.

So, ozone is good for the upper atmosphere to keep us from radiation but bad if it's near the ground and effects our ability to breath

Answer 5

Ozone belongs high in the sky so it can protect us from UV rays. Ozone doesn't belong with us humans on the ground. Ozone is a toxic gas that is useful when it protects everyone from UV rays when we don't breathing it.

The best way to keep ozone off the ground is to stop driving cars. The best way to keep ozone in the sky is to encourage the rest of the world to stop using CFCs.

Answer 6

floor element ozone stops each of the exhaust gasses from dissapating into the air and keeps them on the point of the floor the position they're inhaled. the hotter the temperature the a lot less gas will split and also you breathe in extra. so some distance as exhaust emissions bypass NOX is the worst. it truly is an invisible gas.

Answer 7

Ozone is toxic and can make athsma worse. At ground level it reacts with organic vapors in the air to form smog. (Ground level is between the ground and the tops of the highest buildings).
Way up in the stratosphere (above almost all the clouds) ozone absorbs UV rays and protects us from skin cancer doen here at ground level. We need it up there, we don't want it down here. Like bats, they eat more mosquitoes and other nasty bugs than anything but do you want them in your house?

Answer 8

basically ozone isnt found in abundance in the lower atmosphere where we stay..it turns into oxygen here....ozone layer on the top most of atmosphere reflects ultra violet radiation ....there by protects us...
cfc's that we emit from deo sprays ,refrigerators etc deplete ozone layer and that is harmful

Answer 9

Both, depending on where it is. In the low atmosphere, it irritates eyes and noses and is a nuisance. High in the atmosphere, it intercepts some of the sun's ultraviolet radiation, helping to protect from sunburn.

Answer 10

its good coz it prevents kuchi kuchi SUV from the sun. It prevents ultra voilet aliens to enter the earth. Ozone comprizes of three bond of oxygen O3.