Environment Australia, 2001
The ozone layer protects the earth like sunscreen protects your skin from the sun. By absorbing ultra violet light, the ozone layer shelters people and all forms of life so we don't burn under the sun's rays.
The ozone layer is a long way up into the atmosphere - to get up that high, Cathy Freeman would have to run the equivalent of 75 times around the Olympic track!
In the past, people invented products that were very useful to humans, but not so useful to the ozone layer. These products, like spray cans for paint and hair lacquer, made people's lives easier, but they chewed up ozone and left us and other wildlife exposed to unsafe levels of UV light.
Nowadays, controls are in place to stop these substances from eating up the ozone layer, so hopefully by the time swimming champion Ian "Thorpedo" Thorpe reaches 70, our ozone layer will be restored.
- there's not enough ozone in the upper atmosphere, and this is why we talk about the ozone hole
- there's sometimes too much ozone in the lower atmosphere, caused by driving the car, burning off in the backyard and lawn mowing
- the Year 2000 ozone hole was the largest ever, measuring more than three times the size of Australia
- if nothing had been done to stop substances eating up the ozone layer there would be 19 million more cases of cancer and 129 million more cases of eye cataracts!
- Thinning of the ozone layer and global warming due to the enhanced greenhouse effect are sometimes thought to be one and the same problem. They are actually two entirely different environmental problems!
- the Greenhouse Effect is quite normal, and acts as a blanket of gases to help keep the earth warm so that people and wildlife can survive
- the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect is not normal, and is caused by humans and animals producing too many of these gases, forming a thick blanket which traps heat
- greenhouse gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide
- since the Industrial Revolution about 200 years ago, fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas have been burnt to create energy, producing greenhouse gases well beyond the amount nature would normally produce
- cattle and sheep produce methane, which is the second biggest greenhouse gas next to carbon dioxide
- your own household rubbish taken to the local tip breaks down to form greenhouse gases
- global warming is due to the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
- scientists believe that the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect will trap more heat and raise the earth's surface temperature
- the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect is expected to result in higher sea levels, more rainfall and more severe droughts and floods.
- try to persuade your parents to use your family car less - cars spew heaps of greenhouse gases into the air and reduce air quality
- if you have a home compost heap, make sure it has plenty of air - compost that smells bad is producing greenhouse gases
- plant trees in your backyard to absorb greenhouse gases, or even plant them along the east and west sides of your house to shield the sun, keeping you cooler in summer
- REFUSE supermarket products with too much packaging: it takes a lot of energy to make that packaging
- REDUCE packaging by buying reusable instead of disposable products
- RE-USE repair broken appliances you no longer need and sell them or give them away
- RECYCLE containers, newspapers, printer cartridges and engine oil.
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