The Threat Facing Humans And The Earth In General Essay

The Threat Facing Humans And The Earth In General - Essay Example Unfortunately, the sources of the four gases remained a mystery to scientists. The ozone layer is the protective layer lying between 15 and 30 kilometers above the Earths surface. The ozone layer shields the earth from ultraviolet rays, which cause cancers in humans and reproductive problems in animals. Extensive studies concluded that about 74,000 tonnes of these gases had been ejected and that the release of two of them was mounting rapidly, which poses a serious threat of ozone depletion. Due to the alarming nature of the impacts, investigating the source of the gases is important, as they are likely to pose a major threat in the future. The situation calls for more vigilance in checking the production and the release of these gases, where the possible solutions include agricultural insecticides. Different studies have highlighted the increasing destruction of the ozone layer but emphasized that, apart from the destruction caused by the ozone-destroying chemicals released into the atmosphere, weather changes played an important role in ozone depletion. This conclusion was made after the discovery that the ozone hole formed above the Antarctica changed in size year after year. Susan Strahan of NASA's Goddard space center gave the information and emphasized that their investigations would check whether the hole was reduced in size. However, she reported that an accurate evaluation of the reducing ozone depletion called for the measurement of the different factors that cause changes in the size of the ozone hole.