Transcript:

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We’ve been hearing a lot about ozone in the news lately, well today some background on atmospheric ozone and how it affects virtually every life form on earth. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

“Ozone is a form of oxygen that is stable. It’s three oxygen atoms in a row, rather than two in a row, which the normal oxygen that we breath is. And it’s formed in the upper atmosphere because of the presence of sunlight and of molecular oxygen, which is of course the same oxygen that we breathe.”

JIm Anderson is Phillip Weld professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at Harvard University.

“Ozone is formed from sunlight breaking that O2 molecule apart into fragments. Those fragments then bond onto O2 to form O3. So instead of two atoms in a row, it’s three atoms in a row. That’s what distinguishes it physically from molecular oxygen. Ozone is found almost everywhere in the atmosphere, but it has a very distinct layer some ten to twenty miles above our head, depending on where you are on the globe. And it’s that region that we refer to as the ozone layer. And it’s that region that protects life, all forms of life, from ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun.”

One’s appreciation for the ozone layer increases when you hear about what would happen without it.

“Every life form that propagates requires the coding of genetic information. And the ultraviolet radiation that ozone protects us from is capable of altering that genetic code.”

146) “Without the ozone layer, all that we know about the propagation and sustenance of life ceases to be meaningful.”

Pulse of the Planet is presented by DuPont, to encourage respect for our environment.

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