Ozone Mystery

Report Outline
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Overview

In the summertime, when millions of beachgoers turn on their car air conditioners, they are unwittingly attacking the ozone screen that protects their skin and their planet from sunburn. The typical car air conditioner releases a type of gas from its coolant known as a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), which contains chlorine, an ozone destroyer. Nature intended that the stratospheric ozone layer would block the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. In sufficient concentrations, these rays do more than burn; they kill.

In the summertime, when millions of beachgoers turn on their car air conditioners, they are unwittingly attacking the ozone screen that protects their skin and their planet from sunburn. The typical car air conditioner releases a type of gas from its coolant known as a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), which contains chlorine, an ozone destroyer. Nature intended that the stratospheric ozone layer would block the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. In sufficient concentrations, these rays do more than burn; they kill.

The Earth relies on the ozone shield in the stratosphere, located 10 to 35 miles above the ground, to limit the destructive effects of ultraviolet rays. For humans, overexposure to these rays can produce skin cancer, weakened immunities and damage to the eye's retina. For crops and forests, the effects can be stunted growth and lower yields. For ocean life, the threat is destruction of plankton, the microscopic organisms that form the basis of the ocean food chain.