What is the difference between ozone and atmosphere

Chlorofluorocarbons CFCs damage the ozone layer. Where do these chemicals come from? What is ozone depletion? Why does the Antarctic have a large hole in the ozone, when no one even lives there? See all questions in Stratospheric Ozone.

Impact of this question views around the world. You can reuse this answer Creative Commons License. At ground level, high concentrations of ozone are toxic to people and plants. Ninety percent of the ozone in the atmosphere sits in the stratosphere, the layer of atmosphere between about 10 and 50 kilometers altitude. The natural level of ozone in the stratosphere is a result of a balance between sunlight that creates ozone and chemical reactions that destroy it. Ozone is created when the kind of oxygen we breathe—O 2 —is split apart by sunlight into single oxygen atoms.

Single oxygen atoms can re-join to make O 2 , or they can join with O 2 molecules to make ozone O 3. Ozone is destroyed when it reacts with molecules containing nitrogen, hydrogen, chlorine, or bromine. Some of the molecules that destroy ozone occur naturally, but people have created others.

The total mass of ozone in the atmosphere is about 3 billion metric tons. That may seem like a lot, but it is only 0. The peak concentration of ozone occurs at an altitude of roughly 32 kilometers 20 miles above the surface of the Earth. At that altitude, ozone concentration can be as high as 15 parts per million 0. Ozone is the planet's natural sunscreen. Plants, animals, and all forms of life developed under a sky that shielded them from damaging and mutating radiation.

Whether the molecule is helpful or harmful has nothing to do with the chemical makeup and everything to do with location. This ozone is created by chemical reactions between air pollutants from vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and other emissions.

At ground level, high concentrations of ozone are toxic to people and plants. Aura MLS observations of unprecedented Arctic ozone loss. Destruction of Arctic Ozone during the Winter.

Ozone Aura instruments are closely monitoring the ozone layer.