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Every spring, scientists announce the dimensions of the year s ozone hole over Antarctica. Currently, about 80% of the ozone layer disappeared from an area centered on Antarctica that was nearly the size of North America. This time of the year, however, it s the Northern Hemisphere that commands most attention. Ozone loss peaks during fall, when the Earth s angle of orbit to the sun puts the Northern Hemisphere almost directly in the path of the sun s deadliest radiation, which triggers ozone-destroying reactions in our atmosphere. Solar ultraviolet radiation has created a shield of ozone in the high stratosphere that absorbs the biologically dangerous mid-ultraviolet wavelengths. In recent decades, however, chlorine has been migrating into the stratosphere in molecules of industrial substances called CFC s. Once freed, chlorine catalytically attacks ozone, and as it nibbles away the shield, more and more lethal radiation reaches Earth, causing an epidemic of skin cancer and all kinds of other harmful biological effects.
The pollution is causing a global warming and the ozone deletion. Every day, every single human being, contributes in some way, to the destruction of the ozone layer, from using deodorant sprays, to throwing away perfectly recyclable materials. If we don t stop polluting our planet now, it may become impossible to live on the surface of the Earth in twenty years.
Global warming is one of today's most pressing issues. Though some dispute its existence, the great majority of individuals do believe that the Earth is undergoing an unnatural warming. Hot summers, melting glaciers, and other signs all point toward a shift in the kind of weather enjoyed by many regions of the globe. Much of this change has occurred suddenly and rapidly, over the course of the last generation. Scientists know that there have been periods of climatic change in the Earth's past. The fossil and geological records bear witness to these...
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