9 replies to this topic

[LadyW8tn41]

Can someone explain to me why we are not sending ozone via space ship (manned or not) up to re-stock the ozone layer above the Earth?

Can't we gather/create and store ozone?  I know ozone is an element--does that mean that there is a limited supply? Couldn't we carry it up to where it belongs and release it there?

What good is science and/or technology if we cannot use it to save our Earth?

If something is broke FIX it!--If it aint broke DON"T!

[AliveInDeath7]

If it was possible it would still be impossible to "stock" enough up there to actually make a difference. Once the ozone is gone, it's gone.

[awest]

I believe ozone repleneshies itself, the problem is we are doing more damage then it can repair each season.
http://www.newton.de...iron/ENV084.HTM

Edited by awest, 05 January 2013 - 06:06 PM.

[Insanity]

The ozone in the upper atmosphere is created by ultraviolet light reacting with diatomic oxygen, which is why it absorbs UV-light.  Ozone also has a fairly short half-like, 30 minutes in the lower atmosphere, I am not sure if it is different in the atmosphere.  Which is good, as ozone also causes damage respiratory and mucus tissues in animals, as well as tissues in plants.

As awest says, ozone is replenishes naturally, the sun's UV-light produces it normally, the problem is the artificially accelerated rate of degradation by man-made pollutants.

[AliveInDeath7]

Had no clue it replenished itself.. I thought so for a moment when I posted but then I second guessed myself.
The only thing that could help is to slow down what's degrading the ozone, but we aren't slowing anything down enough to actually help. Even if we cut out all carbon emissions, it would still take a very long time for the ozone to build back up.

[LadyW8tn41]

All of the above replies notwithstanding
--that does NOT mean we couldn't RE-supply the ozone!

We SHOULD do what we CAN do and also work to fix the cause at the same time that we re-supply the necessary ozone.

[AliveInDeath7]

Yes, It does mean that we couldn't re-supply. We can cut out gas emissions by flying to work on dragons with that logic.

[Insanity]

LadyW8tn41, on 05 January 2013 - 06:31 PM, said:

All of the above replies notwithstanding
--that does NOT mean we couldn't RE-supply the ozone!

We SHOULD do what we CAN do and also work to fix the cause at the same time that we re-supply the necessary ozone.

Ozone (O3) cannot be stored and transported like other industrial gases, it decays too quickly into diatomic oxygen (O2), and thus must be produced on site where it is needed.  We would need to artificially produce in the upper atmosphere at the ozone layer, which is not feasible as we currently do not have the means of keeping any equipment there long term.

About the best that could be done is eliminate the cause of the accelerated depletion, which is mainly chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and bromofluorocarbons.  CFCs can take several years to arrive at the ozone layer and can remain there for a century.  Currently there is not a quick fix to the problem, but no longer using CFCs will eventually allow the ozone layer to replenish, though it may take centuries.

[AquilaChrysaetos]

LadyW8tn41, on 05 January 2013 - 05:41 PM, said:

Can someone explain to me why we are not sending ozone via space ship (manned or not) up to re-stock the ozone layer above the Earth?

Because people don't care about anything until something starts to truly affect them, and by then it's always practically too late.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

LadyW8tn41, on 05 January 2013 - 05:41 PM, said:

I know ozone is an element--does that mean that there is a limited supply?

Ozone is NOT an element, it is a molecule made of 3 oxygen atoms:- O₃.

The problem with ozone is that it is unstable. In the lower atmosphere ozone breaks down to form molecular oxygen (O₂) in around 30 minutes.

2 O₃ → 3 O₂

The reason we have an ozone layer is that it is in a state of chemical equilibrium. Photons from the sun constantly break O₂ molecules apart. Most of these rapidly reform as O₂ but a small amount (between 2 and 8 parts per million) form as O₃. As this O₃ breaks apart to reform O₂ so more is formed. The problem is that chlorine from CFC catalyse the break down of O₃. This upsets the equilibrium and caused the O₃ to break down more quickly than it can be formed.

This instability means it would be highly impractical to store and transport ozone to the upper atmosphere, even if we could build the millions of aircraft capable of flying at 30 miles up needed to do the job.

If we did build such a fleet of vehicles the pollution they would cause would almost certainly be more damaging to the environment than doing nothing at all.

Edited by Waspie_Dwarf, 05 January 2013 - 11:11 PM.