http://www.ozonelayer.noaa.gov/science/basics.htm

If you go to the above web page you will find out just what the ozone is and what part it plays in our lives or the end thereof.

I find it amazing that so many people go on about their business without thinking of the consequences of how we live and how we treat our Mother planet.

The ozone molecules in the stratosphere and the troposphere are the same yet they seem to be at odds with one another.  The ozone that everybody keeps crying out to save filters the sunlight by absorbing most of the biologically damaging ultraviolet rays from the sun.  These rays can damage our plant life as well as our bodies.  Everyone is careful to put on sunscreen before going out for any length of time.  When I was a young boy we went out.  We got a little red and then quickly tanned for the summer.  This is not usually the case anymore.

Ozone which is created in the troposphere (Lower atmosphere) is mostly there because of our choice to burn gas, oil and even natural gas.  You find smog around our biggest cities because there is more fuel being burned there.  Many people do not know that high levels of ozone are toxic to living systems.  Studies have shown that it can be harmful to crop production, forest growth and even to the health of humans.  This is why they call it bad ozone as compared to the ‘good’ ozone which is found in the higher atmosphere.

This creates two environmental issues.  Near-surface ozone needs to be cut down as much as possible.  One reason we are hearing so much about the melting of Antarctica is that up to sixty percent of the overhead amount of ozone is gone.  That is the good ozone layer.  In the Arctic we have much the same thing.  That is why you hear scientists warning of rising sea level and an overall shift in weather patterns creating drought as well as flooding, typhoons, hurricanes and tornadoes in greater numbers.  All of this leads to destruction.  There are forest fires, floods and warmer winters and hotter summers.

Who is the villain here?  We all are!  That is the sad part.  Scientists have found evidence over two decades that human-produced chemicals are responsible for the observed ozone layer.  If you visit the web site above you will read what I am writing and even more explanation of why we need to act now to save Planet Earth.

The really sad part is; this problem is escalating faster than scientists had originally thought it would.  I am a grandfather.  I would like to think my children and their children will be able to breathe when they get to be my age.  If we do not do something now, they may never see my age.  Wouldn’t that be a catastrophe?