answersLogoWhite

0

Dangers of the ozone hole

Ozone protects us from the dangerous Ultraviolet radiation from the sun (UVB). This UVB causes skin cancers and cataracts in humans, and damage to some crops, including rice.

In general, when there is UltraViolet-B from the Sun that could harm humans, there is UltraViolet-C from the Sun to make protective ozone. Under the ozone hole there is no protection.

The ozone hole forms over the continent of Antarctica, but because the hole is sometimes as large as North America, the protection is weakened over southern parts of Australia, South Africa and South America.

Answer:

It should be remembered that the hole in the ozone layer only occurs during the end of the winter above the Antarctic. There is a much smaller one that occurs over the Arctic after the end of it's winter also. Neither of these events are un-natural, nor are they an actual hole, but rather a thinning of the ozone levels due to a lack of sunlight. These holes disappear shortly after the sun returns to these areas. The risk of sunburn or cancer from this issue would only occur to those sunbathing in these areas in early spring. These "holes" naturally occur due to a lack of sunlight interacting with the oxygen in the upper atmosphere. As long as we have oxygen in our atmosphere and sun hitting it, we will naturally repair this annual event.

User Avatar

Wiki User

13y ago

What else can I help you with?