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The Sun emits a broad spectrum of light including UV-C and UV-B. When UV-C is absorbed by an oxygen molecule, sometimes ozone is formed. When UV-B or UV-C is absorbed by ozone it breaks apart, and sometimes ozone is formed again. So "burning through" ozone also produces some ozone. The amount of ozone at any given time is a delicate balance between incident sunlight, ozone left over from the previous day (ozone decays with time too), the amount of oxygen available, and the various decay paths presented by contaminants. As contaminants increase, or new decay pathways are presented, ozone concentration decreases. Not only will the sun not burn through the ozone layer, the sun is required to create new ozone. The thin layer we misrepresent as a hole is due primarily because the sun can not react with the atmosphere and the ozone naturally decays.

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16y ago

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