Ozone layer
Is the hole in the ozone layer something to do with the greenhouse effect? No, but people have had an effect just the same.
What’s the ozone layer?
The ozone layer is a long way up into the atmosphere and protects the earth like sunscreen protects our skin from the sun. By absorbing ultra violet light, the ozone layer shelters people and all forms of life so we don't burn under the sun's rays.
Thinning of the ozone layer and global warming due to the greenhouse effect are sometimes thought to be one and the same problem. They are actually two entirely different, and serious, environmental problems.
So, why is there a hole?
There's not enough ozone in the upper atmosphere, and this is why we talk about the ozone hole.
In the past, people invented products that were very useful to humans, but not so useful to the ozone layer. These products, like aerosol cans for paint and hair spray, contained gases including CFCs that chewed up ozone and left people and animals exposed to unsafe levels of ultraviolet light, which can cause cancer and eye cataracts.
Nowadays, controls are in place to stop these substances from eating up the ozone layer, so hopefully our ozone layer will be steadily restored.
What’s the greenhouse effect then?
The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring phenomenon where the sun’s heat is trapped by the Earth’s atmosphere. The heat is retained by emissions into the upper atmosphere of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. The greenhouse effect is driven by volcanic eruptions and countless other natural releases of gases. Human activities, particularly in the last 200 years, have dramatically increased gas emissions, and altered the rate at which the sun’s heat is being retained within the atmosphere.
Since the Industrial Revolution about 200 years ago, fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas have been burnt to create energy, producing greenhouse gases well beyond the amount nature would normally produce.
Even your own household rubbish taken to the local tip breaks down to form greenhouse gases.
Global warming is due to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Scientists have stated that the enhanced greenhouse effect is trapping more heat and raising the Earth's surface temperature, resulting in higher sea levels, more rainfall and more severe droughts and floods.