Ozone Hole Destruction

Great Global Warming Hoax

January 6th, 2014

Welcome To The Great Global Warming HOAX!

I have Denounced This as a Scientist for 39 Years

My Rejection Was Placed in a Congressional Report

The Great Hoax – Man Is Destroying The Ozone Layer!

March 2, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com

I have received several inquiries as to what I think about former Vice-President Gore’s political swing into Global Warming and the growing Ozone Hole over the South Pole.  I hope Archive Prophecy Update Number 166A, and the recent NASA article following it, will answer your queries.

Prophecy Update Number 166A

April 5, 2004

The Great Hoax – Man Is Destroying The Ozone Layer!

Revelation 16:2 – And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

Since 1975 I have been convinced that manmade chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) were not responsible for the destruction of the Ozone layer that shields man from ultraviolet radiation.  My cries in books and videos fell on deaf hears for the most part, but now a leading French scientist has, with equal vigor, stated the same thing, and identified volcanoes as the culprit, just as I did in the seventies.

You will find it clearly outlined in a book, “Birth Pangs from the Bottomless Pit,” which I wrote in the late seventies, and in the video, “Fearful Sights and Great Signs,” which I made in a studio in Little Rock in the eighties.  Dardanelle MBC sells the book and the video together for twenty-five dollars, which you may type in on the Order Form from our Menu.  The basic material concerning the phenomena of ozone destruction and the events associated with other skin eruptions, before and during the tribulation period, are outlined in two Birth Pangs, 14 and 14A, which I put in my book in the seventies, and on our Web Site pages when we put up on our old web site  in the last century.

What follows is an extract from Birth Pang 14A in our Birth Pangs Archives, which you may find on our Menu.  BEGIN EXTRACT: “God has created a thick layer of ozone in the earth’s vast stratosphere.  If this layer was not there, man would be scorched with ultraviolet radiation, and annihilated from the earth within a few years.  Many scientists still cling to the idea that chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) are breaking down the stratospheric ozone layer.  However, the real culprits are the increasing frequencies of volcanic eruptions.  Ozone is a form of oxygen that protects man from the sin’s deadly ultraviolet radiation.  If this radiation could slip through the ozone layer it would lead to rapid worldwide outbreaks of fast growing skin cancer.  A U.S. Geological Survey scientist, Dr. David A. Johnston, missing and presumed dead since the first eruption of Mount Saint Helens, was quoted by Warren E. Leary, and Associated Press science writer as follows:

“Analysis of trapped gas pockets in volcanic and other material indicates molten magmas may contain 20 to 40 times more chlorine than earlier estimates upon which volcanic atmospheric impact had been estimated.  This means that the amount of chlorine emitted into the atmosphere could equal more than 100% of the 1975 world production in fluorocarbon chemicals.  Johnson said in his report that volcanic explosions powerful enough to penetrate the stratosphere have been occurring about once a year in recent times.  These eruptions shoot hydrogen chloride high enough to reach the ozone layer.”

As a scientist, certified to teach chemistry and physics, I was so certain the ozone layer was being depleted by gases blown vertically into it by volcanoes, that I began to teach and write about it in books published in the late seventies and early eighties.  I was so firmly convinced of it that I predicted the ozone hole would continue to grow, even after worldwide elimination of chlorofluorocarbon production by man had occurred.  In the early eighties they predicted the ozone hole would decline in size by 1985.  When it did not, they said it was due to residual effects.  But we were assured it would decrease by 1990.  When it did not, they said the residual effects were greater than they had thought, but we would see a small decline by 1995.  When it did not decline they kept on riding the same old dead horse, and predicted a thinning by 2000.  It is still continuing to grow, and now they say it may not decline until 2020.  The ozone hole growth since 1979 is as follows:  from very small in 1977 to 500,000 cubic kilometers in 1980, to 10,500,000 in 1986, to 22,000,000 in 1992, to 23,500,000 in 1994, to 27,0000,000 in 1999, and to 28,300,000 cubic kilometers in 2000.  And still there is no ozone hole over the North Pole, yet 74% of all ozone destroying particles are released in the Northern Hemisphere!  But isn’t it strange that most of the world’s volcanoes are located in the Southern Hemisphere, with many of them south of 60 degrees latitude, while only a handful of volcanoes exist north of 60 degrees latitude in the Northern Hemisphere.

Please allow me to elaborate why man-made CFC gases are not the culprits responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer over the South Pole:

1.  74% of all man-made CFC’s are released in the Northern hemisphere. The Long-term vertical circulation patterns of the earth in the Northern Hemisphere demand that the first ozone hole should have appeared over the North Pole – it did not!

2.  The CFC gases are heavier than the atmosphere into which they are supposed to be rising, hence they cannot rise to the level of the ozone layer of their own volition.

3.  CFC’s are washed out of the atmosphere by the precipitation cycle of the troposphere before they could reach the ozone layer.

CFC gases, without the direct help of volcanic activity, don’t penetrate the restricting worldwide temperature inversion, which begins well below the ozone layer at the tropopause.

Now, please allow me to exposit why I am confident that volcanic eruptions are responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer over the South Pole:

1.  The rate increase in major eruptions since 1950 is four times greater than at any time in recorded history.

2.  Most vertical eruptions are occurring in the Southern Hemisphere, thereby causing the ozone hole to appear first over the South Pole, rather than the North Pole.

3.  Volcanic eruptions forcefully blow different kinds of ozone depleting gases through the tropopause inversion into the ozone layer, bypassing much of the earth’s circulation and hydrological patterns.

There is an active volcano pouring its depleting gases upward into the center of the ozone hole from time to time – Mount Erebus, which is near the South Pole.

4. The growth of the ozone hole has been steadily toward the north over the southern tip of South America, where a thick concentration of active volcanoes exists today.

During the latter part of the Tribulation, thousands of volcanic eruptions, like those in Figure 10, will occur along the dashed lines of Figure 3 (See both these Figures in our Birth Pang Archives).  These eruptions will send staggering amounts of hydrogen chloride, nitric oxides, and other ozone depleting gases into the ozone layer.  The resultant breaking down of the ozone layer will allow ultraviolet radiation to pour through onto the inhabitants of the earth.  These occupants of the final days of Satan’s kingdoms on this planet will be scorched with the great heat of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.  Yet they still will not repent toward the God of these plagues that physically destroy them.  They will understand the processes that are causing it, but they will not acknowledge that God is doing it.

Most Christian writers of today spend a lot of effort in trying to work the entire modern day arsenal of man into the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.  Most make the last day skin plagues attributable to atomic radiation.  May I assure you that the ultraviolet and cosmic radiation, which would pour down on the earth’s surface if the ozone layer weakened and the magnetic poles reversed, would be thousands of times deadlier than atomic radiation.”  END EXTRACT.

If you are atheistic or agnostic in your beliefs concerning the prophetic predictions in the Bible, then at least consider the scientific argument I have presented since the late seventies, which you read above in the extract from our web site article, which we put up in 2001.

You may find the article concerning the views of the French scientist on ozone depletion by clicking on the following:

http://www.geocities.com/northstarzone/OZONE.html

Volcanic activity from the lone volcano located near the South Pole, and  those on the southern top of South America, has declined slightly during the period from 2000 to 2003, and the consequence has been that the ozone hole showed only a slight increase in its 2003 maximum size when compared with its 2000 maximum.  The new record size of 28,400,000 cubic kilometers occurred on September 20, 2003.  When the volcanic activity begins to increase in frequency and intensity in the future, rest assured the ozone hole will enlarge.  The ozone hole has large seasonal variations in its size each year, and there is a tendency, for those who say manmade CFC’s originally created it, to quote the smallest seasonal size.  The normal seasonal maximum appears from mid-September to early October.  If  there was a natural way to transport these manmade CFC’s above the tropopause level into the ozone layer, then they would definitely deplete it, but, as I have shown in my argument since the late seventies, there is no way that it has, can, or will happen.  There is only one way that sufficient CFC’s can be inducted into the ozone layer to deplete it – volcanic eruptions, which have sufficient vertical thrust to literally blast the CFC’s, and other ozone depleting gases, through the tropopause temperature inversions into the stratospheric ozone layer.  The depletion of ozone, which has created the expanding hole in it over the South Pole, was not generated by manmade CFC’s.

End Archive Prophecy Update Number 166A

Latest Size of Ozone Hole Update

March 2, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

I have been telling people since the late seventies that the ozone hole was going to keep on growing, because the CFC’s released by man were not penetrating the tropopause temperature inversion.  So, here we are in 2007, and a new record was just set for growth late last year, as attested by the article which follows.  The American public is being hoodwinked by two great hoaxes politicians try to tie together – Depletion of the Ozone Layer and Global Warming.  To be quite honest, I don’t think it is possible to defuse these hoaxes, because so many powerful politicians and organizations are behind them.  There are billions of dollars which will be used to eliminate two problems man cannot control, and I doubt if the companies or politicians want to give up their pork barrels.

ANTARCTIC OZONE HOLE SETS NEW RECORD FOR SIZE IN FALL OF 2006

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

“From September 21 to 30, [2006], the average area of the ozone hole was the largest ever observed, at 10.6 million square miles,” said Paul Newman, atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Newman was joined by other scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in reporting that the ozone hole over the polar region of the Southern Hemisphere broke records for both area and depth in 2006. A little over a week after the ozone hole sustained its new record high for average area, satellites and balloon-based instruments recorded the lowest concentrations of ozone ever observed over Antarctica, making the ozone hole the deepest it had ever been.

This image, made from data collected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA’s Aura satellite, shows the Antarctic ozone hole on September 24, 2006. The blues and purples that cover most of Antarctica illustrate where ozone levels were low, while greens, yellows, and red point to higher ozone levels. On September 24, the ozone hole covered an area of 11.4 million square miles, matching the single-day record area previously observed on September 9, 2000.

The new record set in 2006, by contrast, was for the largest average area over an 11-day period, indicating that the hole stayed larger for longer than it ever has before. This concept is demonstrated by the line graph immediately below the image. The blue line charts out the area of the ozone hole during 2006. In the background, the smooth grey curve illustrates the multi-year average area during the austral spring, when the ozone hole is largest. The red line shows the record areas—the largest area observed on any single day—during the same multi-year period. Instead of spiking and then dropping as might be expected, the area in 2006 ghosts the multi-year record, staying unusually large over a relatively long period.

The last line graph illustrates why the ozone hole was unusually large and long-lived in 2006. While human-produced compounds break down the ozone hole by releasing chlorine and bromine gases into the atmosphere, the temperature of the Antarctic stratosphere causes the severity of the ozone hole to vary from year to year. Colder-than-average temperatures result in larger and deeper ozone holes, while warmer temperatures lead to smaller ones. In 2006, as the graph shows, temperatures plunged well below average, hovering near or dipping below record-lows. These unusually cold temperatures increased the size of the ozone hole by 1.2 to 1.5 million square miles, according to an analysis completed by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). If the stratospheric weather conditions had been normal, the ozone hole would be expected to reach a size of about 8.9 to 9.3 million square miles, about the surface area of North America.

The second record set in 2006—for the deepest ozone hole ever observed—is less obvious in the top image, but is hinted at by the prevalence of purple, the color used for the lowest concentrations. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) measures the total amount of ozone from the ground to the upper atmosphere over the entire Antarctic continent. The measurements are shown in Dobson Units. One Dobson Unit is the amount of ozone it would take to create a layer of pure ozone 0.01 millimeters thick at 0 degrees Celsius at the surface of the Earth. Any location where the concentration drops below 220 Dobson Units is part of the ozone hole. On October 8, 2006, OMI observed a low value of 85 Dobson Units (DU) in a region over the East Antarctic ice sheet. These measurements were similar to levels recorded by balloon-borne instruments over the South Pole. The balloons also found that nearly all of the ozone in the layer between eight and thirteen miles above the Earth’s surface had been destroyed. In this critical layer, the instrument measured a record low of only 1.2 DU.

“These numbers mean the ozone is virtually gone in this layer of the atmosphere,” said David Hofmann, director of the Global Monitoring Division at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory. “The depleted layer has an unusual vertical extent this year, so it appears that the 2006 ozone hole will go down as a record-setter.”

The ozone layer protects life on Earth by blocking harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. The “ozone hole” is a severe depletion of the ozone layer high above Antarctica, so these regions may have received more ultraviolet light than usual. The 1987 Montreal Protocol banned ozone-depleting chemicals, but the long lifetime of those chemicals means that the ozone layer will not recover for several decades.

NASA image and animations courtesy GSFC Ozone Processing Team, based on data provided by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). The Ozone Monitoring Instrument was developed by the Netherlands’ Agency for Aerospace Programs, Delft, The Netherlands, and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland.

Birth Pangs from the Bottomless Pit

Chapter 16 Noisome and Grievous Sores

First Publication in 1976

Last Publication in 1982

Archive Birth Pang Number 14

Chapter 16

Revelation 16:2 – And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men, which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

This first vial is directly tied to the first trumpet.

The seven trumpets herald (announce) the beginning of seven chronological events, and the seven vials close each of these events. The first trumpet announces the beginning of event number one and the first vial closes it when its last drop strikes the earth.  Previous chapters have fully outlined the series of horrifying events that begin with the blowing of trumpet 1. The great unleashing of thousands of great earthquakes from the sixth seal to the seventh trumpet will be the action of God, and it will eventually lead to the outbreak of noisome and grievous sores in Revelation 16:2.  The following Scriptures attest fully that God will shake the earth to its very foundation during the latter part of the Tribulation Period:

Luke 21:11 – And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Malachi 4:1 + Haggai 2:6 + Isaiah 24:1 + 29:6 + 24:19,20

[1] For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. [6] For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; [1] Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. [6] Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. [19] The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved (torn asunder), the earth is moved exceedingly. [20] The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

When the Bible was written mankind believed the world was flat.  But God, who made the universe, knew the folly of man’s belief, for in Isaiah 40:22 He tells us, “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth.”  God knew the earth was circular before man.  He also established the invisible forces of the universe that hold the earth in its planetary position.  He testifies to this in Job 26:7 by the statement: “and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”  This circular earth, made by God, and held in space by His invisible powers, will soon be shaken to the very foundation of it’s gravitational center.  God testifies to this unbelievable foundation shaking of the earth’s core in Isaiah 24:18 as he states: “For the windows from on  high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.”

When the tectonic plates of the earth begin to readjust themselves to a new balance of geophysical isostasy, there will be a dramatic change in the gravitational core balance of the earth.  Isostasy is neither a force nor a process, but the universal tendency to establish balance between the segments of the earth’s crust.  It’s attempt to correct the gravitation imbalance in the plates will cause a disruption from the crust to earth’s core.  This disruption of the earth’s tectonic balance will damage the electromagnetic field.  The central core of the earth is solid nickel and iron.  The outer core surrounding it is liquid nickel and iron.  As the earth spins in space it moves the liquid around the solid core.  So we have the solid core rotating as an electric conductor in a magnetic field.  God has so constructed the interior of the earth that it operates like a huge generator.  This produces electricity in fantastic quantities, which generates a very powerful magnetic field, and that field is God’s magnetic field of the earth.  The earth’s magnetic field is so complex that only God understands the delicate balance which keeps the geomagnetic shield in place around the earth.

Figure 22 portrays the protective magnetic field that God maintains around His planet Earth.  The magnetic field is a protective barrier around the earth.  The field is constantly being bombarded by many a wide variety of celestial particles and rays.  Among the many attacking celestials are cosmic rays, which are strong charged, fast moving particles of hydrogen and helium.  They severely damage living cells, and produce horrifying mutations of the skin.  If the magnetic field were to be disrupted, all life forms would be subject to a very high dose of cosmic-ray bombardment.  Terrible mutations of the skin would naturally occur.

I am convinced that the great shaking of the earth prior to, and during, the pouring of the first vial, will produce the conditions described in Revelation 16:2, the outbreak of noisome and grievous sores upon the flesh.  The shift in the magnetic field of the earth will play a part in the fulfillment of Revelation 16:2.  The earth’s magnetic field has shifted several times during geologic history.  Whenever these reversals occur they reduce the earth’s magnetic field by about 80%, thereby leaving the earth without it’s protective shroud.  I believe God will lower his protective magnetic shield to plague the doomed of the earth with flesh mutilation by cosmic radiation.

Thus far we have dealt with only the fantastic shaking produced by earthquakes up to the pouring of the first vial, which leads to surface cosmic ray bombardment.  In all reality, this cosmic bombardment will be incidental in production of sores, when compared with the effect of volcanic eruptions produced by the movement of the same tectonic plates.  Lord willing, we will show what will produce most of these sores, as we examine trumpet four and vial four in a continuation of this chapter next Friday as BIRTH PANG NUMBER 14A.

Destruction of the ozone layer will produce most of the sores.

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4th Trumpet: And the fourth angel sounded the blast of a trumpet; and the third part of the light, as the eastern sun, was inflicted and smitten in a calamity; and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, as stretching across the sky; so as a result, the third part of them was darkened and obscure; and the day did not shine for a third part of it, and the night likewise in a similar manner. [Revelation 8:12].

Revelation 8:12– 4th trumpet – a dramatic increase in worldwide volcanic activity, creates a dust haze over a third of the earth.

04.  This is a dramatic increase of volcanic eruptions, producing towering ash clouds, surrounding one third of the earths’ surface. The Saved are still on the earth.

4th Vial:  And the fourth angel poured out his broad shallow cup and vial upon the light, of the rising sun in the east; and power was given unto him to scorch human beings with fire. And human beings were burned and scorched with a great and mighty burning, glowing heat; and they began to blaspheme and speak evil and defame, the name of the very exceeding great God; who has the authority, mastery and power over this stroke of a calamity and these plagues: and they did not repent or think differently or reconsider to give Him glory, honor and worshipful praise. [Rev. 16:8-9].

Revelation 16:8-9– 4th plague – destruction of the ozone layer by volcanic activity, allowing penetration of ultraviolet radiation causing a burning skin cancer.
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Phase Four:  6th Seal, 4th Trumpet, 4th Vial

[Rev. 6:14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

[Rev. 8:12] And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

[Rev. 16:8-9] And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

This is a two-roll Jewish scroll that rolls together toward the center. As one looks upon an open scroll, much writing is in full view of the reader’s eyes. However, as one slowly rolls the two ends toward each other, the writing slowly but surely disappears from view bit by bit— and finally disappears completely when the two rolls meet. When numerous volcanoes begin to erupt at the first trumpet, the upper stratosphere will not immediately be filled with ash. It will take time but gradually the suspended volcanic cloud bands of ash will roll themselves together — and one by one all the heavenly bodies will fade from view. The spread of volcanic clouds in the stratosphere will occur in stages. When the fourth trumpet sounds, the distribution of suspended ash will be such that at any given location the heavenly bodies will only be visible about one-third of a twenty-four-hour period. The complete filling of the earth’s atmosphere does not occur until shortly after the fifth trumpet. By the last drop of the fourth vial, the injection of volcanic hydrogen chloride by violent upward projection will have virtually destroyed the ozone layer. Without this protective ozone shield, ultraviolet radiation will pour down upon those left behind after the Rapture. The beginning of skin cancer at the first vial will have reached plague proportions by the fourth vial. Ultraviolet radiation is a scorching fire as compared to the radiation we now receive from the sun at the earth’s surface.

The following article is from:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer
The ozone layer is a layer in Earth’s atmosphere which contains relatively high concentrations of ozone (O3). This layer absorbs 97–99% of the sun‘s high frequency ultraviolet light, which is potentially damaging to life on earth. It is mainly located in the lower portion of the stratosphere from approximately 13 km to 40  km above Earth, though the thickness varies seasonally and geographically. The ozone layer was discovered in 1913 by the French physicists Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson. Its properties were explored in detail by the British meteorologist G. M. B. Dobson, who developed a simple spectrophotometer (the Dobsonmeter) that could be used to measure stratospheric ozone from the ground. Between 1928 and 1958 Dobson established a worldwide network of ozone monitoring stations which continues to operate today. The “Dobson unit“, a convenient measure of the columnar density of ozone overhead, is named in his honour.
The photochemical mechanisms that give rise to the ozone layer were discovered by the British physicist Sidney Chapman in 1930. Ozone in the Earth’s stratosphere is created by ultraviolet light striking oxygen molecules containing two oxygen atoms (O2), splitting them into individual oxygen atoms (atomic oxygen); the atomic oxygen then combines with unbroken O2 to create ozone, O3. The ozone molecule is also unstable (although, in the stratosphere, long-lived) and when ultraviolet light hits ozone it splits into a molecule of O2 and an atom of atomic oxygen, a continuing process called the ozone-oxygen cycle, thus creating an ozone layer in the stratosphere, the region from about 10 to 50 km (32,000 to 164,000 feet) above Earth’s surface. About 90% of the ozone in our atmosphere is contained in the stratosphere. Ozone concentrations are greatest between about 20 and 40 km, where they range from about 2 to 8 parts per million.
Although the concentration of the ozone in the ozone layer is very small, it is vitally important to life because it absorbs biologically harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation coming from the Sun. UV radiation is divided into three categories, based on its wavelength; these are referred to as UV-A (400–315 nm), UV-B (315–280 nm), and UV-C (280–100 nm). UV-C, which would be very harmful to all living things, is entirely screened out by ozone at around 35 km altitude. UV-B radiation can be harmful to the skin and is the main cause of sunburn; excessive exposure can also cause genetic damage, resulting in problems such as skin cancer. The ozone layer is very effective at screening out UV-B; for radiation with a wavelength of 290 nm, the intensity at the top of the atmosphere is 350 million times stronger than at the Earth’s surface. Nevertheless, some UV-B reaches the surface. Most UV-A reaches the surface; this radiation is significantly less harmful, although it can potentially cause genetic damage.

The thickness of the ozone layer—that is, the total amount of ozone in a column overhead—varies by a large factor worldwide, being in general smaller near the equator and larger towards the poles. It also varies with season, being in general thicker during the spring and thinner during the autumn in the northern hemisphere. The reasons for this latitude and seasonal dependence are complicated, involving atmospheric circulation patterns as well as solar intensity.

Since stratospheric ozone is produced by solar UV radiation, one might expect to find the highest ozone levels over the tropics and the lowest over polar regions. The same argument would lead one to expect the highest ozone levels in the summer and the lowest in the winter. The observed behavior is very different: most of the ozone is found in the mid-to-high latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres, and the highest levels are found in the spring, not summer, and the lowest in the autumn, not winter in the northern hemisphere. During winter, the ozone layer actually increases in depth. This puzzle is explained by the prevailing stratospheric wind patterns, known as the Brewer-Dobson circulation. While most of the ozone is indeed created over the tropics, the stratospheric circulation then transports it poleward and downward to the lower stratosphere of the high latitudes. However in the southern hemisphere, owing to the ozone hole phenomenon, the lowest amounts of column ozone found anywhere in the world are over the Antarctic in the southern spring period of September and October.

The ozone layer is higher in altitude in the tropics, and lower in altitude in the extratropics, especially in the polar regions. This altitude variation of ozone results from the slow circulation that lifts the ozone-poor air out of the troposphere into the stratosphere. As this air slowly rises in the tropics, ozone is produced by the overhead sun which photolyzes oxygen molecules. As this slow circulation bends towards the mid-latitudes, it carries the ozone-rich air from the tropical middle stratosphere to the mid-and-high latitudes lower stratosphere. The high ozone concentrations at high latitudes are due to the accumulation of ozone at lower altitudes.
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Ozone (OH zohn) is a gas that is present in small amounts in Earth’s atmosphere. In the troposphere (the lowest level of the atmosphere), ozone is a pollutant. It can harm plant and animal tissues, and it can damage rubber and plastic. Ozone in the stratosphere (the layer above the troposphere) blocks harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun, protecting life on Earth. Every spring in the Southern Hemisphere since the late 1970’s, scientists have observed a depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica. The region of decreased ozone is known as the ozone hole. Ozone is related to the oxygen molecules that sustain life. An oxygen molecule has two oxygen atoms and the chemical formula O2. An ozone molecule has three oxygen atoms and the formula O3. Pure ozone is a pale blue gas. The word ozone comes from a Greek word meaning to smell, reflecting ozone’s sharp, irritating odor.

Ozone occurs naturally through photochemical reactions and by electrical discharges. In photochemical reactions in the stratosphere, ultraviolet rays from the sun strike oxygen molecules, breaking each molecule into two oxygen atoms. The oxygen atoms combine with other oxygen molecules, forming ozone. Electrical discharges include lightning and sparks from motors. Such discharges can break up oxygen molecules, leading to ozone formation. Near Earth’s surface, reactions between such gases as nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons create ozone and other ingredients of a dangerous pollutant called photochemical smog.

Commercial applications of ozone include the bleaching of pulp in paper mills and the purification of water. Manufacturers produce ozone by creating electrical discharges in a machine.

Ozone’s relative molecular mass (formerly called molecular weight) — that is, its amount of matter compared with that of the most common form of carbon — is 47.998. The German chemist Christian Friedrich Schonbein discovered ozone in 1840. Contributor: Linnea M. Avallone, Ph.D., Professor, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado.

How to cite this article: To cite this article, World Book recommends the following format: Avallone, Linnea M. “Ozone.” World Book Online Reference Center. 2005. World Book, Inc. http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar409660.