The Ozone Layer's Impact on Human Health

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The Ozone Layer’s Impact on Human Health

The depletion of the ozone layer is not some abstract scientific finding that is only of interest to scientists. The depletion of the ozone layer is important to the preservation of human health. That is, in order to preserve human health and all life on earth, it is absolutely necessary that the ozone layer be protected. Why is the depletion of the ozone layer so important to protecting human health?

The impact of the ozone layer and the depletion of the ozone layer, on human health have been felt more acutely in some areas than other. People who live south of the equator in countries such as Australia and Chile have felt the consequences of the ozone layer. In many parts of the southern hemisphere, including the aforementioned cities, people have had to deal with the consequences of a thinning ozone layer. This strikes especially hard during the spring months when UV alerts are given to citizens during the spring months when lobes of ozone depleted stratospheric air pockets move outward from the Antarctic. In the worse times, the ozone above some of these areas can reach as low as half the normal concentration of ozone. This means that UV radiation will reach these areas by a much greater percentage.

What sort of impact does the depletion of the ozone layer have on human health? In some of these areas, it is estimated that one out of every three Australians will develop some kind of serious skin caner in his or her lifetime. Many of these kinds of skin cancers are serious enough that they can be fatal. Clearly, the depletion of the ozone layer can have very serious and direct effects on human health, especially to people living in ozone-depleted areas.

What about the human health of populations living in the northern hemisphere? Those of us living in the northern hemisphere are certainly not immune to seeing the problems that populations south of the equator have had to experience. Scientists have noted a thinning ozone layer in the northern hemisphere as well. Concerned over the depletion of the ozone layer, the United States took action. The environmental protection agency working in conjunction with the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and the centers for disease control put together the now-standard UV index. The UV index is responsible for providing citizens with a kind of daily forecast that predicts the UV exposure for that day. The goal of the UV index is to remind people of the dangers of being exposed to high amounts of ultraviolet radiation.

How does the UV index work? The UV index is issued by the weather service and provides complete information for over 58 cities. The UV index is put together using measurements read from satellites that measure the stratospheric ozone levels. These are combined with other local weather patterns to calculate many different local ozone level ratings. Why should you protect yourself from UV radiation? UV radiation can be directly responsible for many human health problems, including cancer, eye damage, skin aging, cataracts, and even blindness.

The sun and UV radiation can also have many chronic effects that are caused by long-term exposure to UV rays. The normal response to UV rays over a long period of time is normal skin aging, which may include coarsening of the skin, wrinkling, yellowing of the skin, and heavily pigmented or unpigmented skin. Furthermore, regular exposure to UV rays from the sun can also cause more serious problems, including skin cancer. Skin cancer has been on the rise, and the depletion of the ozone layer has been at least partly responsible for the greater number of skin cancer cases, researchers believe.