In the troposphere, the ground-level or "bad" ozone is an air
pollutant that damages human health, vegetation, and many common
materials. It is a key ingredient of urban smog. In the
stratosphere, we find the "good" ozone that protects life on
earth from the harmful effects of the Sun's ultraviolet rays.
Click on image for full size Courtesy of COMET program Ozone -
An Overview The Ozone Hole. The Ozone Hoax. Pollution. Skin
Cancer. The topic of ozone makes headlines on a regular basis,
but why does a single molecule merit such media coverage? How
important is the ozone in our atmosphere and why are scientists
so concerned about its increase near the surface of the Earth
and its disappearance higher up in the atmosphere? First things
first - what is ozone? Ozone is made of three oxygen atoms (O3).
The oxygen in our atmosphere that we breathe is made up of two
oxygen atoms (O2). Because of its chemical formulation, a single
atom of oxygen (O) is unstable. That is, it wants to combine
with something else. That