Stratosphere effect

Danilin, M. Yu., Local Stratospheric Effects of Solid-Fueled Rocket Emissions, Ann. Geophys., 11, 828-836(1993). 

A2. Crutzen, P. J., 1971 On Some Photochemical and Meteorological Factors Determining the Distribution of Ozone in the Stratosphere Effects on Contamination by NO Emitted from Aircraft , Technical Report UDC 551.510.4, Institute of Meteorology, University of Stockholm. 

Equation 25 represents the reaction responsible for the removal of uv-B radiation (280—330 nm) that would otherwise reach the earth s surface. There is concern that any process that depletes stratospheric o2one will consequently increase uv-B (in the 293—320 nm region) reaching the surface. Increased uv-B is expected to lead to increased incidence of skin cancer and it could have deleterious effects on certain ecosystems. The first concern over depletion was from NO emissions from a fleet of supersonic transport aircraft that would fly through the stratosphere and cause reactions according to equations 3 and 26 (59) ... 

Possible negative environmental effects of fertilizer use are the subject of iatensive evaluation and much discussion. The foUowiag negative effects of fertilizer usage have been variously suggested (113) a deterioration of food quaUty the destmction of natural soil fertility the promotion of gastroiatestiaal cancer the pollution of ground and surface water and contributions toward the destmction of the ozone layer ia the stratosphere. 

Similar heterogeneous reactions also can occur, but somewhat less efticientiy, in the lower stratosphere on global sulfate clouds (ie, aerosols of sulfuric acid), which are formed by oxidation of SO2 and COS from volcanic and biological activity, respectively (80). The effect is most pronounced in the colder regions of the stratosphere at high latitudes. Indeed, the sulfate aerosols resulting from emptions of El Chicon in 1982 and Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 have been impHcated in subsequent reduced ozone concentrations (85). 

An important effect of air pollution on the atmosphere is change in spectral transmission. The spectral regions of greatest concern are the ultraviolet and the visible. Changes in ultraviolet radiation have demonstrable adverse effects e.g., a decrease in the stratospheric ozone layer permits harmful UV radiation to penetrate to the surface of the earth. Excessive exposure to UV radiation results in increases in skin cancer and cataracts. The worldwide effort to reduce the release of stratospheric ozone-depleting chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons is directed toward reducing this increased risk of skin cancer and cataracts for future generations. 

An allotrope of oxygen, ozone, 03 (8), is formed in the stratosphere by the effect of solar radiation on 02 molecules. Its total abundance in the atmosphere is equivalent to a layer that, at the ordinary conditions of 25°C and 1 bar, would cover the Earth to a thickness of only 3 mm, yet its presence in the stratosphere is vital to the maintenance of life on Earth (see Box 13.3). Ozone can be made in the laboratory by passing an electric discharge through oxygen. It is a blue gas that... 

Reactions 5 and 6 constitute a catalytic cycle because the radical NO that attacks O3 is regenerated by the reaction of NO2 with an O-atom. The net effect is the removal of one O3 molecule and one O-atom. Thus, although the concentration of NO and NO2 (or NOx) in the stratosphere is small, each NO molecule can destroy thousands of ozone molecules before being scavenged by a reaction such as the following ... 

---