The Ozone Layer, CFCs and Global Warming

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: We are familiar with the most common form of oxygen, the form that we all breathe. It is made up of two oxygen atoms (O2). Ozone is made up of three oxygen atoms (O3) and can be beneficial or harmful, depending on where it is found in the atmosphere. In the stratosphere, ozone protects us from ultraviolet radiation, so it is beneficial to human health. On the other hand, ground-level ozone is a pollutant, and as we learned in Lesson 1, is harmful to human health. Remember, the ozone chemical is the same, but where it is located determines if it is beneficial or a pollutant.Environmental Science Institut