Full Name: Sarwan Ali Rajar
Role No: 2K19/IC/56
Department: Islamic Studies
Teacher: Sir Saadullah Rahoojo
Subject: Geography
Assignment Topic: Depletion of the Ozone
Layer & Solar System and Earth Movements
Depletion of the Ozone Layer
An ozone molecule (O3) is composed of three
atoms of oxygen. Ozone in the upper atmosphere (the
stratosphere) is referred to as the “ozone layer” and
protects life on Earth by absorbing most of the ultraviolet
(UV) radiation emitted by the sun. Exposure to too much
UV radiation is linked to skin cancer, cataracts, and
depression of the immune system, and may reduce the
productivity of certain crops. Accordingly, stratospheric
ozone is known as “good ozone.” In contrast, human
industry creates “ozone pollution” at the ground level.
This “bad ozone” is a principal component of smog. The
ozone layer is reduced when man-made CFC molecules
(comprised of chlorine, fluorine, and carbon) reach the
stratosphere and are broken apart by short-wave energy
from the sun. Free chlorine atoms then break apart
molecules of ozone, creating a hole in the ozone layer.
The hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic in 1998
was “the largest observed since annual holes first
appeared in the late 1970s.”10
CFCs were once used in aerosol sprays and as foam
blowing agents. Their manufacture is now banned by an
international treaty, the Montreal Protocol, signed by
160 nations. But because CFCs have a long atmospheric
lifetime (about 50 years), those manufactured in the
1970s continue to damage the ozone layer today. The
amount of CFCs in the stratosphere is now peaking. The
good news is that scientists forecast that the ozone layer
will return to its earlier, stable size by the middle of the
21st century—assuming that nations continue to comply
with the treaty.
When the ozone hole was first detected, there was
emotional debate in which many U.S. industries fiercely
resisted a ban on CFCs. It took a few years for scientists
to show conclusively that human activity was causing the
damage. It did not take long for scientists to invent other
chemicals that could replace CFCs for industrial and
commercial purposes, but would not harm the ozone
layer. CFCs used as propellants were first banned in the
United States in 1978.
Global Warming
Global warming and ozone layer depletion are two
different problems (see the sidebar “Misconceptions
about Global Atmospheric Change” on page 95). Global
warming is caused by the “greenhouse effect,” which is
essential to life as we know it on planet Earth.
Electromagnetic energy coming from the sun is absorbed
by the Earth, which radiates some of this energy outward
as infrared energy (heat). Some of this infrared energy
escapes into space, but much of it is absorbed by
“greenhouse gases” in the lower atmosphere (the
troposphere) and is radiated back to the Earth as heat
energy.
The greenhouse effect, then, is a warming of the Earth’s
surface that makes it hospitable to life. Without the
greenhouse effect, the surface of the Earth would be a
frigid -100°F. Alternatively, a “runaway” greenhouse
effect, like that found on the planet Venus, would result
in a surface temperature of 900°F or more. Greenhouse
gases, including water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2),
methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), are produced as
part of the natural system (for example, CO2 and H2O are
by-products of respiration and combustion). These gases
act much like the glass roof of a greenhouse, letting
sunlight through, but keeping heat locked in.
Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have developed
technologies (for example, motor vehicles) that produce
large quantities of greenhouse gases. Also, humans have
invented new molecules that are greenhouse gases, for
example, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and some CFC-
substitutes that are used as coolants and solvents.
Increased amounts of all types of man-made greenhouse
gases released into the atmosphere “enhance” the
greenhouse effect. The gas that is most responsible for
enhancing the greenhouse effect is CO2, because human
activities create so much of it and it has a long “lifetime”
in the atmosphere (meaning that molecules are present
in the air for a long time before being used by plants or
being “bound” or broken down in other chemical
events).
Over the past 300 years, atmospheric CO2 levels have
increased by about 30%.7 How do we know this? Tree
rings, pieces of old coral, and cores taken from glaciers
and from mud at the bottom of the ocean provide
scientists with samples of atmospheric changes that go
back 150,000 years. This increase in CO2 comes largely
from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas)
in automobiles and electrical power plants. People
burning tropical rainforests (biomass burning) to clear
land also contribute to the problem of too much
atmospheric CO2 This practice is doubly destructive
because it also upsets the balance of the “carbon cycle.”
Living trees and other green plants play a major role in
taking carbon out of the atmosphere through
photosynthesis, the process whereby plants use energy
from the sun to make food; photosynthesis utilizes
carbon from CO2. Accordingly, green plants are known as
a carbon “sink.” The oceans also are a carbon sink
because small plants—phytoplankton—in the water
“take up” great amounts of carbon from atmospheric
CO2.
Most atmospheric scientists are now convinced that
human industrial activity has caused an enhanced
greenhouse effect, leading to an increase in global
warming: “[T]he further accumulation of greenhouse
gases commits the Earth irreversibly to further global
climatic change and consequent ecological, economic,
and social disruption.”8 However, there continues to be
debate in the scientific community over the best way to
predict how much warming will occur, how much of the
warming humans are responsible for, and what might be
the best ways to decrease the production of greenhouse
gases. To complicate matters, some scientists even
speculate that the effects of global warming may perturb
ocean circulation patterns so much as to throw us into
another ice age.9 Despite these uncertainties, a growing
scientific consensus is urging governments and industries
to work together to reduce man-made greenhouse gases
(see the sidebar “Hot News” on page 93). Such
international cooperation is not just a dream—it
happened recently with regard to another problem of
atmospheric change: damage to the ozone layer.
Solar System and Earth Movements
solar system. Often Solar System. The Sun together
with the eight planets, their moons, and all other bodies
that orbit it, including dwarf planets, asteroids, comets,
meteoroids,and Kuiper belt objects. The outer limit of
the solar system is formed by the heliopause.
The Origin of the Earth
Earth formed around 4.54 billion years ago,
approximately one-third the age of the universe, by
accretion from the solar [Link] outgassing
probably created the primordial atmosphere and then
the ocean, but the early atmosphere contained almost
no oxygen.
What is Rotation?
A rotation is a circular movement of an object around a
centre of rotation. If three-dimensional objects like
earth, moon and other planets always rotate around an
imaginary line, it is called a rotation axis. The axis passes
through the body's centre of < has, the body is said to
rotate upon itself or spin.
What is Revolution?
Revolution is often used as a synonym for rotation.
However, in many fields like astronomy and its related
subjects, revolution is referred to as an orbital
revolution. It is used when one body moves around
another while rotation is used to mean the movement
around the axis. oror example, Moon revolves around
the Earth, and the Earth revolves around the sun. Earth
Moon Rotation Sun Revolution
Rotation of the Earth
The spinning of the Earth around its axis is called
'rotation'. The axis has an angle of 231° and is
perpendicular to the plane of Earth's orbit. Which means,
Earth is tilted on its axis, and because of this tilt, the
northern and southern hemispheres lean in a direction
away from the Sun. The rotation of the Earth divides it
into a lit-up half and a dark half, which gives rise to day
and night.
Revolution of the Earth
The movement of the Earth around the Sun in a fixed
path is called a revolution. The Earth revolves from west
to east i.e, in the anticlockwise direction. The Earth
completes one revolution around the Sun in one year or
precisely in 365.242 days. The revolution speed of the
earth is 30km.s-1.
Structure of the Earth
The structure of the Earth is divided into layers. These
layers are both physically and chemically different. The
Earth has an outer solid layer called the crust, a highly
viscous layer called the mantle, a liquid layer that is the
outer part of the core, called the outer core, and a solid
center called the inner core.
References and Sources of Assignments
1 internet ( Website Or Google )
2. BOOKS
a) Physical Geography By M Iftikhar Akram
b) Modern Physical Geography by Sarfraz Ahmed Bajwa
