The Ozone Layer

No such thing
Did you know that there is no such thing as a Ozone layer? More specifically, there is no layer of solid Ozone anywhere in our atmosphere. However, the greatest concentration of Ozone is found from 6 miles to 25 miles up in the stratosphere. Even in its greatest concentration, there are only 10 ppm Ozone, (ppm means parts per million). So how can such a tiny amount of Ozone protect a planet from ultraviolet radiation? Well it can’t, and it doesn’t. you see, we have another molecule to thank for that. It’s called Oxygen, (O2), and unlike Ozone (O3) there’s plenty of it.

How it works
O2 is a molecule of oxygen formed by the joining of two Oxygen atoms. Ozone (which I will refer to as O3 when talking about molecular science) is formed by the joining of three oxygen atoms. Both of these molecules stop ultraviolet radiation the same way. When ultraviolet radiation strikes a molecule, the energy is absorbed into the molecule. But the molecule can’t handle this huge amount of energy. So, the oxygen atoms are forced to separate. In the case of O2, these separated oxygen atoms are highly reactive and quickly join up with each other, often forming a new ozone molecule.

Consequences
Ozone does stop a small percentage of the ultraviolet radiation entering our atmosphere, but many have claimed that it is solely responsible for keeping us alive. The consequences of this deception have been great. It is believed that chloride contained in CFC’s is causing a hole in the “Ozone layer”. The banning of all CFC’s has cost billions of dollars. And get this, there are other ways that nature destroys ozone with chlorine. For instance, volcanic mount Erebus in Antarctica has released 1,000 tons of chloride every day for 20 years. so why are people worried about the puny amount of chloride industries used to produce? I really don’t know.

Global Warming

Maybe its not Such a Problem...
With so much talk about global warming today, I think most people would be surprised to find that it is not actually that much of an issue. In fact, after reading about it in my science book, I don’t think that we need to worry about it. Global warming is an idea based on sound scientific reasoning. But the situation is a little more complex than most people relies.

How it Works
Certain gasses that we call, “Greenhouse Gasses” absorb energy from the sun as it enters our planet. This energy is converted into heat. Without these gasses much of this energy would reflect back into space. Without greenhouse gasses earth would be too cold for life.
Scientist are afraid that too many man-made greenhouse gasses would trap to much heat and cause the earth to warm up, throwing delicate eco-systems off balance. Carbon dioxide is the number one man made greenhouse gas. And since 1900 the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has steadily risen from around 292 ppm, to around 350 ppm. This seems alarming, until you figure out that “ppm” means Parts Per Million. So, even though the amount of CO2 has risen, it is still a very small amount.

How it Doesn't Work
Since the amount of CO2 has risen steadily, one would assume the temperature should be rising steadily two. However, the average temperature of the earth dose not correspond to the amount of CO2 at all. If we were to look at a graph, the average temp of the earth has followed a very shaky pattern, warm a few years, cold a few years. So, why dose CO2 not have much of an effect on the earth’s temperature? Well, CO2 isn’t the only man made gas. Many other gasses we produce actually reflect energy back into outer space. This could be what counteracts the effect of CO2, keeping the temperature balanced. This, plus the fact that human activity only accounts for 3% of all the CO2 formation in our atmosphere tells me that all this frantic talk of global warming is really just a deception.


Stewardship
Only 17% of Atmospheric scientists, (the ones who know what they’re talking about) think that global warming is a problem. 53% think it’s not, and 30% think there’s not enough information for us to determine that yet. I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking care of our planet. God has commanded humans to be stewards of his creation. But when we start de-emphasizing things like the millions of starving people around the world so that we can spend money making industries cleaner than they need to be, something is wrong.