Search Blog

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Ultraviolet light and ozone

Ultraviolet light and ozone

Although the concentration of the ozone in the ozone layer is very small, it is vitally important to life because it absorbs biologically harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation coming from the Sun. UV radiation is divided into three categories, based on its these are referred to as UV-A (400–315  UV-B (315–280 nm), and UV-C (280–100 nm). UV-C, which would be very harmful to all living things, is entirely screened out by ozone at around 35 kilometres (115,000 ft) altitude. UV-B radiation can be harmful to the skin and is the main cause of; excessive exposure can also cause genetic damage, resulting in problems such as. The ozone layer is very effective at screening out UV-B; for radiation with a wavelength of 290 nm, the intensity at the top of the atmosphere is 350 million times stronger than at the Earth's surface. Nevertheless, some UV-B reaches the surface. Most UV-A reaches the surface; this radiation is significantly less harmful, although it can potentially cause genetic damage.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment