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Quote by: Pooeypants Erm, the O3 will hang around for a while, you've noted that it has a half life of around 7 minutes. Therefore, as soon as it is created, it will start to absorb UV rays and reemit at a lower frequency. So inessence it is a negative feedback of sorts (with regards to the UV light) because the more UV light, the more O3 is created (as you said rightly) and therefore, the more O3 is formed to start absorbing the UV.
I'm not quite following your analogy though, what has a surf got to do with the ocean thingy? Do you not get the absorption spectra of the O3? Or the fact that it hangs around for several minutes? Or that it is created continuously as long as there is O2 and UV light? |
Actually, that half life of 7 minutes is in a vaccum chamber in a laboratory. Rare indeed would the the ozone molecule that would last more than a second or two in the atmosphere. UV radiation ionizes ozone in exactly the same manner as it ionizes O2.
I saw the absorption spectra that you listed. Clearly, you didn't grasp what you were seeing, and didn't take even a little while to try to understand it. This is what is most frustrating about discussing this topic with "true believers" You just grabbed the picture and posted it not even realizing that you were making my case for me. It is just one more omission perpetrated by people who make their money on your fear. O2 absorbs UV in wavelengths shorter than 240nm. (shorter is more dangerous) O3 is unable to absorb any UV in wavelenghts shorter than about 320nm. O2 is the workhorse in UV absorption, O3 plays a minor role at best. The idea that O3 saves us from skin cancer is a myth that is perpetuated by nothing more than government grant money. The physics and chemistry of the ozone cycle put the lie to the myth. Unfortunate that most people don't take the time to apply simple logic to the physics and chemistry of the ozone cycle and realize that what the "scientists" are saying is simply not what is happening.
The surf analogy is for folks who mistakenly believe that the "ozone" layer is some mysterous layer of ozone that protects us from the sun. It isn't.
Just as the surf is the result of deep water waves coming in contact with shallow water, the ozone layer is the result of short wave UV from the sun coming in contact with O2 in the upper atmosphere. The surf is a result...ozone is a result. In the case of the surf, the rising bottom absorbs the energy of the deep water waves and the surf is a result. In the case of UV radiation from the sun, O2 absorbs the great bulk of the radiation and O3 is a result of O2 absorbing dangerous UV radiation. O3 is almost immediately re-ionized and reformed into O2 again which, again, is the gas that absorbs the shortest and most dangerous wavelengths of UV.