What is ozone layer?

            Have you ever worn a pair of glare glasses? In the hot sun, the tinted glasses give comfort to our eyes and protect them from the sun’s harmful rays. The ozone layer does a similar job, protecting the life forms on Earth from the harmful rays of the sun.

            The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth’s stratosphere that absorbs most of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. It contains high concentrations of ozone, an inorganic oxygen molecule. The ozone layer is mainly found in the lower portion of the stratosphere and also in the troposphere. The layer was discovered in 1913 by Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson, two distinguished French physicists.

            Ozone in the troposphere pollutes the air there; and this in turn helps the forming of smog. Ozone in the stratosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing some of the sun’s harmful ultra-violet rays. The ozone layer absorbs 97 to 99 percent of the sun’s medium-frequency ultra-violet light, which otherwise would potentially damage exposed life forms near the surface.

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