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Local and Global Changes to Ecosystems
Quick questions on Ozone Depletion and Atmospheric Change - TCE Environmental Science (Tasmania)
2short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the Antarctic ozone hole?Show answer
Depletion is most severe over Antarctica, where each spring an ozone hole forms, a region of greatly thinned ozone. The extreme cold of the polar winter creates special clouds on which the reactions that release chlorine occur, so when sunlight returns in spring, ozone is destroyed rapidly. The hole was first identified in the mid-1980s and grew alarmingly through the following decade.
What is impacts of increased ultraviolet radiation?Show answer
Thinner ozone means more ultraviolet radiation reaches the surface, with consequences for health and ecosystems. In humans it raises rates of skin cancer, cataracts and immune suppression. In ecosystems it can damage phytoplankton, the tiny photosynthesising organisms at the base of marine food webs, which is a particular concern in the productive Southern Ocean. It can also harm the growth and reproduction of some plants, reducing agricultural and natural productivity.
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