Ozone depletion: causes, potential effects and remedies.

The ozone layer functions as a protective screen, filtering out most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. This protective layer is located in the stratosphere between 15km and 35km above the earth's surface. Ozone is actually a form of oxygen. In the lower atmosphere, oxygen atoms commonly bond with each other in pairs. This molecule, abbreviated as O2, is the form of oxygen we need to breathe. Ozone is a more unstable and uncommon molecule made up of 3 oxygen atoms and is abbreviated O3.