Dear Future President:

We have a problem- a big problem (a 518,000,000 square kilometer problem to be exact). The ozone layer is a belt of naturally occurring gas that protects us from harmful radiation and it is at risk. We need to regulate the amount of air pollution produced and fossil fuels burned to prevent the formation of ozone holes which allow radiation to seep into the troposphere.

The Earth’s stratosphere is a part of our atmosphere that houses the earth’s ozone layer. The ozone layer is a belt of naturally occurring gas called ozone (hence the name ozone layer) that sits 15 kilometers above earth’s surface and shields us from a form of a form of radiation produced by the sun known as ultraviolet B radiation. Over the next 14 years the levels of carbon dioxide seeping into our atmosphere will have increased by nearly 40 percent. According to the website Conserve Energy Future, “An essential property of ozone molecule is its ability to block solar radiations of wavelengths less than 290 nanometers from reaching Earth’s surface. In this process, it also absorbs ultraviolet radiations that are dangerous for most living beings. UV radiation could injure or kill life on Earth. Though the absorption of UV radiations warms the stratosphere but it is important for life to flourish on planet Earth. Research scientists have anticipated disruption of susceptible terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems due to depletion of ozone layer.” This means that although it is necessary to keep our planet habitable it is only helpful if we have the right amount and we have far too much.

This is a major issue because the excess radiation caused by holes in the ozone layer is allowing immense amounts of solar radiation to seep into the troposphere (where we live). If humans (or any species for that matter) are exposed to too much of this radiation, then we can develop serious skin diseases including cancer. In addition, to that if the plants at the bottom of the food chain receive too much solar radiation, then they will die out causing waves of distortion to ripple up the food chain and the catastrophic extinction of many species that are vital to our survival. Finally, the constant decay of our ozone layer is exponentially accelerating climate change. This leads to things such as: global warming, Arctic Circle thawing, stronger hurricanes, sea level rising, and more.

Unless you want all of this to be irreversible, we must take action. As president I urge you to push for an international limit on the amounts of fossil fuels that can be burned annually and the amount of waste products that are burned- as both are major causes of air pollution. If we do this then we can halt the catastrophic events that we have set in motion.

Sincerely,

Cooper Skudlarek