What have humans done to break down the ozone layer?
CFC’s and other compounds produced by humans have added to the effects of solar radiation on the ozone layer. Methane is good example. Methane CH4 in the atmosphere is struck by solar radiation causing a “free radical” which reacts with ozone O3 in the atmosphere causing it to break down to oxygen and another free radical. In chemistry, free radicals take part in radical addition and radical substitution as reactive intermediates. Reactions involving free radicals can usually be divided into three distinct processes: initiation, propagation, and termination. * Initiation reactions are those which result in a net increase in the number of free radicals. They may involve the formation of free radicals from stable species as in Reaction 1 above or they may involve reactions of free radicals with stable species to form more free radicals. * Propagation reactions are those reactions involving free radicals in which the total number of free radicals remains the same. * Termination reactions
