Why Don Stratospheric (good) and Tropospheric (bad) Ozone Mix?
(back to top) At first, the answer to the problem might seem easy. Why don’t we mix the layers and use the “bad” ground level ozone to plug the holes in the “good” ozone layer? Wouldn’t that solve both problems? Yes, theoretically that would solve both problems, but unfortunately that cannot be done. First, we simply cannot mix the air in the troposphere and the stratosphere. The troposphere is the layer of the atmosphere at the earth’s surface. The troposphere contains 75% of all the air found in our atmosphere and 99% of the water vapor. The air in the troposphere is in constant motion, with both horizontal and vertical air currents. The combination of vigorous air movement and water vapor creates weather. The troposphere is capped by a thin layer known as the tropopause, which is a region of stable temperature that helps to confine most weather phenomena and “bad” ozone to the troposphere. The stratosphere is the second layer in the atmosphere from the earth’s surface. The lower par
