Ozone layer an altitude of 100 kilometers from the planet's surface. The photochemical mechanisms that give rise to the ozone layer were discovered by the British physicist Sydney Chapman in 1930. Ozone in the Earth's stratosphere is created by ultraviolet light striking ordinary oxygen molecules containing two oxygen atoms (O), splitting them into individual oxygen atoms (atomic oxygen); the atomic oxygen then combines with unbroken O to create ozone, O. The ozone molecule is unstable (although, in the stratosphere, long-lived) and when ultraviolet light hits ozone it splits into a molecule of O and an individual atom of oxygen, a continuing process
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is a multilateral environmental agreement signed in 1985 that provided frameworks for international reductions in the production of chlorofluorocarbons due to their contribution to the destruction of the ozone layer and resulting increase in the threat of skin cancer. During the 1970's, research indicated that man-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) reduce and convert ozone molecules in the atmosphere. CFCs are stable molecules composed of carbon, fluorine, and chlorine that were used prominently in products such as refrigerators. The threats associated with reduced ozone