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Asked by to Amelia, Clem, Izzy, Sarah on 17 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
Question: Are plants the way forward in clearing the ozone layer
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Isabel Webb answered on 17 Mar 2014:
The ozone layer is a layer of molecules containing oxygen that help absorb the sun’s UV rays and but also helps to keep the heat in the atmosphere from escaping. It is found 9-31miles above the surface of the Earth. Blocking UV is good for us because it prevents our skin from being damaged and getting skin cancer. It doesn’t block all the UV though – which is why we have to wear sun cream in the summer, and wear sunglasses when looking at the sun directly.
Air pollution can damage the ozone layer – which isn’t good for us! Many laws have been made to cut down release of these polluting gases. Rather than clearing the ozone layer, we want to build it back up.
Ozone is naturally produced by the action of the sunlight on molecules in the atmosphere – so plants can’t do anything about it! The only way to let the ozone layer replenish is to reduce the air pollution we cause.Plants might, however, be the way forward in reducing global warming. Global warming is the heating up of our atmosphere and is having effects on the weather and climate (more floods, cold spells and heatwaves). Global warming is mainly caused by increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, caused by overuse of fossil fuels like coal and oil. Plants take up carbon dioxide and use it in photosynthesis – so planting more plants may be a great help in reducing carbon dioxide levels. We should stop cutting trees down and start planting them! We should also reduce our use of energy, which is why we should turn off lights when we don’t need them, and walk, cycle or get the bus instead of driving.
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Amelia Frizell-Armitage answered on 17 Mar 2014:
As we release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere they get trapped between the earth and the ozone layer. They cannot pass out into space, so have the effect of warming up the earth. This is causing a serious problem of global warming, which is causing our climate to change. This problem is made worse because so many forests and areas of grassland are being cleared to make space to build roads, houses and farms.
All green plants photosynthesise, they produce their energy by taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and combining it with light. This means that theoretically if we had more plants on earth they could take in lots of the extra carbon dioxide that we are putting in. Forests act as a big carbon sink. This means that they take in more carbon dioxide than they give out.
If we had more forest on the earth then they could help us to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air and so help prevent global warming. However, at the moment forest is being cleared faster than it is being planted and this does not look likely to change in the future.
Another way plants could help us to reduce our carbon dioxide is by using biofuels. Biofuels would be used instead of petrol and can be made from plants such as Rapeseed. The idea is that as the plants grow they take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, not everyone agrees that growing biofuel crops is a good idea as they have to be grown in place of food crops.
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anon answered on 17 Mar 2014:
this is a slightly cheeky answer to the question…
But plants do indeed clear the ozone layer.
Rice plants which feed a large percentage of the world’s human population grow in special fields known as “paddies” the wet and muddy conditions produce methane… a greenhouse gas… which does indeed clear the ozone later…(a bad thing)
Rice is such an important crop for the world, that we as scientists must start thinking of breeding varieties of this crop which can grow in environments which are less likely to produce methane!
Such crops are being researched.
We need plants to be the answer… for providing us with food, but having less of an impact on the ozone layer
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