Depletion of the ozone layer

1. ozone [ uncountable ] (technical) a kind of oxygen that exists high in the Earth's atmosphere озон: Ozone is a highly reactive form of oxygen gas. | Ozone is produced by the reaction between oxygen and ultra-violet light. | Ozone is best known for its role in screening the Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun. | Press reports revealed that ozone levels in the upper atmosphere fell during the past month. | In heavy concentrations, ozone is irritating to the eyes, nose and throat.

to deplete / destroy ozone: They calculate that ozone is depleted fastest when the sun is least active. | The polar regions are particularly at risk because the chemical reaction that destroys ozone is helped by their weather conditions.

(to cause) ozone depletion / destruction: Predicting the rate of ozone depletion is difficult. | The observation shocked the world into action and convinced scientists and governments alike that ozone depletion was a serious problem. | These chemical reactions cause ozone destruction. | A worldwide agreement reached more than 10 years ago banned the long-lived chemicals responsible for ozone destruction.

ozone pollution: A series of other steps will be triggered by particularly high levels of low-level ozone pollution. | Given the enormous and costly pollution control efforts to tackle ozone pollution to date, these variable ten-year trends are very disappointing. | In California, pines suffer from yellowish flecking due to ozone pollution and Los Angeles is notorious for its thick ozone smogs.

2. ozone layer [ singular ] a layer of gases in the sky that prevents harmful radiation from the sun from reaching the Earth озонный / озоновый слой, слой озона; озоносфера: The loss of the ozone layer is also believed to be having a cooling effect.

to deplete / destroy / damage the ozone layer разрушать озоновый слой: CFC is just one chemical that depletes the ozone layer. | They help deplete the ozone layer, allowing ultraviolet rays to cause deadly skin cancers. | But they are thought to destroy the ozone layer, which protects the earth from the sun's rays. | But because of their longevity they are expected to go on damaging the ozone layer for decades. | Pollution beyond a certain critical level has disastrous social consequences, for example irreversibly damaging the ozone layer above the earth.

depletion / destruction / thinning of the ozone layer разрушение озонового слоя: Destruction of the world's rain forests, global warming, and the depletion of the ozone layer are just some of the problems that will reach critical proportions in the coming decades. | The consequences of the depletion of the ozone layer are dramatic.

to protect the ozone layer: This was seen as essential if such countries were to co-operate in efforts to protect the ozone layer. | The plan also provided for measures to protect the ozone layer.

3. hole in the ozone layer | ozone hole [ countable ] a hole in the layer of gases in the sky that prevents harmful radiation from the sun from reaching the Earth (This is thought to be caused by harmful gases from cars, household products, factories etc entering the earth's atmosphere.) озоновая дыра: The increase in the incidence of skin cancer is directly due to the hole in the ozone layer. | CFCs are the chemicals responsible for the hole in the ozone layer.

4. ozone-friendly not containing chemicals that cause pollution damaging the ozone layer безвредный для озонного / озонового слоя: an ozone-friendly fridge / aerosol / hair spray | ozone-friendly packaging | But the campaigners found only four fridges which were on the list of ozone-friendly household appliances.

5. carbon dioxide [ uncountable ] a gas without colour or smell produced when animals breathe out, when carbon is burned in air, or when animal or vegetable substances decay углекислый газ; углекислота; диоксид углерода: Within the last century, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased dramatically, largely because of the practice of burning fossil fuels – coal and petroleum and its derivatives. | Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and moisture from the soil. | Methane is often regarded as the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. | The amount of carbon dioxide released by human activities such as burning coal and oil is small in comparison.

6. chlorofluorocarbon / CFC [ countable ] a gas used in fridges and aerosol cans, believed to be responsible for damaging the ozone layer (CFCs are not often used any more because they damage the ozone layer of the Earth's atmosphere.) фреон: More chlorofluorocarbons must have been released in the industrialized north. | CFCs cause damage to the ozone layer.

chlorofluorocarbon / CFC gases: It is free of chlorofluorocarbon gases which have been used to cool most fridges for decades. | CFC gases were in common use in aerosol sprays, refrigerators and air-conditioners.