Global Warming Awareness Blog

Although this article may seem to be basic to many people that are knowledgeable about the topic, but there are still some that really don’t know the difference. Unfortunately, some of these people are even science teachers in grade school by remote schools worldwide.

What is Ozone Depletion?

Let’s start with what is ozone?

Ozone is actually oxygen. Although the common oxygen we breath are molecules of O₂. This is two atoms of oxygen bonded together by a double covalent bond, where each bond can be expressed as an electron pair. Now Ozone is actually O₃, where it’s molecules are each composed of 3 atoms of Oxygen. Although this may be unusual for oxygen since oxygen atoms could only take 2 covalent bonds, and the 3 oxygen atoms in ozone are arranged in a straight line, the middle oxygen is actually having a kind of shared bond on the other two oxygen atoms. (A similar behavior of this is commonly seen in a benzene ring.) Although this can be pictured in a different way depending on the model you use, since bonds can be expressed as fixed lines, but sometimes also as electron clouds. But for the purposes of discussion, here is how it goes. As I started thinking about it, I think if I discuss it further, this post will be too long. I will make another story dedicated to ozone alone. But what is important now is just to know that ozone is also oxygen but has 3 oxygen atoms (O₃) while the oxygen we breath has 2 oxygen atoms (O₂).