What is the ozone layer and why does it matter?
Earth's Invisible Sunglasses
What is the ozone layer and why does it matter?
High above your head, way past the clouds and the airplanes, there's an invisible layer of gas wrapped around the whole planet like a giant pair of sunglasses. It's called the ozone layer. You can't see it, you can't feel it, and yet it's been quietly saving your skin your entire life.
First, what even is ozone? Plain oxygen — the stuff you breathe — comes in pairs: two oxygen atoms holding hands. Ozone is the same atoms, but stuck together in clingy little groups of three instead of two. That one extra atom changes everything.
