This visualization shows total ozone: the complete amount of ozone in the entire atmosphere from the surface of the planet to the sensor on the satellite. Ozone is most prevalant in the high reaches of the atmosphere (the stratosphere) where it is an efficient absorber of UV radiation, shielding the surface of the Earth from much of this shortwave light from the sun which would be harmful to life. However, ozone at the lowest level of the atmosphere, tropospheric ozone, also reacts with many other chemicals, particularly living tissue where it can cause skin irritation, breathing problems, and reactions with other polluntants to form smog, even in trace amounts.

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