Question

1. write a short argument: which is more critical—ozone or greenhouse gases?

Explanation:

To determine if ozone or greenhouse gases are more critical, we analyze their roles. Ozone in the stratosphere shields Earth from harmful UV radiation, preventing skin cancers and ecosystem damage. Greenhouse gases (e.g., CO₂, CH₄) regulate Earth’s temperature, but excess leads to global warming, causing sea - level rise, extreme weather, and biodiversity loss. However, ozone depletion (due to CFCs) was a major threat, but the Montreal Protocol has mitigated it. Greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, with long - term climate impacts. While ozone’s role is vital for life’s protection, greenhouse gases’ imbalance threatens the entire climate system, affecting all ecosystems and human societies. So, greenhouse gases’ criticality lies in their global, ongoing impact on climate stability, making them more critical as their effects are more widespread and long - lasting, with no quick fixes, unlike ozone depletion which had a solvable (via policy) crisis.

Answer:

Greenhouse gases are more critical. Ozone (stratospheric) shields from UV, but ozone depletion was addressed by the Montreal Protocol. Greenhouse gases regulate temp, but excess causes global warming with long - term, widespread impacts (sea - level rise, extreme weather, biodiversity loss) that are ongoing and hard to reverse, affecting all ecosystems and human societies. Their imbalance threatens the entire climate system, making their role (and mismanagement) more critical due to the scale and persistence of climate change.