Richard, what have scientists found concerning Carbon Pentoxide and Carbon Hexoxide in the stratosphere? Like Ozone those rare molecules can be produced from Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen by UV radiation in cryogenic temperatures? I expect increasing levels of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide would cause increasing levels of Carbon Pentoxide and Carbon Hexoxide. Do they absorb UV radiation and offset or aggravate ozone depletion?
Sorry Mike. Interesting, but don't know much about this. Just what I've seen on Wikipedia. It seems cryogenic temperatures are required for their formation (T < ~ -150C), so I doubt if there's much in Earth's stratosphere. Although its much colder there than at Earth's surface, the minimum is more like a balmy -80C. It may be an issue higher up where its even colder, but at those low pressures the amounts of all gases (including ozone) are small by then. So effects on ozone - and therefore UV radiation - will be small. The molecules are apparently unstable too, so can probably survive for significant periods only in rarified air at very high altitudes (where collisions with other molecules are unlikely) - and probably only in darkness (because they'd be dissociated by sunlight).
Richard, what have scientists found concerning Carbon Pentoxide and Carbon Hexoxide in the stratosphere? Like Ozone those rare molecules can be produced from Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen by UV radiation in cryogenic temperatures? I expect increasing levels of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide would cause increasing levels of Carbon Pentoxide and Carbon Hexoxide. Do they absorb UV radiation and offset or aggravate ozone depletion?
Sorry Mike. Interesting, but don't know much about this. Just what I've seen on Wikipedia. It seems cryogenic temperatures are required for their formation (T < ~ -150C), so I doubt if there's much in Earth's stratosphere. Although its much colder there than at Earth's surface, the minimum is more like a balmy -80C. It may be an issue higher up where its even colder, but at those low pressures the amounts of all gases (including ozone) are small by then. So effects on ozone - and therefore UV radiation - will be small. The molecules are apparently unstable too, so can probably survive for significant periods only in rarified air at very high altitudes (where collisions with other molecules are unlikely) - and probably only in darkness (because they'd be dissociated by sunlight).