Winning speeches

Here is Chloe's speech. She got third place at the Putaruru Lion's Speech competition!

The Ozone Layer

Have you ever been out in the sun for ten minutes and noticed your skin getting redder and redder? Well I am going to tell you why. In the late 1920’s chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons or CFC’s were invented. The chemicals were not poisonous and didn’t harm fabrics, plants or people. Companies thought they were great and used the chemicals in refrigerators, air conditioners, Styrofoam packaging and spray cans. From the 1920’s to the 1970’s billions of CFC molecules were released into the air. In the 1970’s scientists began to wonder what happened to the CFC’s after they had been in the air for a while. Scientists learnt that the CFC’s floated past the troposphere and up into the stratosphere where UV rays would break them down. The troposphere is zero to eight miles above earth and is also the air we breathe. The stratosphere is eight to 30 miles above earth. This was bad because scientists knew that ozone in the stratosphere protects the earth from to many UV rays. In 1979 many countries including the United States decided to try and fix the problem by banning CFC’s from being made or used. Today no spray cans contain CFC’s. Scientists predicted that the ozone layer would be at its thinnest in 2008. New research shows that other air pollution problems are slowing down the ozone layers ability to rebound. If you are wondering what UV rays are it stands for ultraviolet radiation? Light rays can be divided into three main groups such as visible light, ultraviolet light and infrared light. Visible light is what humans can see. We can’t see infrared light or ultraviolet light but they can be seen in sunlight and can have an effect on us like sunburns. Humans should be careful for UV rays. Scientists say too much exposure to the sun before you are 18 can cause huge problems such as skin cancer, eye cataracts and may even cause problems with your immune system. Cataracts form when the lens of your eye becomes cloudy and hard. Did you know skin cancer is the most common cancer in New Zealand? 250 new Zealanders die from skin cancer each year. If you are outside in the sun at any time between 11am and 4pm watch out because that is when UV rays are most fierce. The sun can get through a wet t-shirt and can also burn you while you swim. So when you are out in the sun slip, slop, slap and wrap.

Chloe