Most ozone (about 90%) resides in a layer between approximately 10 and 50 kilometers (about 6 to 30 miles) above the Earth's surface, in the region of the atmosphere called the stratosphere. This stratospheric ozone is commonly known as the "ozone layer."
Stratospheric ozone plays a beneficial role by absorbing most of the biologically damaging ultraviolet sunlight called UV-B, allowing only a small amount to reach the Earth's surface.
The absorption of UV radiation by ozone creates a source of heat, which actually forms the stratosphere itself (a region in which the temperature rises as one goes to higher altitudes). Ozone thus plays a key role in the temperature structure of the Earth's atmosphere. Furthermore, without the filtering action of the ozone layer, more of the Sun's UV-B radiation would penetrate the atmosphere and would reach the Earth's surface in greater amounts. Many experimental studies of plants and animals as well as clinical studies of humans, have shown the harmful effects of excessive exposure to UV-B radiation.
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