Frogs and ozone

1994/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ekologia

Has the decrease in the ozone layer caused the destruction of some species of amphibians in the world? Scientists at the University of Oregon are waiting. The decrease in stratospheric ozone layer facilitates the arrival of ultraviolet rays to Earth and the death of some species of frog. Ultraviolet rays have a wavelength between 280 and 320 nanometers and kill the eggs of some species (not other species).

According to scientists Andrew Blaustein and John Hays, eggs subjected to ultraviolet rays contain a large number of enzymes called photoliases, which allow the ultraviolet ray to break the DNA molecule and it is solved. The ultraviolet rays of the laboratory already knew that they killed amphibian eggs, but they have shown that now they also die from the sun's rays.

Batraciones, frogs, toads and arrabios have been around 180 million years in this world and we do not know if the ozone layer is in danger of extinction due to the thinning of the ozone layer. Other scientists are skeptical of the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays.