By Patrick Cullis, CIRES and NOAA scientist

As we track this year’s formation of the annual ozone hole above Antarctica, join Casper and Peggy in this four-part animated series as they explore our atmosphere and learn about the important role ozone plays in protecting all life on Earth. Part 1 covers ozone in the atmosphere and how this molecule can be both good and bad depending on where it’s located: Near the surface, ozone in a pollutant and is harmful to breathe, but up high in the stratosphere, ozone is critical for filtering out harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun!

Video by Patrick Cullis/CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) and the NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory