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Surf's up, mate! In December, Australia's beaches are usually crowded with sunbathers and surfers. It's a common sight to see young people grabbing surfboards and heading for the water. Today's surfers grab for something else as well: sunscreen. They know that because of a hole in Earth's atmosphere, they are at risk of getting more than sunburn at the beach.

Air Pollution Creates an Ozone Hole Scientists divide Earth's atmosphere into layers. The lowest layer contains the air we breathe. The next layer begins about six miles above Earth. It contains a gas called ozone. You cannot see ozone. But without it, there would be no life on Earth.Ozone keeps ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun from reaching Earth. UV rays are harmful to living things. In humans, they cause sunburn, eye disease, and skin cancer.

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Many unusual animals live in Australia. Miniature penguins waddle ashore each night after dark. The swans you see on lakes are black, not white. Giant crocodiles are as much at home in the ocean as in freshwater ponds. You might even see a very odd animal that looks like a cross between a duck and a beaver. The fairy penguin, black swan, saltwater crocodile, and duck-billed platypus are just a few of the country's curious creatures.

Flora and Fauna Found Only in Australia There are more than 13 million living species of plants and animals. About one million are found in Australia. Many of these are found nowhere else on Earth.

As you read, Australia was separated from the rest of the continents a very long time ago. Its plants and animals were isolated. They developed without contact with other species elsewhere.

Within Australia, however, plants and animals adapted to a wide variety of climates. The northeast is hot and humid. Here you might find the cassowary, a large bird that cannot fly. The center of the country is arid. This is a perfect place for red kangaroos. Kangaroos are marsupials. These are mammals that carry their young in pouches.

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Australians are celebrating the New Year. Bondi Beach, near Sydney, is packed with families under beach umbrellas. The sky is a clear blue. Temperatures hover at 98°F.Surfers wait for the next big wave, while children make sandcastles on the beach. In the evening, families will picnic around Sydney Harbor while waiting for one of the world's great fireworks shows.

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After independence, Australians adopted a “white Australia” immigration policy. The purpose of that policy was to keep people of color from entering the country. Any person who wanted to immigrate had to pass a “dictation test.” An official read aloud a 50-word statement in a European language. The newcomer had to write it down word for word.Those who could not were turned away. This test limited immigration mainly to white Europeans.

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Australia's first people are known as Aborigines. The Aborigines came to Australia more than 40,000 years ago. Their way of life may be the oldest culture in the world .In 1770, a British sea captain named James Cook discovered Australia while exploring the South Pacific. He claimed the land for Britain. At that time, however, Britain was having trouble with its American colonies. Nothing was done with Australia until after the Americans won their independence in 1783.

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Australia is the only country in the world that is also a continent.  Australians also call their country “Down Under” because on maps it lies “under” the equator Scientists think that Earth did not always have seven continents. About 200 million years ago, all the land was joined in one super continent. Over time, this huge landmass broke apart into a number of tectonic plates. Eventually, they formed the continents we know today. Australia reached its present location after drifting north for many millions of years..

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Its latitude tells us that Canberra is in the Southern Hemisphere. This location explains why its seasons are the opposite of those in the United States. Its longitude tells us that Canberra is in the Eastern Hemisphere. This means that it is on the opposite side of the world from the United States.

Try to picture how Australia must have looked to European explorers when they first arrived there more than 200 years ago. It probably seemed a very odd place. Winter came in July. Summer heat peaked in January. Animals hopped around, carrying their young in pouches. The land was flat and very dry. Even the patterns of stars in the night sky looked strange.