The Ozone Layer Hole Has Never Been Smaller In 30 Years & We All Need To Keep Up The Good Work
Unfortunately, the change isn't because the hole is healing at all, but just because air currents changed.
Satellite measurements from this year show that the hole in the Earth¡¯s Ozone layer that forms over the Arctic each September is the smallest it¡¯s ever been this time around.
According to scientists from NASA and the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) the ozone hole this year is the smaller than every other observation since 1988.
NASA says the hole this year reached its largest width on September 11, stretching over an area two and a half times the size of the US, and then shrank through the rest of that month and the next. We¡¯ve also had the least amount of ozone deplete this year in the last 30 years.
¡°The Antarctic ozone hole was exceptionally weak this year,¡± chief scientist for Earth Sciences at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre, Paul Newman said. ¡°This is what we would expect to see given the weather conditions in the Antarctic stratosphere.¡±
Scientists say the ozone hole was smaller this year because of the unstable warm Antarctic vortex. This low pressure system prevented, to some extent, the formation of chlorine and bromine pollutant clouds above the Antarctic, which react with and deplete the ozone layer.
REUTERS
Unfortunately, scientists say this reduction of the ozone hole¡¯s size in the last two years isn¡¯t actually a sign it¡¯s healing, but is instead thanks to natural variability. Unfortunately, chlorine and bromine remain in high enough concentrations in our upper atmosphere to cause harm to the ozone layer, and it¡¯s a problem we need to deal with immediately.
Though countries across the world are already regulating the main culprit, the use of chlorofluorocarbons, it¡¯ll take until around 2070 for the ozone layer to recover to its level in 1980.
