One of the consequences of human activity causing climate change is changes in the atmosphere. The European Union had recently announced that the ozone hole over Antarctica is at its largest recorded size.
As fossil fuels burn from industries and emissions from vehicles are released, excess carbon dioxide causes the greenhouse effect or trapping heat in the atmosphere. The stratospheric ozone layer protects the surface layer from harmful solar energy in the form of ultraviolet radiation. However, increased anthropogenic activities have caused the ozone layer to grow thinner since it was first detected in the 1980s.
Ozone (O3) depletes when halons and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), found in refrigerators and aerosol sprays, are released in the atmosphere. Ultraviolet light breaks CFC apart, releasing chlorine, which destroys ozone. Without the ozone layer, humans would suffer from health problems such as skin cancer and eye damage.
Ozone Hole Over the Antarctic
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), the EU's Earth observation program, said the ozone hole over Antarctica expands every August when Antarctic spring begins and peaks in October. During the winter, stratospheric ice clouds trigger the production of chlorine and bromine. By springtime, the two chemicals lead to rapid ozone loss, expanding the ozone hole.
Clare Nullis of the World Meteorological Organization presented at a United Nations briefing that stratospheric clouds form when the Antarctic air is below 172 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the growing ozone hole, experts believe that the ozone layer has been recovering due to the Montreal Protocol in 1987, a global agreement to phase out ozone-depleting substances' production and consumption.
Companies continue to develop coolants that don't cause damage to the ozone layer. The Montreal Protocol's Kigali Amendment shared Antonio Guterres of the U.N. said that fully implementing the Kigali Amendment may prevent 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0.4 degrees Celsius) of global warming.
Vincent-Henri Peuch from CAMS said that there are many variables involved in "how far ozone events develop each year." Some experts predict that the ozone layer will recover to its pre-1980 state by 2050 or 2060.
Mini Ozone Hole Over the Arctic
The European Space Agency had also recently detected a small ozone hole in the Arctic in early April, which was detected by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite. Mini holes have been detected over the North Pole once in a while, but the recent ozone depletion was stronger than previous records.
Diego Loyola of the German Aerospace Center said that the ozone hole over the Arctic extended to about 368,000 square miles (one million square kilometers). In comparison, the ozone hole over the Antarctic expands up to 7,700,000 to 9,600,000 square miles during its peak.
The ozone hole over the Arctic was anticipated to close up by the end of April. According to the 2018 Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion, the ozone layer has recovered up to 3% every ten years since 2000. At current rates, the ozone layer in the Northern Hemisphere may fully recover by 2030.
Read Also: LARGEST! 1 Million Square Kilometer Hole Opens in Ozone Layer Above the Arctic
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