The ozone hole above Antarctica has closed
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
The ozone hole that developed above Antarctica from August onwards was one of the largest and most persistent on record.
The ozone hole above Antarctica has closed
The ozone hole that developed above Antarctica from August onwards was one of the largest and most persistent on record.
The ozone hole above Antarctica closed at the end of December. The announcement was made by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which noted that the positive development was made possible by a series of favourable meteorological circumstances — despite ozone-depleting substances still being present in the atmosphere.
#ICYMI:
Large, deep and long-lived 2020 #Antarctic #ozone finally closed in late Dec.
Record-breaking season (also in the Arctic) due to meteorological conditions and continued ozone eating chemicals in the atmosphere.
Contrast to small 2019 ozone hole
bit.ly/35wXM3Z
Large, deep and long-lived 2020 #Antarctic #ozone finally closed in late Dec.
Record-breaking season (also in the Arctic) due to meteorological conditions and continued ozone eating chemicals in the atmosphere.
Contrast to small 2019 ozone hole
bit.ly/35wXM3Z
In September 2020 the ozone hole measured 24.8 million square kilometres
The same United Nations body recalled that the hole above Antarctica had begun to expand rapidly from mid-August of last year. It reached an extent of 24.8 million square kilometres at its peak, on 20 September.
It was one of the largest holes ever recorded in the past 40 years — that is, since the ozone layer began to be monitored on a regular basis. At the same time, it was also one of the most persistent, owing to a stable polar vortex and very low temperatures in the stratosphere. Exactly as had happened in 2020 with the record-breaking ozone hole recorded above the North Pole.
"Continued international action is needed"
The closure is excellent news for the Planet, given that the ozone layer, situated at an altitude of between 10 and 40 kilometres, protects us from the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays from the sun. In 2019, the phenomenon had been considerably less extensive: "The last two ozone hole seasons demonstrate its year-to-year variability and improve our understanding of the factors responsible for its formation, extent and severity," said Oksana Tarasova, head of the WMO's atmospheric environment research division.
"We need continued international action," she added, "to keep implementing the Montreal Protocol." The latter was signed in 1987 and represented one of the first joint successes by governments on the subject of environmental protection.