Antarctic Ozone Hole: Cold temperature, strong wind lead to formation of large & deep hole

National Persistent cold temperatures and strong circumpolar winds have led to the formation of a large and deep Antarctic ozone hole that will continue into November, as per scientists. The annual Antarctic ozone hole had reached its maximum size of almost 24.8 million square kilometres in the month of September 20, as per reports by Us National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA scientists. Read along for more details.

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Deep Antarctic Ozone Hole

As per observations, the almost full elimination of the ozone in a four-mile high column of the stratosphere over the South Pole. Scientists have said that the year 2020 has marked the 12th largest ozone hole in the area in the last 40 years of satellite records, alongside it is also the 14th lowest amount of ozone in 33 years of balloon-borne instrumental measurements. The ongoing declining in levels of ozone-depleting chemicals which is controlled by the Montreal Protocol has led to the hole not getting as large as it would have been in the same weather conditions decades ago.

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As per reports by NASA’s Earth observatory website Paul Newman, an ozone layer expert and the chief Earth scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland said in a statement, “From the year 2000 peak, Antarctic stratosphere chlorine and bromine levels have fallen about 16 per cent towards the natural level. We have a long way to go, but that improvement made a big difference this year. The hole would have been about a million square miles larger if there was still as much chlorine in the stratosphere as there was in 2000.”

While Susan Strahan, a scientist with NASA Goddard and Universities Space Research Association said in her statement, “This clear contrast between last year and this year shows how meteorology affects the size of the ozone hole. It also complicates the detection of long-term trends.”

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