Scientists say the hole in Earth’s protective ozone layer, across the Southern Hemisphere tonight, is bigger than usual and exceeded that of Antarctica already.
The hole which arises each year in the Earth’s ozone layer is of an abnormally large size this year and covers an area larger than Antarctica, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).
The European Union’s Atmosphere Monitoring Service report on Thursday that the ozone hole that appears every year in the southern hemisphere’s spring had grown substantially last week after an average start.
“Forecasts show that this year´s hole has evolved into a rather larger than usual one,”Vincent-Henri Peuch
“Forecasts show that this year´s hole has evolved into a rather larger than usual one,” said Mr. Vincent-Henri Pdir, the head of the EU’s satellite surveillance service.
Atmospheric ozone absorbs ultraviolet light generated by the Sun.
His absence means that more of this high-energy radiation will arrive at earth where it can harm living cells.
Pedir pointed out that the ozone hole also began last year unobtrusively, but became what became the longest lasting on record.
The Montreal Protocol, which was signed in 1987, has banned a group of chemicals known as halogenation hydrocarbons, which are blamed for worsening the yearly ozone hole.
🌐What's going on with the Antarctic #OzoneHole? It has considerably grown in the last weeks & at present it is in the 25% largest in our data record since 1979. Can you see it form & grow over the last few months in this animation?
CAMS ozone monitoring➡️https://t.co/c2tPB8OBuQ pic.twitter.com/jaRDzYctzw
— Copernicus ECMWF (@CopernicusECMWF) September 16, 2021
