The ozone layer is being eaten away because Auroras set off spectacular light shows in the night sky.
Although humans are to blame for much of the ozone layer's depletion, observations of a type of Aurora known as an isolated Proton Aurora have revealed a cause of ozone depletion that comes from space. The influence of these particles was unknown before now.
A research team has found that the effects of isolated protons on the ozone layer caused a 250 mile wide hole in the ozone layer. About an hour and a half later, most of the ozone disappeared. The researchers didn't expect so much ozone to degrade after this phenomenon.
They are still visible to the human eye even though they are not as bright as the northern lights. Highly energetic ion and electron are brought to the surface by the sun. Earth's inner and outer Van Allen radiation belts keep the particles from bombarding the planet and turning it into a sun-blasted wasteland.
Particles that get to the inner radiation belt can mess with the atmosphere. Ozone is degraded by the release of nitrogen and hydrogen oxides. The ozone layer in the mesosphere is the only one affected by this. There are other ways in which the Earth is affected by isolated protons.
The researchers said that the Earth's radiation belt plays an important role in the loss of ozone.
The damage done to the ozone is more quickly repaired than the damage done to the ozone in the stratospheric ozone. There are dangers to astronauts from charged particles in space.
Scientists will be able to predict fluctuations in space weather that could affect the atmosphere.
The research was published in a journal.
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