NASA has released a new video that highlights the massive ozone hole which opened this year over Antarctica.
The hole has grown to its 13th largest extent since 1979, possibly due to global warming and a cold Southern Hemisphere winter. Three satellites, operated by NASA and NOAA (20), monitor the ozone depletion as shown in the NASA video: SuomiNPP, Aura and NOAA-20.
NASA released the latest video showing the growth of the Antarctic Ozone Hole on Oct. 29. This year's hole is expected to close in late November.
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The maximum Antarctic ozone hole area of 2021 was reached on Oct. 7, and is the 13th largest since 1979. This NASA video shows the current extent of the hole based on satellite data. (Image credit to Joshua Stevens. Data courtesy of Eric Nash/NASA/Ozone Watch.
Ozone, a naturally occurring oxygen compound that humans can also make, forms high in the upper Earth's atmosphere. When ultraviolet radiation from the sun reacts with molecular oxygen present in our atmosphere, a natural form of stratospheric Ozone is formed. Ozone that forms from the sun's ultraviolet radiation reacts with molecular oxygen in our atmosphere to create a protective layer on the Earth's surface. It acts somewhat like sunscreen.
The ozone is being eroded by chlorine and bromine from human activities as the sun rises over Antarctica after the polar winter. This happens because the sun's radiation causes erosion in the region. Although the 1987 Montreal Protocol limits ozone-depleting chemicals among nearly 50 countries, a majority are not signatories. At least some of those nations do not adhere to the protocols.
NASA still believes the protocol was helpful. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center chief scientist for Earth sciences, Paul Newman, stated in a statement that "this is a large Ozone hole due to the colder than average 2021 tropospheric conditions"
The ozone hole over Antarctica, 1979-2021 Copernicus, ECMWF image credit
The ozone hole in this year reached a peak of 9.6 million square miles (or 24.8 million square kilometers). NASA reported that the annual reduction of the ozonehole began in October. NASA noted that if the Montreal Protocol hadn't been in force and assumed the atmospheric substance levels of the early 2000s, then the hole would have grown by approximately 1.5 million square miles (about 4 million square kilometers).
Scientists had predicted that the ozone layer would be able to recover by 2060 when the protocol was signed. However, the recovery has been slower than expected and consensus is now for 2070, Vincent-Henri Peuch (director of the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) told Space.com in an interview.
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