The ozone hole is growing again: this is one of the largest records so far

This year’s ozone hole over Antarctica is one of the largest ever recorded. The European Space Agency (ESA) reported that it has reached the size 26 million square kilometers September 16, 2023. This is almost three times the territory of Brazil.

The hole is caused by the presence of substances that destroy the ozone layer in the stratosphere, as well as by the specific conditions of the region. Its size increases between August and October. It usually peaks between mid-September and mid-October, ESA explains.

Antje Inness, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service, said in a statement that the hole in the ozone layer started growing early this year and has been growing rapidly since August. This “makes it one of the largest ozone holes ever recorded,” he said.

ESA monitors the hole in the ozone layer thanks to Copernicus Sentinel-5P. Launched in 2017, it is the first Copernicus satellite designed to monitor our atmosphere. It is equipped with a state-of-the-art instrument called Tropomi, which is capable of detecting atmospheric gases and obtaining images of air pollutants with greater accuracy and very high resolution.

Why is the ozone hole growing so much?

Widespread use of harmful CFCs in products such as refrigerators and aerosol cans, damaged by high levels of ozone in our atmosphere in the 1970s and 1980s. This created a hole right in the area above Antarctica.

The size of the hole usually varies greatly due to the strength of the wind band flowing around the Antarctic zone. The band of strong winds is a direct result of the Earth’s rotation and the strong temperature difference between the polar and temperate latitudes.

In a statement, ESA explained that it may be too early to tell the reasons for this year’s unusual increase. However, he noted that some researchers believe that may be associated with the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano. occurred between December 2021 and January 2022.

Hunga Tonga is an underwater volcano. It is located about 30 km southeast of Fonuafu, an island that belongs to Tonga, a Polynesian archipelago in Oceania. On January 15, 2022, a major explosive event occurred, causing tsunami warnings in several parts of the world. The eruption released large amounts of water vapor into the stratosphere, which only reached the south polar regions after the ozone hole closed in 2022, Innes said.

“Water vapor could have caused more polar stratospheric cloud formation,” the scientist said. “Chlorofluorocarbons can react and accelerate the depletion of the ozone layer.”

Goal: close it.

A report released by the UN Environment Program in January said the ozone layer was on track to recover. Emissions of anthropogenic substances that destroy the ozone layer have decreased significantly. UN report confirms gradual elimination of 99% of these products.

This is the result of the Montreal Protocol, agreed upon by UN member states in 1987. Because of this, scientists now predict that the global ozone layer will return to its normal state around 2050.

According to the Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol, this will be a key milestone in the fight against climate change. These repairs should help avoid global warming of 0.3–0.5°C by 2100.