We used to have a hole in the ozone layer, but then industrialized nations came together to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals used in refrigerators and aerosol sprays… and it worked! Over time, the hole in the ozone layer healed, and all was well. But now, according to joint reports from NASA and NOAA, we get word that the hole in the ozone layer is the largest it’s been in a decade, opening up to a massive 10.5 million square miles on September 18.
That’s weird, considering that just last year, it was the fifth smallest it had been since 1992.
NASA Says the Ozone Hole Has Reached Its Largest Size in a Decade
Did we all start suddenly start mashing down the nozzles on old cans of hairspray? No, but those nasty chemicals that are tearing the hole ever wider are still playing a role, since leftover human-made chemicals high up in the atmosphere need extreme cold to transform into ozone-destroying versions of themselves.
That’s exactly what they got this year, as the polar vortex was unusually strong and stayed freezing cold way longer than it normally does. All that extra cold air trapped inside the strong vortex created a perfect storm for leftover chemicals to eat away at the ozone layer across a wider area and for longer than usual.
Scientists overseeing the data aren’t panicking. Paul Newman, a senior scientist at the University of Maryland and leader of NASA’s ozone research team, notes that the hole (which opens to varying degrees every year) has been forming later in the season, which shows it’s healing. Case in point: had the world not banded together to adopt the Montreal Protocol to curb chlorofluorocarbons, this year’s hole would have been up to 2 million square miles larger.
Recovery isn’t a straight line ascending upward into infinity. Some years it’s two steps forward and one step back. A strong vortex temporarily tore a hole open in our planetary sunscreen, but never fear, because things are still fully on track for a full recovery later this century.
The post The Hole in the Ozone Layer Is Suddenly the Largest It’s Been in a Decade. Here’s Why. appeared first on VICE.
