Source: Emirates 24/7
The Antarctic ozone hole has swelled this month to one of its biggest sizes on record, UN and US scientists say, insisting that the Earth-shielding ozone layer remains on track to long-term recovery but residents of the southern hemisphere should be on watch for high UV levels in the weeks ahead.
The World Meteorological Organization, in a regular bulletin released Thursday, said the Antarctic ozone hole often faces seasonal and year-to-year variations, but says the expansion this year shows “we need to remain vigilant.”
The Geneva-based UN agency pointed to Nasa data on Oct. 2 showing the hole had reached 28.2 million square kilometers (10.9 million square miles) — larger than the size of Russia and Canada put together. It was the largest recorded on that date, and the hole has remained at a record size on the dates since, WMO said.
According to Nasa, the record largest ozone hole dates to Sept. 9, 2000, when it was 29.9 million square kilometers.
Paul Newman, chief scientist for earth sciences at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said prolonged wintertime conditions in the Antarctic region were persisting longer than usual, and that unusually weak vertical energy flows were among major contributors to the exceptionally large hole.
Categories: Research, Science and Technology