NASA says Earth's ozone hole near the South Pole is the smallest since it was discovered in 1985.
The ozone hole near the South Pole this year is the smallest since it was discovered, but it is more due to freakish Antarctic weather than efforts to cut down on pollution, NASAThis fall, the average hole in Earth’s protective ozone layer is 3.6 million square miles. That’s down from a peak of 10.3 million square miles in 2006.“That’s really good news,” NASA scientist Paul Newman said Tuesday. “That means more ozone over the hemisphere, less ultraviolet radiation at the surface.
The hole reaches its peak in September and October and disappears by late December until the next spring in the Southern Hemisphere.— the only U.N. treaty ratified by every country on Earth — banned many of the chlorine compounds used in refrigerants and aerosols. The ban resulted in a slightly smaller ozone hole in recent years, but this year’s dramatic shrinking isn’t from those efforts, Newman said.
Chlorine in the air needs cold temperatures in the stratosphere and clouds to convert into a form of the chemical that eats ozone, Newman said. The clouds go away when it warms up. But this September and October, the southern polar vortex — which, just like the northern one, is a swirl of cold high-speed winds around the pole — started to break down. At 12 miles high in the atmosphere, temperatures were 29 degrees warmer than average. Winds dropped from a normal 161 mph to about 67 mph, NASA reported.
This is something that happens on occasion, occurring in 1988 and 2002, but not this extreme, Newman said.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ozone hole near South Pole shrinks to smallest size ever seenThe ozone hole near the south pole this year is the smallest since it was discovered, but it is more due to freakish Antarctic weather than efforts to cut down on pollution, NASA reports. - NBCNewsMACH
Read more »
The 'Hustlers' Choreographer Tried to Teach Me How to Pole DanceOne editor took a pole dancing class with Jennifer Lopez's 'Hustlers' pole dancing trainer Johanna Sapakie.
Read more »
'DWTS': Hannah Brown Pays Tribute to the South With Sexy SambaThe former 'Bachelorette' and her pro partner, Alan Bersten, absolutely slayed another week of the dance competition!
Read more »
South Africa's Eskom takes Deloitte to court alleging improper contractsSouth Africa's cash-strapped state power firm Eskom said on Monday it had f...
Read more »
North Korea says U.S., South Korea must present new solutions for conflictThe United States and South Korea must produce new solutions for the current sta...
Read more »