2023-10-08 19:47:24
ESA The ozone hole, measured on September 16, 2023 by the ESA satellite, is one of the largest ever recorded.
ESA
The ozone hole, measured on September 16, 2023 by the ESA satellite, is one of the largest ever recorded.
ENVIRONMENT – “One of the most important ever recorded.” The ozone hole above Antarctica, measured on September 16, 2023 by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel 5P satellite (ESA), reaches 26 million km2. Which represents an area three times the size of Brazil.
The ozone layer is a kind of invisible shield that is found around our planet. It is this which absorbs the UV rays of the sun which are dangerous for living beings. Without it, life on Earth would not be possible.
In 1985, researchers discovered that a hole in this protective layer was growing year following year above Antarctica. Since then, substances present in everyday products such as refrigerators, air conditioners and even aerosols have been banned. This has allowed the ozone to recover in recent years, as we explain to you in this article.
Tonga volcano eruption blamed
However, holes in the ozone layer form over the polar regions every year during the winter months. Indeed, during this period, polar stratospheric clouds form, they are composed of tiny ice crystals and deplete the already limited amount of ozone above the poles, explains the online media Live Science.
But this year, the formation of the hole “started particularly early and has developed rapidly since mid-August” reports, in a press release cited by Science and FutureAntje Inness of the ESA Copernicus Program Atmospheric Monitoring Service.
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How can we explain the gigantic size of the hole in the ozone layer this year? This might be due to the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, which exploded with the force of more than 100 Hiroshima bombs and created the highest eruption plume on record when it erupted awakened in January 2022, ESA researchers said.
“Water vapor might have led to increased formation of polar stratospheric clouds, where chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can react and accelerate ozone depletion,” gave as part of the answer Antje Inness.
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Scientists stress, however, that there is no reason to worry, because the area under this breach is almost uninhabited, and it should close in a few months. If levels of chlorofluorocarbons (one of the most ozone-depleting gases) remain stable, our ozone layer should be completely healed in 40 years.
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