The cakehole in the ozone stratum value an norm of 23.2 million solid km ( 8.9 million straight mile ) between September 7 and October 13 , 2022 – somewhat pocket-sized than last twelvemonth , designate the pickle is continue to heal .
NASA and NOAAannounced the proficient newsafter keeping a close on the ozone hole using instrument aboard the Aura , Suomi NPP , and NOAA-20 planet .
The hole in the ozone layer refers to a patch luxuriously in the sky above Antarctica . The ozone layeris a region of the stratosphere between 15 and 30 kilometers ( 9.3 to 18.6 miles ) above the Earth ’s surface with a high immersion of the gasolene ozone compared to other constituent of theatmosphere .
Scientists launching an ozonesonde attached to balloon to assess the ozone layer above the South Pole Station. Image credit: NOAA
By occupy much ofthe Sun’sharmful UV rays , the ozone layer acts as a shield for life on our planet . However , in the latter one-half of the twentieth C , it became manifest that human activity was destroying this invaluable atmospheric shelter , cut the level and creating a fix above Antarctica .
The holenaturally fluctuatesin size with the seasons . Each yr around September , as the Southern Hemisphere slips into spring , chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs ) crack down ozone over the Antarctic , causing the ozone bed to discontinue down and flimsy .
In recent years , there ’s beensignificant progressin fixing the fix above the South Pole . In 1987 , just seven years after scientist discoveredCFCswere gnaw the ozone layer , the manufacturing of such compound began to be phase out under theMontreal Protocol . Thirty - five years on , square procession has been made , as this latest reassessment show .
“ Over time , steady progress is being made , and the hole is sustain smaller , ” Paul Newman , chief scientist for Earth sciences at NASA ’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland , said in astatement .
“ We see some hesitation as weather changes and other gene make the numbers jiggle slightly from daytime to day and week to calendar week . But overall , we see it fall through the retiring two decades . The liquidation of ozone - use up substances through the Montreal Protocol is shrinking the muddle , ” explained Newman .
