NASA finds largest-ever ozone hole
October 4, 2000
GREENBELT, Maryland (CNN) -- Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center said they have located the largest ozone hole ever
recorded, an area approximately three times the size of the
United States.
In a report released Wednesday, NASA said satellites observed an
11.5 million square-mile hole --actually a severe thinning of
Earth's protective ozone layer-- last month over Antarctica.
Scientists blamed a combination of the usual suspects --
chloroflourocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-eating chemicals --
and an upper-level wind called the polar vortex, which swirls
around Antarctica. This year, the vortex's swirl is bigger than
usual, "and so the fact that it's a little bit bigger creates a
bigger ozone hole," said NASA's Paul Newman.
NASA said atmospheric levels of CFCs have leveled off in the wake
of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which aims to phase out production
of ozone-destroying chemicals. But the chemicals can stay in the
atmosphere for decades, so it will be a long time before a
chemical crackdown on earth will translate to changes in the
stratosphere.
The depletion of the ozone layer allows more of the sun's harmful
ultraviolet rays to reach Earth. Researchers say that leads to
higher rates of skin cancer. They are also worried about the
ocean around Antarctica because plankton, the base of the food
chain there, may be vulnerable to higher levels of ultraviolet
radiation.
Scientists also are trying to determine whether there is a
relationship between the formation of ozone holes and global
warming, the theory that certain kinds of pollution create an
atmospheric blanket that warms the Earth.
SOURCE: CNN
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