NOAA: Antarctic ozone hole has shrunk, full recovery predicted

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-11-01 18:31:58 | Updated at 2024-11-05 23:16:58 4 days ago

NOAA: Antarctic ozone hole has shrunk, full recovery predicted
UPI ^ | October 31, 2024 | Mike Heuer

Posted on 11/01/2024 11:15:42 AM PDT by Red Badger

This year's ozone hole over the Antarctic is one of the smallest ever recorded and scientists say the ozone layer should fully recover by 2066. Image courtesy of NOAA Climate.gov

Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A hole in the atmosphere's ozone layer is the seventh-smallest since recovery began in 1992, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday.

The hole annually opens over the Antarctic at the southern pole and is much smaller than in most prior years, the NOAA announced.

NOAA and NASA scientists estimate the ozone layer could fully recover by 2066 and no longer have a hole opening each year.

"The 2024 Antarctic hole is smaller than ozone holes seen in the early 2000s," NASA ozone research team leader Paul Newman said. "The gradual improvement we've seen in the past two decades shows that international efforts that curbed ozone-destroying chemicals are working."

The peak time for ozone depletion is from Sept. 7 through Oct. 13, but this year's hole ranked as the seventh-smallest since efforts began tin 1992 to counteract the hole caused by ozone-depleting chemicals.

The ozone hole this year averaged 8 million square miles with a peak size of 8.5 million square miles on Sept. 28, according to the NOAA.

The ozone hole's average size this year was about three times larger than the combined landmass of the United States.

The NOAA and NASA have reported the ozone hole's size every year since 1979, when satellites made it possible to track it.

Areas subject to ozone depletion are subjected to more UV radiation from the sun, which raises the potential for skin cancer, cataracts and reduced agricultural yields.

Ozone depletion also harms animals in important ecosystems and damages aquatic plants.

The Montreal Protocol established international agreement on ceasing the use of chemicals that depleted the ozone layer, which provides the Earth with a natural sunscreen, according to the NOAA.

A decline in the international use of chlorofluorocarbons -- combined with a natural infusion of ozone due to air currents from north of the Antarctic -- helped the ozone hole stay relatively small this year, NOAA scientists said.

While the ozone hole generally is shrinking, relatively large holes have been recorded as recently as last year.

TOPICS: History; Outdoors; Society; Weather
KEYWORDS: acidityhoax; aquanet; chlorofluorocarbons; cop26; didntmatteranyway; gaslighting; globalwarminghoax; greennewdeal; ozonehole; panicporn

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1 posted on 11/01/2024 11:15:42 AM PDT by Red Badger

To: Red Badger

Does this mean I can go back to using Final Net?

2 posted on 11/01/2024 11:18:13 AM PDT by JZelle

To: Red Badger

Looking forward to it closing up.

3 posted on 11/01/2024 11:18:19 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within ? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉! 🇮🇱👍!)

To: JZelle

This is great, I won’t have to wear sunscreen next time I go to Antarctica and walk around in a swimsuit. I had to spend $4,000 to replace my car’s air conditioner because they banned Freon, but it was definitely worth it.

4 posted on 11/01/2024 11:21:00 AM PDT by brookwood (51 Intelligence Agents say Russia Is Trying To Influence The 2024 Election)

To: Red Badger

5 posted on 11/01/2024 11:22:19 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)

To: Red Badger

It has been open more. And, then closes again, sort of. It just maybe that it is normal to have an ozone hole where it is.

It's kind of like claiming CO2 a "green house gas. If it so bad, why do some greenhouse operators put CO2 generators in their facilities? Is it because the plants thrive with more CO2?

6 posted on 11/01/2024 11:23:35 AM PDT by Parmy

To: Red Badger

7 posted on 11/01/2024 11:23:46 AM PDT by larrytown (A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. Then they graduate...)

To: Red Badger

Probably the result of all the EVs in use. /s

8 posted on 11/01/2024 11:25:54 AM PDT by CatOwner (Don't expect anyone, even conservatives, to have your back when the SHTF in 2021 and beyond.)

To: Red Badger

Gaslighting about the environment by the environazis began with CFCs and Antarctica.What happened is, no one knew it was there, and CFCs were long out of patent.When space tech made it possible to study the atmosphere and the ozone hole -- a completely natural phenomenon -- was discovered, some hired gun hack made entirely unsubstantiated claims, zeroing in on a chemical for which a new product -- and a brand new patent -- could be sold to replace it.Period.

9 posted on 11/01/2024 11:26:07 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)

To: Red Badger

Thank goodness freon doesn’t affect the ozone layer when it comes from China.

To: Red Badger

Areas subject to ozone depletion are subjected to more UV radiation from the sun, which raises the potential for skin cancer, cataracts and reduced agricultural yields.

Judging from the map of the hole's location, I don't think we'll have to worry about significant crop losses or world hunger.

11 posted on 11/01/2024 11:28:25 AM PDT by AF_Blue (My decision-making skills closely resemble those of a squirrel when crossing a road)

To: SunkenCiv

Kind of like developing a vaccine for a virus/disease that doesn’t exit YET.

To: SunkenCiv

John Wesley Powell, an American geologist and explorer, is credited with being the first European American to explore and document the Grand Canyon, in 1869, essentially a huge hole in the ground.....

He then notified the Federal Government in Washington D.C. that unless they took drastic measures immediately, the entire North American Continent could be destroyed in just a few decades........................Not.............

13 posted on 11/01/2024 11:31:16 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)

To: Red Badger

14 posted on 11/01/2024 11:31:35 AM PDT by C210N (Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.)

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