Scientists recently said that a large hole that was created in the ozone layer of the atmosphere of Earth is finally set to close this week.
As specified in a Daily Express report, the said the massive hole was huger than Antarctica. It will be the third longest-lasting hole in more than 40 years.
More so, the ozone layer of the Earth lies within the stratosphere's lower level at roughly 15 to 35 kilometers on top of the planet.
This thin layer shields life on this planet by absorbing hazardous ultraviolet radiation from most of the Sun. In 1976, scientists found that this shielding layer was being impaired by chemicals emitted by industry, primarily chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs.
Atmospheric studies revealed that the reduction was much higher compared that it could be accounted for natural causes such as temperature, volcanic eruptions, and weather.
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Scientists at NASA said they have located the largest ozone hole ever recorded. In a report released October 3, 2000, the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD said satellites have observed an 11.5 million square-mile hole, a severe thinning of Earth's protective ozone layer, last month over Antarctica.
Holes Predicted to Close Permanently by 2050
As the ozone layer offered less protection, the UV radiation endangered life on this planet which includes increased rates of skin cancer and cataract in humans, as well as other environmental problems.
Every year massive hole is opening up in the ozone layer during summer in the southern hemisphere. Meanwhile, the size of the yearly hole relies on a range of weather conditions and is amplified cold.
Nevertheless, experts have predicted that such holes will close permanently by 2050, as a result of worldwide limitation on ozone-depleting chemicals launched in the latter part of the late 1980s.
In 1987, countries all over the world signed the Montreal Protocol, as described in the UN Environment Programme site that capped the CFCs' production at 1986 levels with commitments to long-term depletion.
Size of Antarctica and Europe Combined
According to Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General, probably, the single most successful global agreement until now has been the "Montreal Protocol."
The European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts or ECMWF had said the hole formed in the ozone layer in 2021 was the ninth-largest ever recorded, reaching 5.5 million square miles.
At its highest level, the hole was as large as the site of Antarctica and Europe combined. Director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service or CAMS of ECMWF Vincent-Henri Peuch sai, both last year and this year's Antarctic ozone holes have been rather massive and exceptionally long-lived.
He also said the two larger-than-usual episodes in one row are not an indication that the Montreal Protocol is not working, nonetheless, as in its absence, they would have been any huger.
Impact on the Magnitude of the Ozone Layer
He continued explaining, "it is because of inter-annual variability" because of meteorological and dynamical conditions that can have an essential effect on the magnitude of the ozone layer, which is detailed in a National Geographic report, not to mention, are superimposed on the long-term recovery.
CAMS is tracking the amount of UV radiation, as well, that's reaching the surface of Earth and recently, they have observed extremely high UV indexes, in excess of eight, over portions of Antarctica, located beneath the ozone hole.
Essentially, the UV index forecast determines how strong ultraviolet radiation is, coming from the sun at a specific point. Such an index ranges on a scale of one to 11, with eight being categorized as "very high."
Related information about the Ozone hole is shown on the Science of Infinity's YouTube video below:
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