New Ozone Layer hole has been Spotted above the Arctic

We all are familiar with the issue of ozone layer depletion. It is considered as a sensitive environmental matter. Recently, the biggest hole in the ozone layer has been spotted by scientists for 25 years. This is right above the Arctic ocean.

Usually, the ultraviolet radiation which comes from the Sun is prevented by the Ozone layer. In the Antarctica region, an Ozone hole was found over Antarctica. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) is a major component that creates this problem. CFC is generated from aerosols and refrigerators. As per the Montreal protocol, it is essential to withdraw CFC to solve the Ozone hole issue gradually.  Though it seems difficult, to protect the Earth from the harmful radiations this should be done.

The size of the Ozone hole can fluctuate during the changes of the season. During October, the changes of the temperature begin to warm up the surroundings. This extra light results in greater UV radiation. This when combines with cold temperature and CFC’s increases the process of depletion quite a few numbers of times. 

Arctic circle goes through the same problem with ozone levels fluctuating all over the year. But, as the temperature is not so cold compared to Antarctica there was never a hole in the ozone layer.

However, some scientists from the German Aerospace Center have found that there is a sharp drop in ozone levels over the Arctic region. Since this 14th of March, it has been found that the levels have dropped sharply to around 220 Dobson Units that constitute an ozone hole.

Scientists could discover this using an instrument known as Tropomi which is onboard ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel – 5P satellite.

The Arctic ozone hole covers around one million square kilometers. This is the biggest one since the year 1995. But, anyway it is still smaller compared to the antarctic ozone hole.

Scientists believe that the huge arctic ozone loss is because of strong winds that trap cold air inside the poles. The good thing is that scientists believe this hole will repair itself by the month of April.

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