This image, provided on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021 by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows a map of the ozone hole over the South Pole on 16 September 2021. Scientists say the Southern Hemisphere ozone hole is larger than usual and already surpasses the size of Antarctica. (AP Photo/European Space Agency, ESA)
Scientists say the hole in the Earth’s protective ozone layer over the Southern Hemisphere is larger than usual this year and already surpasses the size of Antarctica.
The European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said Thursday that the so-called ozone hole, which appears every year during the Southern Hemisphere spring, has grown considerably in the past week following an average start.
“Forecasts show that this year´s hole has evolved into a rather larger than usual one,” said Vincent-Henri Peuch, who heads the EU's satellite monitoring service.
“We are looking at a quite big and potentially also deep ozone hole,” he said.
Atmospheric ozone absorbs ultraviolet light coming from the sun. Its absence means more of this high-energy radiation reaches the Earth, where it can harm living cells.
Peuch noted that last year's ozone hole also started out unremarkably but then turned into one of the longest-lasting ones on record.
The Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987, led to a ban on a group of chemicals called halocarbons that were blamed for exacerbating the annual ozone hole.
Experts say that while the ozone layer is beginning to recover, it's likely to take until the 2060s for the ozone-depleting substances used in refrigerants and spray cans to completely disappear from the atmosphere.
The capacity to burn coal for power went up in 2022 despite global promises to phase down the fuel that’s the biggest source of planet-warming gases in the atmosphere, a report Wednesday found.
Dr. Sandra Lee (aka Dr. Pimple Popper) visited Cheddar News to give viewers a sneak peak of season nine of her TV show, which features the dermatologist popping — you guessed it — pimples.
According to a Washington Post article, 82 percent of people get their weather updates on their phones, and there are more than 10,000 weather apps to choose from. The article breaks down the pros and cons of each app.
Some 9.2 million lead pipes carry water into homes across the U.S., with more in Florida than any other state, according to a new Environmental Protection Agency survey that will dictate how billions of dollars to find and replace those pipes are spent.
