Hole in the ozone layer leaves polar regions exposed

Holes in the ozone layer are not unusual in Antarctica but scientists were surprised to find a huge one over the Arctic last winter. It covered 2 million square kilometres.

Holes in the ozone layer let harmful UV rays reach people and ecosystems. This hole drifted over Canada’s north, parts of Europe and Russia, exposing people to greater risk of skin cancer, glaucoma and other medical problems.

Banned but not vanished

The holes are caused by chemicals like Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which have been banned since 1989 but they will persist high up in the atmosphere for about 70 more years. Scientists believe a change in temperature patterns in the stratosphere triggered their destruction of the ozone.

Markus Rex of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany said this change could be linked to climate change. While the holes in the ozone layer come and go, we could see more of them in future, Wegener said.

Monitoring cuts feared

Scientists in nine countries, including Canada, gathered the measurements of the ozone layer. They say this year’s Arctic results show they need to closely monitor the situation.

Wegener expressed concern that the Canadian government plans to “streamline” its ozone monitoring. He says that means cutbacks in a network that is the backbone of the world’s ozone monitoring network.  Such a move, he says, would hamper scientists’ ability to precisely estimate how much ozone depletion we get in a particular winter.

Link:

- www.theozonehole.com/arctic2001loss.htm