The hole in Antarctica’s ozone layer is about to close, making history as one of the largest and longest on record, the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS, in its original acronym) said.
The 2021 hole, “significantly larger and longer,” will close just days before the 2020 hole, which was the longest since 1979, according to a statement by CAMS scientists released this Monday.
“Like last year’s season, the ozone hole in 2021 will be one of the largest and longest on record, and will close later than 95% of all ozone holes discovered since 1979,” he says. In the Copernicus communiqué: The European Union Earth Observation Program.
Vincent-Henri Poy, director of the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service, said, as quoted in the statement, that the ozone holes in Antarctica in 2020 and 2021 were quite large and exceptionally durable.
“These two longer than usual episodes are not a sign that the Montreal Protocol is not working, although they would have been even greater without it. This is due to interannual variability due to meteorological and dynamic conditions, which can have an important influence in magnitude. ozone hole and that overlap the long-term recovery, “he explained, explaining that the amount of ultraviolet radiation is also tracked and that it has been very high in recent weeks in parts of Antarctica below the ozone hole.
The Montreal Protocol was signed in 1978 and is one of the most credible climate change agreements ever made to protect the ozone layer. It bans harmful chemicals associated with ozone depletion, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are decreasing in the atmosphere, albeit slowly.
The ozone layer in the stratosphere protects the planet from potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation. CFCs and HFCs (found, for example, in refrigeration materials or simple sprays), when they reach the stratosphere, release chlorine when exposed to ultraviolet radiation, and this reaction leads to ozone destruction.
