Located in the Earth’s stratosphere, the ozone absorbs most of the harmful UV rays produced by the sun. Over the last 50 years, heavy use of human made compounds (most specifically household and commercial products using CFC’s) has broken down the ozone layer. A hole was actually discovered in the mid 80’s above Antarctica, which led to it becoming illegal to produce products containing CFC’s. Scientists believe that the ban on the products has greatly reduced the size of the hole, and is actually reversing. But was it too late? It is still early to tell.
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| The ozone hole above Antarctica as of Oct. 12, 2006. The ozone hole has affected the entire circulation of the Southern Hemisphere all the way to the equator. |
What can be tracked at this point in time is that the effects of the hole can be located at far away as the equator. The article points out, “scientists used two different state-of-the-art climate models to show the ozone hole effect. They first calculated the atmospheric changes in the models produced by creating an ozone hole. They then compared these changes with the ones that have been observed in the last few decades: the close agreement between the models and the observations shows that ozone has likely been responsible for the observed changes in Southern Hemisphere.”
Scientists are crossing their fingers in anticipation that the hole closing, expected to happen by this mid century, will reverse these weather abnormalities.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110421141630.htm
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