In backdrop of reports that sound alarm for the climate crisis, chief scientist for Earth Sciences at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Paul Newman said that "steady progress is being made" and the hole in the ozone layer is getting smaller.
The hole in the ozone - which is the portion of the stratosphere that protects our planet from the sun’s ultraviolet rays - is situated over Antarctica and peaked in 2006.
The hole over Antarctica had an average area of 23.2 million square kilometers between September and October 2022
That measurement is slightly smaller than the extent of 3.3 million square kilometers reached last year
"We see some wavering as weather changes and other factors make the numbers wiggle slightly from day to day and week to week. But overall, we see it decreasing through the last two decades. Eliminating ozone-depleting substances through the Montreal Protocol is shrinking the hole," Newman added.
The hole over Antarctica had an average area of 8.91 million square miles (23.2 million square kilometers) between September and October. That measurement is slightly smaller than the extent of 8.99 million square miles (23.3 million square kilometers) reached last year.
The hole, which begins thinning every September, is affected by the chlorine and bromine derived from human-produced compounds are released from reactions on high-altitude polar clouds. These reactions deplete the layer.
According to measurements by the atellite and ozonesondes, Antarctic ozone hole has been smaller in recent years than it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Montreal Protocol, which is a treaty adopted 35 years ago, sought to ban the release of harmful ozone-depleting chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs.
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