Suara.com – The latest report from the European Space Agency (ESA), ozone hole 2021 over the South Pole is already larger than Antarctica.
Ozone layer in the Earth’s atmosphere serves to protect the planet from ultraviolet radiation emitted by the Sun.
Decades ago, scientists warned of a disturbing hole in the ozone layer.
Despite progress in closing the ozone depletion, the hole continues to reappear at the South Pole every year, reaching its maximum size around September or October.
The ESA said that this year’s ozone hole is similar to 2020, which is one of the largest ozone holes in recent years.
Data collected by the ESA Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite shows, the hole has widened in the last two weeks.
It is now larger than 75 percent of the ozone hole in the same season since 1979. Its size makes it larger than Antarctica.
Earlier in the 1980s, governments around the world agreed to phase out man-made chemicals, including some aerosols, that damage the ozone layer.
“Some ozone-depleting substances produced by human activities remain in the stratosphere for decades. In other words, the restoration of the ozone layer is a very slow and lengthy process,” the ESA wrote in a statement. CNET, Monday (20/9/2021).
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The ozone hole is still on a long-term recovery path. In 2018, NASA provided the first direct evidence that bans on chemical use lead to less ozone depletion.
Scientists predict the ozone hole in the South Pole could close around 2050.
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