Ozone hole has been a growing menace for earth’s atmosphere. The ozone layer not only created an imbalance in the atmospheric composition but also gave rise to several issues like skin cancer, eye damage and overall damage to flora and fauna. The destruction in ozone layer has been caused by the excess injection of CFC into the earth’s atmosphere by human interference. The ozone hole over Antarctica was making icebergs melt and endangering lives of several species. However, a new research result published by University of Leeds has given some unexpectedly amazing results. The ozone hole over Antarctica has been found to be shrinking and healing.
Due to the burgeoning pollution, excess unwanted chemicals started damaging the ozone layer which became thinner day by day. In 1986, US researcher Susan Solomon showed that the main culprit behind ozone layer destruction was molecules containing chlorine and bromine that came from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These gases were found in everything from hairsprays to refrigerators to air conditioning units. With time, the number of refrigerators. Extreme cold weather conditions and light jeopardized the ozone layer and gave rise to Polar Stratospheric Clouds.
The great news is that the ozone holes are shrinking and mending, all credit goes to the Montreal Protocol. The scientists said that in September 2015 the hole was around 4 million sq km smaller than the 2000 – an area roughly the size of India.
Professor Solomon of University of Leeds along with his colleagues and researchers from the University of Leeds in the UK, calculated amount of ozone in the stratosphere between 2000 and 2015 with the aid of weather balloons, satellites and model simulations. The area of the ozone hole has been reduced by 4 million sq km. It has been found that a major shrinkage was due solely to the reduction in atmospheric chlorine.
