Photo: NASA Ozone Watch / Courtesy
Scientists say the hole in Earth’s protective ozone layer over the southern hemisphere is larger than usual this year and already exceeds the size of Antarctica.
The Monitoring Service of the Atmosphere Copernicus of the European Union said Thursday that the so-called ozone hole , which appears every year during the southern hemisphere spring, has grown considerably in the last week after an average start, according to CBS News.
“Forecasts show that this year’s hole has become a bigger one than usual,” said Vincent-Henri Peuch , Director of the EU Satellite Tracking Service.
What is the ozone layer for
Atmospheric ozone absor be the ultraviolet light coming from the sun . Its absence means that more of this high-energy radiation reaches Earth, where it can damage living cells.
The ozone layer in the stratosphere, approximately 7 to 25 miles on the surface of the Earth, acts as a sunscreen, protecting the planet from ultraviolet radiation which can cause skin cancer and cataracts, suppress the immune system and damage sensitive plants and plankton in the global food base.
Peuch noted that last year’s ozone hole also started irrelevant, but later became one of the longest-running on record.