Photo: Newsmakers / Getty Images
A video released by NASA in late October revealed that the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic reached 24. 8 million square kilometers in 2000 , a size similar to that of all North America. Experts estimate that the layer will fully recover in the
“This is a large ozone hole due to the stratospheric conditions colder than the average of 2021, and without a Montreal Protocol, it would have been much larger , ”said Paul Newman, chief scientist of Earth Sciences at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in an official statement .
What people commonly call a “hole in the ozone layer” it is actually a thinning of it, which is caused mostly by chlorine and bromine, both chemicals made by humans that affect the stratosphere located above Antarctica. Although the layer usually weakens in September .
Although it is true that the hole has a wide extension, it is currently much better than in the decade of 1200 and early 2000. This is largely due to the Montreal Protocol, which prohibits the release of chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons, which are the main causes of the weakening of the ozone layer .
According to Newman and several colleagues, without the Protocol of Montreal’s ozone layer would be much more depleted today and the hole would be more than 1 million square miles exceeding its current size . However, not all countries comply with the protocol, it is estimated that little more than 50 nations ban the emission of chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere.
The Live Science portal indicates that initially scientists calculated that the cape would be fully recovered by the 2060, but for the last several years it has slower and consequently updated the forecast for 2070 .
Read also : –The November lunar eclipse 2021 will be the longest of the century
– The Parker probe: the fastest spacecraft in history will approach the Sun this week
– How humanity saved the ozone layer and what lessons it leaves us for the fight against global warming