Ozone hole goes large again
Ozone hole goes large again
Measurements from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite show that this year’s ozone hole over Antarctica is one of the biggest on record. The hole, which is what scientists call an ‘ozone depleting area,’ reached a size of 26 million sq km on 16 September 2023. This is roughly three times the size of...
Just end me already, no more edging
They don't know why the ozone hole is big this year but they suspect it may be related to a volcanic eruption. Article concludes that scientists expect the ozone layer to be back to normal by 2050.
The suggestion is that this is an unusual year for the ozone layer which sees the hole expand this time every year before retracting again by December. They never suggest human behavior is damaging it again.
Where
Lots of doom and gloom in the comments here. As the article describes, the hole in the ozone layer varies in size over time. It is slowly recovering, but the annual variability means it sometimes is larger than before.
The variability of the size of the ozone hole is largely determined by the strength of a strong wind band that flows around the Antarctic area. This strong wind band is a direct consequence of Earth's rotation and the strong temperature differences between polar and moderate latitudes.
If the band of wind is strong, it acts like a barrier: air masses between polar and temperate latitudes can no longer be exchanged. The air masses then remain isolated over the polar latitudes and cool down during the winter.
Although it may be too early to discuss the reasons behind the current ozone concentrations, some researchers speculate that this year’s unusual ozone patterns could be associated with the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai in January 2022.
And
Claus concludes, “Based on the Montreal Protocol and the decrease of anthropogenic ozone-depleting substances, scientists currently predict that the global ozone layer will reach its normal state again by around 2050.”
This strong wind band is a direct consequence of Earth's rotation and the strong temperature differences between polar and moderate latitudes.
Sounds like something global warming can make worse.
Isn't the northern hemisphere jet stream struggling due to decreasing temperature differences, since the poles are warming faster? Which then causes weather to change less, making things more extreme?
Gulf Stream, not jet stream. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66289494
so you don't think the increase in methane is gonna effect this?
I dunno about you, but 'lots of doom and gloom' sells short of utterly fucking shocking temp rises in the ocean, the slowing of the gulf stream and the heat-stroke of a winter the southern hemisphere just endured.
meteorologist Brian McNoldy of the University of Miami called global air and ocean temperature trends "bonkers," stating: "People who look at this stuff routinely can't believe their eyes. Something very weird is happening." https://www.axios.com/2023/06/13/climate-extremes-warming-charts-concerns
I'm not trying to fear-monger but I think we'd all be better off frankly recognizing the shit isn't going to hit the fan, it's hitting it rapidly and the backblast is beginning to impact. It's not doom-and-gloom if it's actual reality people are trying to live through.
The hole was set to be normal by now.
Where did you hear that? CFCs can linger in the atmosphere for 50-100 years, so recovery is a slow process. It took more than a decade after the Montreal Protocol went into effect before the hole in the ozone layer stopped growing. Additionally, different parts of the ozone layer will recover at different rates:
I haven't checked the article linked. I could swear about a month ago I saw a headline saying the ozone hole was slowly recovering?? No?? NASA backed research or something? Did I imagine it all?
Yeah you aren’t imagining it. I recall reading one a while back saying the hole in the ozone layer over Antartica was healed. I cannot find the article in particle but a quick google search turned up this one that said it closed in 2021
Edit: Antartica
Yeah I thought I saw one around here recently that said it had recovered since the 80s or 90s since we stopped using certain aerosols and refrigerants.
Best guess is the ozone is super sensitive to pollution and covid restrictions stopped.
So we’re back to the 70s?
Do not get me wrong. I am in favor of going green but all I see is small car engines that designed to fail and less effective cooling.
almost all modern cars cannot provide cooling while idling at 50c. It got so bad to the point where we have businesses that solely exist to modify brand new cars to fit pre 2017 air compressors.
Home ACs are victims too.
On the other hand, airplanes kept flying empty for 3 months during COVID 19 to keep their slots reserved.
What is your point?
That we should go back to knowingly destroying the ozone layer because the lingering effects of our previous attempts at destroying it haven’t gotten completely better yet and that has had bad effects on air conditioning. Won’t anyone think of the poor deprived people forced to sit in their cars that are a sweltering 70 degrees Fahrenheit?
My point is consumers are squeezed to hell while the industrial sector is happily polluting the planet.
My car headlights are no less than $1k and not serviceable. Meaning if a bulb is out then I need to pay $1k and throw away a perfectly functioning plastic.
I did my homework before buying a car and almost all reliable manufacturers, including Toyota, is doing the same thing.
Climate activists should focus on these corps first.
Clickbait title aside, the article is about normal variations of the ozone layer caused by nature. There’s nothing that suggests humans are causing the increase, and the overall trend is still that the hole will close fully in a couple decades.