Despite public perception, the Antarctic ozone hole has been remarkably massive and long-lived over the past four years, University of Otago researchers believe chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) aren’t the only things to blame.
In a study, published in Nature Communications, the group analyzed the monthly and daily ozone changes, at different altitudes and latitudes within the Antarctic ozone hole, from 2004 to 2022.
Lead author Hannah Kessenich, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Physics, says they found there is much less ozone in the center of the ozone hole compared to 19 years ago.
“This means that the hole is not only larger in area, but also deeper throughout most of spring.
“We made connections between this drop in ozone and changes in the air that is arriving into the polar vortex above Antarctica. This reveals the recent, large ozone holes may not be caused just by CFCs,” she says.
2023-11-21 11:41:03
Source from phys.org