Copernicus’ Atmospheric Monitoring Service – the European Union’s earth monitoring program – has reported that the largest hole ever observed in the ozone layer is now closed.
The unprecedented 2020 northern hemisphere #OzoneHole has come to an end. The #PolarVortex split, allowing #ozone-rich air into the Arctic, closely matching last week's forecast from the #CopernicusAtmosphere Monitoring Service.
More on the NH Ozone hole➡️https://t.co/Nf6AfjaYRi pic.twitter.com/qVPu70ycn4
— Copernicus ECMWF (@CopernicusECMWF) April 23, 2020
(LOOK: Air Pollution in Manila Has Dropped During Quarantine)
Scientists first spotted the 1 million square kilometer hole forming over the Arctic in late March and considered it to be the result of low temperatures at the north pole. The hole would have been a more direct threat to humans if it formed further south, over populated areas.
Many may assume that the closing has to do with the reduction in pollution caused by various COVID-19 lockdowns, but that isn’t the case.
As Euronews explains, “it’s down to the polar vortex, the high-altitude currents that normally bring cold air to the polar regions. This has split in two giving the Arctic region a relative heatwave, with temperatures up to 20ºC higher than is normal for this time of year.”
According to Sciencenews, the hole first started to form due to a powerful polar vortex trapping “especially frigid air in the atmosphere above the North Pole, allowing high-altitude clouds to form in the stratosphere, where the ozone layer also sits.
“Within those clouds, chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons already high in the atmosphere—gases used as refrigerants—react with ultraviolet rays from the sun to release chlorine and bromine atoms, which in turn react with and deplete the ozone.”
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