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April 29, 2020 – 12:37 PM
PanARMENIAN.Net – The largest hole ever observed in the ozone layer over the Arctic has been closed, says the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, according to euronews.
Scientists detected signs in late March of the formation of a rare hole and were thought to be the result of low temperatures at the north pole.
The ozone layer protects the Earth from most of the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation, which is a major cause of skin cancer.
The record hole would only have posed a direct threat to humans if it had moved farther south to populated areas.
But on Thursday (April 23), Copernicus, the EU’s land monitoring program, announced that the hole had already been closed.
The shutdown has nothing to do with reducing pollution caused by having much of the world in the COVID-19 blockade.
Instead, it’s 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 heat wave, with temperatures up to 20ºC higher than normal for this time of year.
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