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GENEVA: Arctic ozone depletion reached a “record level” in March, the highest since 2011, but the hole has now closed, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.
The spring phenomenon in the northern hemisphere was fueled by ozone-depleting substances still in the atmosphere and a very cold winter in the stratosphere, WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis said at a UN briefing. in Geneva.
“These two factors combined to give a very high level of depletion that was worse than what we saw in 2011. It has now returned to normal … the ozone hole has closed,” he said.
Nullis, when asked if he had had less contamination during the pandemic, said: “He had no relationship with Covid.”
The UN meteorological agency said the depletion of the ozone layer, which protects Earth from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation, briefly reached an unprecedented level in large swaths of the Arctic in March.
The World Meteorological Organization reported that the increase was due to the persistent presence of artificial ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere and very cold temperatures in the stratosphere that prevented ozone from reaching the northern region.
WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis said conditions returned to normal in April, describing temporary exhaustion as a cause for exceptional concern.
Nullis credited an international agreement known as the Montreal Protocol, which has dramatically reduced the production of substances such as chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs, which damage the ozone layer, for helping to limit depletion in the spring of this year.
The World Meteorological Organization said sunlight, wind fields, harmful chemicals, and temperatures below -80 degrees Celsius (-112 F) drive ozone holes to form. Most of the Arctic ozone depletion occurs in the polar vortex, a region of circular winds that blow rapidly, he said.
Ozone loss in the Arctic tends to be much less severe than in Antarctica.
Posted in Dawn, May 2, 2020
