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NASA's AURA satellite peers into Earth's ozone hole
December 07, 2005NASA researchers, using data from the agency's AURA satellite, determined the seasonal ozone hole that developed over Antarctica this year is smaller than in previous years.
NASA's 2005 assessment of the size and thickness of the ozone layer was the first based on observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on the agency's Aura spacecraft. Aura was launched in 2004.
This year's ozone hole measured 9.4 million square miles at its peak between September and mid-October, which was slightly larger than last year's peak. The size of the ozone hole in 1998, the largest ever recorded, averaged 10.1 million square miles. For 10 of the past 12 years, the Antarctic ozone hole has been larger than 7.7 million square miles. Before 1985, it measured less than 4 million square miles.
The protective ozone layer over Antarctica annually undergoes a seasonal change, but since the first satellite measurements in 1979, the ozone hole has gotten larger. Human-produced chlorine and bromine chemicals can lead to the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere. By international agreement, these damaging chemicals were banned in 1995, and their levels in the atmosphere are decreasing.
Another important factor in how much ozone is destroyed each year is the temperature of the air high in the atmosphere. As with temperatures on the ground, some years are colder than others. When it's colder in the stratosphere, more ozone is destroyed. The 2005 ozone hole was approximately 386,000 square miles larger than it would have been in a year with normal temperatures, because it was colder than average. Only twice in the last decade has the ozone hole shrunk to the size it typically was in the late 1980s. Those years, 2002 and 2004, were the warmest of the period.
Scientists also monitor how much ozone there is in the atmosphere from the ground to space. The thickness of the Antarctic ozone layer was the third highest of the last decade, as measured by the lowest reading recorded during the year. The level was 102 Dobson Units (the system of measurement designated to gauge ozone thickness). That is approximately one-half as thick as the layer before 1980 during the same time of year.
The Ozone Monitoring Instrument is the latest in a series of ozone-observing instruments flown by NASA over the last two decades. This instrument provides a more detailed view of ozone and is also able to monitor chemicals involved in ozone destruction. The instrument is a contribution to the mission from the Netherlands' Agency for Aerospace Programs in collaboration with the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute is the principal investigator on the instrument.
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center-EOS Project Sci
The protective ozone layer over Antarctica annually undergoes a seasonal change, but since the first satellite measurements in 1979, the ozone hole has gotten larger. Human-produced chlorine and bromine chemicals can lead to the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere. By international agreement, these damaging chemicals were banned in 1995, and their levels in the atmosphere are decreasing.
Another important factor in how much ozone is destroyed each year is the temperature of the air high in the atmosphere. As with temperatures on the ground, some years are colder than others. When it's colder in the stratosphere, more ozone is destroyed. The 2005 ozone hole was approximately 386,000 square miles larger than it would have been in a year with normal temperatures, because it was colder than average. Only twice in the last decade has the ozone hole shrunk to the size it typically was in the late 1980s. Those years, 2002 and 2004, were the warmest of the period.
Scientists also monitor how much ozone there is in the atmosphere from the ground to space. The thickness of the Antarctic ozone layer was the third highest of the last decade, as measured by the lowest reading recorded during the year. The level was 102 Dobson Units (the system of measurement designated to gauge ozone thickness). That is approximately one-half as thick as the layer before 1980 during the same time of year.
The Ozone Monitoring Instrument is the latest in a series of ozone-observing instruments flown by NASA over the last two decades. This instrument provides a more detailed view of ozone and is also able to monitor chemicals involved in ozone destruction. The instrument is a contribution to the mission from the Netherlands' Agency for Aerospace Programs in collaboration with the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute is the principal investigator on the instrument.
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center-EOS Project Sci
Ozone Hole Current Events and Ozone Hole News RSSNew simulation shows consequences of a world without Earth's natural sunscreen
Nearly two-thirds of Earth's ozone is gone -- not just over the poles, but everywhere. The infamous ozone hole over Antarctica, first discovered in the 1980s, is a year-round fixture, with a twin over the North Pole. The ultraviolet (UV) radiation falling on mid-latitude cities like Washington, D.C., is strong enough to cause sunburn in just five minutes.
2008 ozone hole larger than last year
The 2008 ozone hole - a thinning in the ozone layer over Antarctica - is larger both in size and ozone loss than 2007 but is not as large as 2006.
Drier, warmer springs in US Southwest stem from human-caused changes in winds
Human-driven changes in the westerly winds are bringing hotter and drier springs to the American Southwest, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.
Computer models show major climate shift as a result of closing ozone hole
A new study led by Columbia University researchers has found that the closing of the ozone hole, which is projected to occur sometime in the second half of the 21st century, may significantly affect climate change in the Southern Hemisphere, and therefore, the global climate.
Climate Models Overheat Antarctica, New Study Finds
Computer analyses of global climate have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica, concludes new research by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Ohio State University.
Ozone hole recovery may reshape southern hemisphere climate change
A full recovery of the stratospheric ozone hole could modify climate change in the Southern Hemisphere and even amplify Antarctic warming, according to scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.
2007 ozone hole 'smaller than usual'
The ozone hole over Antarctica has shrunk 30 percent as compared to last year's record size. According to measurements made by ESA's Envisat satellite, this year's ozone loss peaked at 27.7 million tonnes, compared to the 2006 record ozone loss of 40 million tonnes.
NASA keeps eye on ozone layer amid Montreal Protocol's success
NASA scientists will join researchers from around the world to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to reduce the hole in Earth's protective ozone layer.
By ice floe to the North Pole
At the end of August, an unusual expedition under Russian leadership will leave for the Arctic Ocean. One of the participants is Jürgen Graeser of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, one of the research centres of the Helmholtz Association.
B12 Is Also an Essential Vitamin for Marine Life
B12 - an essential vitamin for land-dwelling animals, including humans - also turns out to be an essential ingredient for growing marine plants that are critical to the ocean food web and Earth's climate, scientists have found.
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