Good News: Ozone Hole Continues Shrinking in 2022
The depleted area of the ozone layer over the South Pole was slightly smaller than last year and generally continued the overall shrinking trend of…
Ozone News
Ozone Destruction Over North Pole Produces Weather Anomalies Across the Entire Northern Hemisphere
Many people are aware of the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, but what is less widely known is that the protective ozone in…
Flood Basalt Eruptions: NASA Warns That Some Volcanoes Could Warm Climate, Destroy Ozone Layer
A new NASA climate simulation suggests that extremely large volcanic eruptions called “flood basalt eruptions” could significantly warm Earth’s climate and devastate the ozone layer…
Lesser-Known Ozone Layer Discovered To Play Outsized Role in Planet Warming
Air pollution heating up the Southern Ocean. According to new research, a lesser-known form of ozone is playing a significant role in heating the Southern…
Ozone May Be Weakening One of the Earth’s Most Important Cooling Mechanisms – Heating the Planet More Than We Realize
Ozone in the atmosphere found to have weakened one of Earth’s main cooling mechanisms. According to new research, ozone may be weakening one of the…
Chemical Link Discovered Between Wildfire Smoke and Ozone Depletion
If wildfires become larger and more frequent, they might stall ozone recovery for years. The Australian wildfires in 2019 and 2020 were historic for how…
Iodine in Desert Dust Destroys Ozone – Could Prolong Greenhouse Gas Lifetimes
New CU Boulder study shows iodine from desert dust can decrease ozone air pollution but could prolong greenhouse gas lifetimes. When winds loft fine desert…
Ozone 101: What Is the Ozone Hole? [Video]
Ozone 101 is the first in a series of explainer videos outlining the fundamentals of popular Earth science topics. Let’s back up to the basics…
2021 Antarctic Ozone Hole 13th-Largest – Will Persist Into November or Even December
The 2021 Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum area on October 7 and ranks 13th-largest since 1979, scientists from NASA and NOAA reported on October…
Substantial Antarctic Ozone Hole in 2021 – Due to Cold Stratospheric Conditions
January 1 – October 7, 2021 A colder than usual winter atmosphere over the Southern Hemisphere led to a deep and larger-than-average ozone hole in…
What’s Going On With Earth’s Ozone Hole?
World governments agreed in the late 1980s to protect Earth’s ozone layer by phasing out ozone-depleting substances emitted by human activities, under the Montreal Protocol….
Under the Northern Lights: Mesospheric Ozone Layer Depletion Phenomenon
The same phenomenon that causes aurorae — the magical curtains of green light often visible from the polar regions of the Earth — causes mesospheric…
Rising Greenhouse Gases Pose Climate Change Threat to Arctic Ozone Layer
New research shows climate change is increasing ozone depletion over the Arctic. There is a high-takes race going on high in the atmosphere above the…
NASA Finds Local COVID-19 Lockdowns Brought Unexpectedly Fast Global Ozone Reductions
When lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic cut local nitrogen oxide emissions, the effect on ozone pollution was global and unexpectedly rapid. As the coronavirus pandemic…
Ozone Pollution Has Increased in Antarctica – From Both Natural and Human Sources
Ozone is a pollutant at ground level, but very high in the atmosphere’s “ozone layer,” it absorbs damaging ultraviolet radiation. Past studies have examined ozone…
Research Indicates Unexpected, Illegal Production of Several Ozone-Depleting Chemicals in Recent Years
Ozone-depleting chemicals may spend less time in the atmosphere than previously thought. New results point to unexpected, illegal production of several CFCs in recent years….
NASA’s SAGE III Carries on Critical Measurements of Stratospheric Aerosols and Ozone
On the fourth anniversary of its first-light measurements, we are taking a look at some of the critical data collected by NASA’s Stratospheric Aerosol and…
MIT Researchers Predict the Oceans Will Start Emitting Ozone-Depleting CFCs
As atmospheric concentrations of CFC-11 drop, the global ocean should become a source of the chemical by the middle of next century. The world’s oceans…
