Scientists: the ozone hole over Antarctica is gradually “heals” – RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, July 1 – RIA Novosti. Pictures with climate probes showed that the size of the ozone hole over the South Pole of the Earth began to decline in September last year, a decrease of 4 million square kilometers, compared with 2000, say climate scientists in a paper published in the journal Science.

“Now we can be sure that we have done everything to ensure that the planet began to heal the wounds of its ozone layer. and it is good for us! it’s amazing that humanity failed first drive themselves into a corner, and then get together and decide what the entire planet will get rid of these molecules We did it, and the planet responded to this move of people “-. said Susan Solomon (Susan Solomon) at the Massachusetts Institute of technology (USA)

Montreal consensus

in 1985 scientists, including myself, Solomon discovered that CFCs and other halogen compounds damage the ozone layer, which in some regions of Antarctica have already led to the “ozone hole “- areas through which the ultraviolet radiation of the sun freely reach the Earth’s surface

large-scale international negotiations to begin in the next few years, which resulted in the signing of the Vienna Convention in 1985 and the Montreal Protocol in 1987, in which. most countries in the world agreed to stop the production of substances that deplete the ozone layer.

The rapid adoption and implementation of such plans, as the researchers found, published an article in the journal Nature Communications in 2015, halted the growth of the ozone hole, keeping it within Antarctica and Arctic but not yet led to its reduction. The first “visible” results from the ban on the production of Freon, scientists expect to see in the second half of 2020.

How do I find Solomon and her colleagues, in fact, the process of recovery of the ozone layer and tightening the black hole over the southern polar cap has already begun . They came to this conclusion by watching, no scale has reached the ozone hole is not in October, when its size is maximized, and in September, at a time when its seasonal variations are just beginning to enter the peak level.

according to scientists, they chose September for observations on the grounds that the ozone hole behaves more stable and predictable manner, and in October, its size can vary greatly under the influence of weather and other random events.

? Fluctuations or trend

Satellite images and data from the climatological balloons that scientists collected from 2000 to the present day, testify in favor of the fact that recently the size of the ozone hole over the Antarctic significantly reduced – its size in September 2015 to 4 million square kilometers less than in September 2000. . Such a reduction in the area of ​​the hole is approximately equal in size throughout India and the European part of Russia

These observations contradict the data that NASA received in October last year – according to the US Agency satellites, the ozone hole in October 2015 reached near-record size, becoming the fourth largest since 1990. Solomon and her colleagues are not surprised by such differences, which they blamed on the strong October vibrations and eruption Kabuki volcano in Chile, enhance the action of CFCs.

Scientists from NASA did not agree with the conclusions of Solomon, and believe that a ban on the production of CFCs led to only half of September’s decline – the other 50% reduction in the area of ​​the ozone hole have been associated with the weather. According to Paul Newman (Paul Newman) Space Flight Center of NASA Goddard, even the remaining 50% may be associated with some other phenomenon, rather than the Montreal Protocol, including climate change.

In overall, it can be expected that not all scientists will accept the conclusions of Solomon and her team for granted, and disputes about when the ozone hole will begin to disappear, will continue again.