The Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service of the European Union (CAMS, for its acronym in English) revealed that during the last 3 years an unusual behavior has been detected in the ozone holes that are located over Antarctica, being that of this 2022 one of the biggest.
According to CAMS, the hole in the ozone layer usually opens during the spring in the southern hemisphere, beginning to diminish around October and ending up closing in November, a routine that has not been possible lately.
Instead of continuing with the ‘schedule’ previously shown, it has been discovered that in 2020 and 2021, the closing date happened until December 28 and 23 respectively, while scientists expect this 2022 closure to happen in a few days. plus.
In addition to this problem in duration, it has been recorded that since 2020 the ozone hole has become larger than usual, having an extension that has already exceeded 15 million square kilometers, figures comparable to the size of Antarctica.
Vincent-Henri Peuch, director of CAMS, explained that there are several factors that could influence this phenomenon, such as climate change, the strength of the polar vortex and temperatures in the stratosphere.
“There is a possible relationship with climate change, which tends to cool the stratosphere. However, it is quite unexpected for three unusual ozone holes to occur in a row. Without a doubt, it is something that must be further studied”, declared the expert.
However, it should be noted that not all is lost, as little by little signs of improvement in the ozone layer are showing, something that has been monitored thanks to the so-called ‘Montreal Protocol’, which has been in charge of reducing the use of substances ozone depleters since the 1990s.
Regardless of the conditions of the polar vortex and temperatures, experts expect that within 50 years their concentrations in the stratosphere will have returned to pre-Industrial Revolution levels and holes in the ozonosphere will no longer spectralize.