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Ozone Hole Splits in Two

DaDigz writes "CNN is reporting here that the hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica has split in two "like a giant amoeba". It's not yet been determined whether this is a result of unusual weather patterns or whether the ozone layer is recovering. One can hope, though, that this may be a sign of a mend in the ozone layer."

56 comments

  1. I'm just curious.. by hitzroth · · Score: 3, Interesting

    do we know for sure that there was a time when there wasn't a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica?

    --
    In mathematics, one does not understand things, one merely gets used to them.
    --VonNeumann
    1. Re:I'm just curious.. by hitzroth · · Score: 1

      Never mind. That's what I get for not reading the article.

      --
      In mathematics, one does not understand things, one merely gets used to them.
      --VonNeumann
    2. Re:I'm just curious.. by Hadlock · · Score: 2, Insightful

      i haven't read the article yet, and probably won't, but oh well. yeah. they've been absorbing more data than they can examine from 2-3 sattelities over the past 35-ish years, and the ozone hole actually closes durring either the winter or summer months, and then reopens again as it weakens again. so yes, it does close, and they have good reason to be suspicious. a better question might be "does the "soft spot" of the earth open up from time to time on a somewhat regular schedule over a period of centuries, or did we really fuck things up?"

      my guess is a litte from column a, a little from column b. (although more from A than B)

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
  2. I hope ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    ... that this hole would also split in two. FP.

  3. death to eugenia death fuck her cunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    fuck you bitch cunt



    Eugenia Loli needs to exposed. I will post 3 articles that show how fascist the Greeks can be, and that people like Eugenia perpetrate. Then I will cover My Big Fat GReek Wedding, with Fat being the operative word. Then some random Eugenia quotes. I hate you Eugenia, for being a fascist at OSNEWS. You are a pathetic waif who can not accept dissent, and you dictate to your small and withering community. I hope you get ovarian cancer.

    Fat Eugenia Loli's Friends Ban all electronig games by mistake. Its people like Eugenia Loli that show that the formerly great state of Greece has erorded into a festering inbred, stupid hairy totalitarian fucks like herself. Now is the fatty greases sweltering out of her cellulite that makes it seem like Grease would be a more apropro name than Greece.

    The Night Defender Fat Eugenia Loli Fat

    Sweating and farting nervously on the verge of mental meltdown, ELQ reloads each of her precious OSNews pages, making sure all is well. Fifty Internet Explorer windows are open in Windows XP, it's gridning the hard drive to death. ELQ's cable modem and NIC activity LEDs are nearly solid from the raw frenzy of almost constant browser reloading. Eugenia's eyes twitch rapidly from window to window with Mercurial speed to make sure that any rogue comments do not escape her attention, always hitting her refresh buttons with pinpoint accuracy. No logical order for checking, purely random and impulse driven by raw Mediterranean temper, stopping for the occasional savage bite from a pork loin still affixed to the bone, Eugenia's eyes never leave the monitor.

    "N-n-n-n NO! No TIME for Dance Dance Revolution, oh but it's been so long! I cannot allow the BASTARD flooders' comments to be seen. MY DOMAIN IS SACRED!"

    Hair is frizzled and days unwashed, asscrack just barely half wiped in a frenzy to return to her monitor, having taken a large shit earlier. No time to flush! Her armpits are over-ridden with pubic hair, her fat flaps reek of B.O. and yeast from days of neglect and hour upon hour of sweating. Relentless sweating.

    "Cannot to be keeps up this pace! I may be need to go to hospital for exhaustions" she pants in desperation, wiping the sweat from a matted hair lock with her week-old t-shirt offering.

    The hour of judgement approaches! Comment number 45 in thread 374 is clearly of anti-Greek sentiment! It reads "Eugenia continues to post yet another story that's simply ripped off from other websites. How much longer can this continue? It's my opinion that she has poor editorial skills. I think they should be revoked."

    "YOU BASTARD FUCK!", Eugenia erupts in raw hatred, simultaneously ripping a 120 decibel-at-1-meter fart into the back of her chair. "Nobody is to be attack my site!" Eugenia blasts away at 10 words per minute in a barely-coherant broken English. She's on a mission. After several hours, the words on the screen are completely shattered and in disarray, they make no sense. Eugenia is impressed with her English progress and submits her lousy retort. Relaxing only for several seconds to savor the rush, she continues her patrol, sleepless into the night.


    Yup, a self-employed pissing loser with a family, 600 acres of deeded land, several automobiles and a four-story house. What do you have? 2,000 British pounds to your name, a playstation2, some computers and a husband that picks up the tab for everything? That's what I thought, you fucking olive-picking, highboot fecal smear of a bridge troll.

    QUIP: Well, what a waste of a good fortune. Assuming that it were true, of course. Which is something that most of us won't do, given your guttermouth rambling and apparent poor breeding.

    Taken from OS News posting by Eugenia 03/04/2000 Your post would be a lot more credible if you omitted like every 25th word to simulate your bad english. Actually I didn't even read it at all, isn't that awesome?

    Eugenia--

    Have you ever taken a step back and looked at your life? Taken a calming deep breath, cleared your head, and
    assessed the situation? Looked around at what you have made for yourself, what you've done and how it's affected
    you? If you had, it wouldn't be hard to see that things aren't as rosy as most people would be comfortable with;
    furthermore, it seems as if you're not comfortable with you or your situation either. It's no large feat to
    realize that things in your life are falling apart, and have been for quite a while. In fact, you don't really
    seem to have a life now and all that you own or have is going to go away eventually because it's not yours. Yes,
    Eugenia, here's the simple, terrible truth: your life is in shambles and it's only getting worse.

    Let's take a look at the swill and depravity that you live in.

    Your Slashdot journal entry from Saturday, March 02, 2002 encapsulates your attitude toward hygiene (or lack
    thereof) in one sordid little pill:

    there is only ONE thing I can't stand: The upstairs people. They do things with the water at 6:30 in the
    morning, every morning
    [I though you had a four story house, you fucking lying fat bitch]

    Eugenia, this is known as bathing. The concept may be foreign to your rancid Greek arse but it's a fact of life to millions of Americans everyday. Oops! I forgot you're not an American citizen. Well, we'll touch on that
    later...

    Here are a few quotes out of your Slashdot journal, taken from Sunday, March 03 through Thursday, March 14, 2002 that do well to exemplify your lack of will-power and discipline.

    Today, I started a "real" diet. And yes, this time, the diet IS HERE TO STAY [...] my diet goes well
    [...] Diet goes ok, I suppose. I mean, I feel that I do a more balanced diet now, as opposing of losing
    weight right here, right now. I hope it continues well [...] I feel a bit weak, but it is not too bad
    [...] Argh, I got a terrible headache now [...] I am roasting some pork and oven potatoes


    Within just a short eleven-day period we see a rapid downward spiral into fleshly indulgence and lack of self-
    control, hastened by physical sickness and ailments resulting from simply eating properly. Your body has attuned
    itself so finely to your horrid eating habits that it actually grows ill over these eleven days to the point
    that finally, in desperation over a migraine, you cook up a grease-laden meal to satiate your thirst for all
    things fat.

    Have you no self control? Look at yourself! You have a gut that just won't go away-- you look like an ugly,
    stinky, fat little troll even on your wedding day for Christ's sake! Have you no pride or respect for yourself?
    Not even just enough to make you stave off those pork and potatoes? Gluttony will destroy your life, Eugenia.
    It's already destroyed your body.

    Eugenia, it's clear to me (and everyone else) that you're mentally unbalanced and delusional. Please, seek help
    immediately. You are in dire need of counseling and/or therapy for a myriad of issues, among which are hygeine,
    self-discipline, and proper English grammar. We're behind you all the way, Eugenia, you can do it.

    Eugenia: The Fat Fucking Smelly Greek Pig

    You fat fucking smelly Greek whore! Do you even wash on the rare occasions when your husband wants to fuck you? I bet your arse smells like a pig farm after eating all of the fucking pork and potatoes you cook-- you do nothing but sit all day, sweating and farting. It must smell like a swamp where criminals dump bodies in the sweltering heat.

    Do you even shave? You sound like a lazy fucking wart of a housewife who wouldn't even bother. I bet the place is a mess too: dishes needing done, a layer of dust over everything, and stains and spills here and there. What a fucking pig-- a hairy fucking Greek bitch-pig.

    Oh yeah, and your "skills" are laughable. You can't code for shit-- there's more holes in your PHP site than in a Greek brothel. Your English is terrible, which is pathetic for an editor-in-chief of a news site that reports in the language. Your obvious biases and slants make you look even more silly and unprofessional, as well as your multi-paragraph rants and fits of rage you write in your own forums. It's no wonder no one takes you seriously.

    In short, ELQ, FUCK YOU. You are a loser, a no-lifer, a wanna-be, and a fecal smear in the world of technology. You are a detriment to the community you claim you serve. I challenge you to refute one thing I have said. You can't; it's all true.

    And you know it.


    Eugenia, why you're a drain on society.
    I am Greek and english is not my native language. We do OSNews for fun (however, OSNews takes most of my time every day), so if you have a problem with my spelling and grammar either a) do not come back (spare us and save your time too) b) send me a proofread version of the article in question. Whining about something I can't radically improve overnight, is not an option.

    Ahem, Eugenia. You've been living in English language countries for AT LEAST A DECADE from what I gather. You've spent the last year and a half giggling moronically and getting your bologna tits caught in a wringer after you've been trolled. Here's an idea you smelly twat: Get some advanced ESL text books and read those. Fuck, you've probably spent more time eating the dried phlegm from your nasal cavity than studying English. You are living in an English language nation, and are therefore a burden on society without sufficient language skills. You're not fit to be my house maid, as far as your language skills are concerned. Furthermore, you are a lazy cunt since you've not been motivated to do this relatively simple task as of yet. Please stop polluting the technology/operating system scene with your garbage writing, you seek out the spotlight like a fucking tomahawk missile seeks heat. It's PATHETIC! Get English text books and get a fucking life you stupid little olive-smuggling whore!

    In case Eugenia Loli-Queru is reading
    Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Next week on OSNews she's going to review a commercial floppy disk formatting program. She gives it 95%. DUMB CUNT.


    Greeks ban electronic games by mistake
    Beware Greeks writing laws
    By Adamson Rust: Sunday 01 September 2002, 17:40

    ONE OF THE SO-CALLED CRADLES of European civilisation appears to have got its Aristotles all in a twist over computer gaming. And mobile phones, for that matter.
    The Greek government appears to have lost its marbles.

    The government wanted to prevent its people from wasting their money by using electronic slot machines but the democratically appointed government has banned all computer games everywhere by mistake.

    And now the cops are raiding Internet cafes to enforce the said SNAFU.

    The law, according to our Greek correspondents, prohibits any kind of game that is played on any kind of electronic equipment.

    And it appears to have been drafted so loosely that that includes mobile phones.

    Theoretically, the cops could bust into people's homes but so far apparently they have arrested Internet cafe owners and customers who were fighting a few rounds of Q3 CTF.

    Next thing, the cops will be creeping up on people using their mobile phones just to make sure they're not playing a quick game rather than using them for their real purpose.

    Here are some details of the cock up in Greek.

    And there's more details about this at the Greek Net Cafe organisation.

    Give us a glass of hemlock, Socrates!

    Greek govt bans all computer games
    By Thomas C Greene in Washington
    Posted: 03/09/2002 at 16:45 GMT

    The government of Greece is making heroic efforts to humiliate the nation in front of the entire world, by banning all electronic games. That's right; something as innocent as playing computer chess on your laptop in a hotel lobby is now a crime with penalties of up to three months in stir and a fine of 10,000 euros.

    The purpose behind this charming legislation is to crack down on Internet gambling (which already was illegal) -- or, rather, to enable legislators to enact their little public dance of righteous aversion to Internet gambling.

    Improved enforcement of existing law is all that was needed, but there's a problem. Unfortunately, the Greek government is "incapable of distinguishing innocuous video games from illegal gambling machines," according to an older article from the English-language Kathimerini newspaper, written while the bill was under consideration.

    Now it's official. The legislature has concluded that all electronic games have got to go because the bureaucrats they're maintaining on the public payroll aren't swift enough to figure out the difference between video poker and TuXkart. Perhaps enforcing literacy requirements and sobriety regulations for government workers would have been a more productive approach, but it's too late for that now.

    Greek ban on gaming threatens Internet cafes
    By John Lettice Posted: 04/07/2002 at 12:49 GMT

    A Register reader in Greece emails us claiming that the Greek government has effectively outlawed Internet cafes by "all LAN and Internet games and any kind of game that is supported by electrical, electronic or software means." If anybody so much as has something looking like a game on the screen, he tells us, the cafe manager is liable for arrest.

    All of this makes some kind of perverted sense. Computers in Internet cafes are gaming machines, sort of. Or at least they have that potential, and Greece has already shown signs of considering them as such. More recently, Greece banned all amusement and gambling machines, including the likes of Pac Man.

    You pay for computers in Internet cafes, you can play games on them, so yes, there you go. And a little further research leads us to believe that Greece's position is maybe not so wildly eccentric as one might initially think. Here in the UK one does have to pay duty on gaming and amusement machines in public places. You can get a little more information about the position by tearing through this section of the 1995 Finance Act, but frankly we do not recommend it.

    It would however seem logical to us for Internet cafe machines playing games to be classed somewhere within the amusement machines category, and therefore liable for duty. If they're not, then pubs installing computers instead of amusement machines could be on to a good wrinkle. So, some form of cafe tax? OK, but what, then, are we going to do about all of those people in pubs who'll sometime soon be whipping out their 3G phones in order to play online games?

    In Greece, obviously, they'll just arrest the nearest bar manager, while in London's West End we foresee a variation on traffic wardens slapping Internetting Tickets on careless mobile gamers...

    FAT EUGENIA FAT FAT LARD FAT PORCINE CORPULENT CELLULITE RIDDEN FAT
    'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' Rolls on
    Wed Aug 14, 3:23 PM ET

    LOS ANGELES (AP) - In a summer of huge movies that last just a few weeks in theaters and are lucky to break even, one little film won't quit.

    The celebration has lasted all summer for "My Big Fat Fucking.Pig.Greek.Eugenia Wedding," a micro-budgeted romantic comedy with great word-of-mouth that has steadily climbed from 20th place on the box-office chart to No. 8 last weekend. The film, about a woman who defies the traditions of her loud Fucking.Pig.Greek.Eugenia family by marrying a man who isn't Fucking.Pig.Greek.Eugenia, cost only about $5 million to produce. It has collected nearly $45 million since it's April debut, and the end of the honeymoon is nowhere in sight. "I feel like I connected with absolute strangers across America. That's what I love more than anything," said Nia Vardalos, the star and writer, who adapted the film from her one-woman stage show. "The money is like, 'Yeah, yeah.' ... That works in the Hollywood system," she added. "But this is the greatest feeling in the world: when women are coming up and saying 'I'm you.'" Vardalos, 39, said she had thought the film would cover its cost and maybe

    La la oh la la la yum la laLa la oh la la la yum la laLa la oh la la la yum la laLa la oh la la la yum la laLa la oh la la la yum la laLa la oh la la la yum la laLa la oh la la la yum la laLa la oh la la la yum la laLa la oh la la la yum la la.

    Eugenia, is that you? I hate you because of the way you censor. I hate you, and if I had to live in your kingdom in real life I would suicide attack you. Your death would be worthy ends to my means.

    This is just another example of spineless crap moderation by Eugenia. I hate her fucking fascist fat fronds of celluite dripping down her bones and puddling up near here wrists which hinge har fat sausage fingers.

    Mao Tse Tung, Hitler, Stalin, Castro, Pinochet, Mussolini, Marshall Joseph Tito, Slobodan Milosevic, Idi Amin, Ho Chi Minh, Saddam Hussein, Muammar Qaddafi, Juan Peron, Ayatollah Khomeini, Ferdinand Marcos, General Suharto, Pol Pot, Fransisco Franco, and certainly the worst of the bunch, EUGENIA FAT PIG LOLI's editing/moderating [read: censoring] ALL AGREE on ONE THING:

    CENSORSHIP
    WORKS!


    So, you busy little plebian proletariat BITCH, get busy, you have some censoring to do! FUN!

    Good job you little neo-commies BITCH, EUGENIA FAT. Don't want to hear the other side, shoot the fucker in the head as an ENEMY OF THE STATE [In this case anyone who seeks to improve the sad state of OSNEWS and its fucking lame conjecture.]

    A few haikus to commemorate the sucktitude:
    Crack Pipe
    Crack smoke wafts though air
    Dumb shit LOLI QUERU
    Try to suck less, please

    Humorless
    Crack smoke wafts through air
    Humorless LOLI QUERU
    Why do you hate me?

    The Proletariat
    OSnews Commie
    LOLI QUERU fears new idea!
    Censor him quickly!

    Get busy moderating this down, you little minions of the FAT GREASE LORD obedient prefects of the corrupt CUNT, LOLI! You are the vanguards of chunky brown vaginal discharges, and dissent is not allowed!
  4. Monkey wrench in hopes for mend by captainktainer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Unfortunately, CFCs are not fully phased out all over the world. China still uses them, and since China's set to become the world economic powerhouse over the next half-century, the only hope for continued recovery is getting them to halt their production of CFCs. And quite honestly, does anybody really believe that chlorofluorocarbons aren't used in places like India? I mean, there's a reason they were so popular- cheap, relatively easy to manufacture, effective; they would be a wonder chemical if they didn't eat holes in the ozone layer. In less ecologically sensitive countries (yes, one can be less ecologically sensitive than the United States) with weak environmental controls, use of CFCs is a rather attractive proposition.

    1. Re:Monkey wrench in hopes for mend by leviramsey · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Exactly.

      Much as it's fashionable to rail against the US for not being as environmentally responsible than it could be (or maybe even should be), the fact remains that various third world (to use an obsolete term) nations are far more egregious offenders than the US (see leaded gasoline, CFCs, etc.).

    2. Re:Monkey wrench in hopes for mend by dan+the+person · · Score: 2

      various third world (to use an obsolete term) nations are far more egregious offenders than the US

      In what terms? Absolute? Per captia?

      Third world countries economies are generally tiny. Even if each car is more poluting than the average american SUV, it doesn't matter much cause they don't have many cars.

      Really america should be comparing itself with the developed world though. Saying 'we are better than bangladesh' doesn't have much impact with me.

  5. It's Just Evolving by sameb · · Score: 4, Funny

    >It's split in two like an amoeba.

    This quite obviously means that the ozone layer is a living organism, and in a hundred million years, we'll have intelligent creatures that are entirely made up of ozone layer.

    1. Re:It's Just Evolving by thewheeze · · Score: 1

      I know you're just joking but uh....the hole split in two..not the ozone...

    2. Re:It's Just Evolving by Iamthefallen · · Score: 4, Funny

      Excactly, we'll have intelligent creatures made out of not being ozon, ie holes. It's gonna be a confusing time for mankind...

      --
      Wax-Museum Fire Results In Hundreds Of New Danny DeVito Statues
    3. Re:It's Just Evolving by capnjack41 · · Score: 1

      Now, it's when these holes start bumping uglies and making baby ozone holes that we'll have to start worrying.

    4. Re:It's Just Evolving by pkiesel · · Score: 1

      So if it is evolving, this would be the discovery of a new species. If current environmental regulations are (supposedly) aimed at reducing greenhouse gases, then can we infer that this species is not only newly discovered, but endangered as well?

      I can see the newspaper headline now: "Environmental groups demand resumption of CFC production".

  6. Biology . . . by Dausha · · Score: 2, Funny

    If the ozone hole is splitting, then perhaps it is alive. Or, perhaps it was just lonely and tired of everybody trying to find ways to get rid of it. I know I'd have a big inferiority complex if everybody talked about me so negatively.

    --
    What those who want activist courts fear is rule by the people.
    1. Re:Biology . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      If I need a friend, I just give a wiggle,
      split right down the middle.
      And when I look, there's two of me,
      both as handsome as can be.

      Here we go, squiggling and squelching along...

      The Incredible String Band, A Very Cellular Song

    2. Re:Biology . . . by Rubyflame · · Score: 1

      Who's as big as western Europe? You are! You are!

      --

      All it takes is nukes and nerves.
  7. see i told you tall by redhotchil · · Score: -1, Troll

    see i told you people, wouldn't believe me:

    "George Bush is destroying the enviroment! OMFG! LMAO!" (http://www.thetruthaboutgeorge.com/domestic/)

    and now, the tides have turned.. ..suck it liberals

  8. Possibly a mend? Really? by PeekabooCaribou · · Score: 1

    Seriously, has the human population been reducing the amount of ozone-depleting activities? I didn't anticipate hearing this kind of news in my lifetime.

    I realize this is coming off as extremely sarcastic, but I thought we were still pumping out the carbon monoxide at apocalyptic rates.

    --
    "I'll say it again for the logic-impaired." -- Larry Wall.
    1. Re:Possibly a mend? Really? by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 3, Informative
      Seriously, has the human population been reducing the amount of ozone-depleting activities... I thought we were still pumping out the carbon monoxide at apocalyptic rates.


      You're mixing up different problems and different chemicals.

      We have reduced chloroflorocarbon - CFC - production pretty well. CFCs are what attack the ozone layer.

      Carbon dioxide - CO2 - emmissions continue to be high. You get it every time you burn something or breathe out; but the problem is that burning fossil fuels adds more C02 to the air than the normal biological cycle. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, but not toxic.

      Carbon monoxide - CO - is a toxic gas. This is what kills you if you leave your car running in a closed garage; it is often used for killing animals. It results from ineffecient combustion. Catalytic converters and oxygenated fuels have reduced CO emissions over the past few years.

      Summary:

      • CFCs - ozone killer. Emissions down, but potential that newly industrialized nations may start pumping the stuff out again.

      • Carbon dioxide - greenhouse gas. (One of several.) Emissions up. To reduce CO2 emissions we have to stop burning fossil fuels.

      • Carbon monoxide - toxic. Mostly comes out of our vehicle's tailpipes. Emissions down but still a significant health problem in large cities.
      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    2. Re:Possibly a mend? Really? by pwarf · · Score: 1

      "Carbon dioxide - greenhouse gas. (One of several.) Emissions up. To reduce CO2 emissions we have to stop burning fossil fuels."

      I agree in principle, but I'd like to bring up a couple of points:
      If we are talking about gross CO2 emissions, to reduce CO2 emissions we have to REDUCE (not stop) burning fossil fuels.
      If we are talking about net CO2 emissions, reducing/ nearly stopping the burning of fossil fuels would certainly reduce net CO2 emissions.

      However, engineering solutions should not be wholly discounted. For example, I seem to remember some plan for reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by storing it in the oceans. I don't think this is practical (or probably desirable), but the same effect could be obtained by growing fast-growing weeds and burying them in abandoned mining shafts, etc. Or, simply increasing the total mass of plant-life by creating more acres of forests.
      However, interest in organic farming has increased greatly recently, and organic farming uses much more land per pound of food grown than conventional high-yield farming. Organic farming's need for increased farming acreage may prevent more land from being devoted to forests.

      The secondary (and tertiary, etc.) effects of plans such as the Kyoto Protocol are myriad and difficult to predict (or even attribute after the fact). It's a shame that these complex and far-reaching issues are so often reduced to soundbites and headlines.

    3. Re:Possibly a mend? Really? by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 2, Interesting
      However, engineering solutions should not be wholly discounted.

      As a temporary stopgap as we move to sustainable energy, perhaps they may be of use. They're certainly interesting to think about.

      However, until we have a much deeper understanding of ecology I'd have to say it's much wiser to give priority to stopping our f*cking around with the spaceship's life support system and letting it reset itself, than to f*cking with it some more in hopes of balancing out our first f*ckups.

      However, interest in organic farming has increased greatly recently, and organic farming uses much more land per pound of food grown than conventional high-yield farming.

      The difference is not that great, perhaps on the order of 10 percent. (Some say that there's no significant difference at all. There are others who claim that organic methods have very low yields, but I think agriculture research sponsored by Dow and Monsanto has about the same credibility as lung cancer research sponsored by Phillip Morris.) Considering that most organic farmers are new to the methods involved, we can expect yields to rise as experience is gained.

      Also, if you want to talk land use you need to factor in the land used for energy production, the land taken up by chemical plants, the land used up by drilling and mining operations, the land used for waste disposal of all of these operations, and the land eventually rendered unsuitable for agriculture by non-sustainable methods.

      That's not even factoring in water pollution from fertilizer and pesticide production and runoff, air pollution from chemical production and energy production. And not even touching on the health costs of pesticide contamination in the finished food product.

      Considering the total resource footprint, organic is the clear winner.

      And there's little "conventional" about chemical-saturated high-yield farming - it represents a very small slice of humanity's experience with agriculture.

      The secondary (and tertiary, etc.) effects of plans such as the Kyoto Protocol are myriad and difficult to predict (or even attribute after the fact).

      Certainly no more so than the effects of continuing to mess around with the environment as we are.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    4. Re:Possibly a mend? Really? by amRadioHed · · Score: 1
      However, engineering solutions should not be wholly discounted. For example, I seem to remember some plan for reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by storing it in the oceans. I don't think this is practical (or probably desirable), but the same effect could be obtained by growing fast-growing weeds and burying them in abandoned mining shafts, etc.
      The problems with storing the CO2 in the oceans are pretty major. First of all, the way to do it was by stimulating the growth of microscopic organisims in the sea. They would then die and sink to the bottom, along with the C02 in their cells. The first problem is obvious, it would drastically change the ocean's ecosystem. The results are not known and so it would not be a good idea to mess with. The other problem is that this idea is just increasing the throughput of the existing CO2 cycle in the ocean. It is a slow cycle, but after about 100 years we will be at the point where all that extra CO2 we sunk into the ocean today starts getting released again. So, it obviously doesn't solve any problems, just delays them.

      I think that the idea of fast growing weeds also wouldn't work well since we would need unimaginable amounts of the stuff to put a dent in the CO2 levels.
      Or, simply increasing the total mass of plant-life by creating more acres of forests.
      A better idea: Stop cutting down all the fscking rain forests in the first place!!! The rain forests have such densely packed vegetation, like the fast growing weeds, we would need to plant totally unrealistic acreage's of new forest too match the the CO2 absorption of the rain forests we are chopping down.
      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  9. Room for growth by arcadum · · Score: 0

    Despite the total area being smaller, I bet the combined area is large and will continue to grow.

  10. yawn by sosedada · · Score: 1

    Everybody know that any ozone hole data means nothing. Including the data that termed it a hole in the first place.

  11. Owch! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Have you ever had your hole split in half?

  12. A Silly Conjecture. by The+Cydonian · · Score: 1

    Due to earth's rotation, the winds get influenced and the ozone layer has split into two. The two new holes will continue drifting north.

    Is this a plausible scenario?

    1. Re:A Silly Conjecture. by Yokaze · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yes, if they were located in the northern hemisphere :)

      The reason, why there is are Ozone "Holes", and not just a uniformly reduced ozone layer is that the ODS are carried by the global winds to the poles.

      All hail to the Coriolis effect.

      --
      "Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
  13. Let's Simulate It ! by Raiford · · Score: 3, Funny
    This should be great news for the computer simulation guys with their ozone hole models. At least fun for a year or so. "What do you mean two holes ! None of our turbulence models predict that"... Several thousand academic journal papers later, many scientific conference presentations and enough new research money to fill up both ozone layer holes we find ... "it was an amoeba"

    --
    "player 4 hit player 1 with 0 stroms"
  14. the 80s strike back by chenzhen · · Score: 3, Interesting

    An interesting factor that is often ignored is the time it takes CFCs to ascend to the upper atmosphere. Most of those produced during the world's peak output have not even made it to the point where they would do any damage yet. To generalize, it may be healing now, but in the next ten years the sum total of the industrial 1980's may rip the scab right off.
    P

    1. Re:the 80s strike back by nebenfun · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      what are you talking about?
      so tell me what ascends faster, the CFC's from the evil 80's, or the hot air coming out of your mouth/ass?
      -nbfn

    2. Re:the 80s strike back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what are you talking about? so tell me what ascends faster, the CFC's from the evil 80's, or the hot air coming out of your mouth/ass? -nbfn

      Guess that would have to be the hot air, Chlorine would be too heavy.

      Long live the amoeba!

    3. Re:the 80s strike back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The process is called convection. So yes, CFCs can and do make its way to the upper atmosphere to react with the ozone gas.

    4. Re:the 80s strike back by pavera · · Score: 1

      CFCs do not react with Ozone gas you goof.
      Chlorine does, but CFCs are quite stable,
      what breaks the CFCs down so that the chlorine can react with ozone? That is a question I have yet to see any enviro-bunny answer, furthermore, how CFCs with an average density of 12 times that of our atmosphere manage to get to the Ozone layer has yet to be explained to me by any enviro-bunnies, (of course, very small rocks do float, as I learned watching Monty Python)... Furthermore they have discovered organic life forms (bacteria mainly) that only live on the ground, and eat purly CFCs, now I'm not a rocket scientist, but if CFCs were going to the Ozone layer, why would bacteria that only eat CFCs live in the soil? How would they sustain themselves?

    5. Re:the 80s strike back by Jazu · · Score: 1

      >>what breaks the CFCs down so that the chlorine can react with ozone?

      That would be UV rays.

      --
      My joke got modded as Insightful and my insight got modded as Funny.
  15. Smaller holes or more distributed? by Myshkin5 · · Score: 1

    I remember reading one of the articles saying that the ozone hole was defined as an area where the density of ozone drops below a certain level.

    So isn't it possible that two holes would spread the thinning area out? The total lack of ozone still exists and could still be growing.

    1. Re:Smaller holes or more distributed? by helix400 · · Score: 4, Informative
      I remember reading one of the articles saying that the ozone hole was defined as an area where the density of ozone drops below a certain level.

      Yep. Quoting the article on Yahoo:
      "The ozone hole is the area with total column ozone below 220 Dobson Units...A reading of 100 Dobson Units means that if all the ozone in the air above a point were brought down to sea-level pressure and cooled to freezing it would form a layer 1 centimeter thick. At that scale a reading of 250 Dobson Units translates to a layer about an inch thick."

      So isn't it possible that two holes would spread the thinning area out? The total lack of ozone still exists and could still be growing.

      Sort of...ozone in the southern hemisphere has a funny way of displacing itself. The ozone hole is comes and goes in a cycle. First its there, half a year later it vanishes, half a year later its back...etc. The funny part is, when the hole arrives, a lot of the ozone is *displaced* around the hole. So if the south pole had only 150 Dobson units of ozone, Australia could jump up to 400 units. (275 being the rough average).

      So with today's smaller ozone holes, the missing ozone isn't necessarilly thinning the surrounding area out, its bringing all the ozone in the atmosphere back to a uniform density.

  16. had to happen by infonography · · Score: 2, Interesting

    it's a simple example of The Coriolis Force

    The hole is in a cloud layer, it's not a object. Winds and gravity will mix the ozone back into the hole, making the overall layer thinner but still there.

    http://www.windpower.dk/tour/wres/coriolis.htm

    I wonder if the hole is something that is recurring rather then just an effect of pollution. maybe gravity thickens the layer around the equator leaving open patches at the poles. But it's safer to not be so messy with the planet.

    --
    Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
    1. Re:had to happen by Physics+Dude · · Score: 1
      I wonder if the hole is something that is recurring rather then just an effect of pollution ...

      The ozone hole is definitely a recurring phenomena. Ozone is a VERY reactive chemical, and is being destroyed by reactions all over the world all the time (wreaks havoc on rubber seals). It is also being produce all the time by the effect of UV rays in the upper atmosphere. (That's one reason why ozone shields from UV rays). There is a natural balance between these effects ... except where the sun doesn't shine. At the poles during the 6 month winters, the ozone is not being produced by sunlight, so it naturally has a net depletion. At the north pole, ozone can be replaced by ozone rich air from arctic winds, but at the south pole, the extreme teperature differential at the continent boundary (obviously not present at the north pole) produces strong wind paterns which isolate much of the antarctic region during the winter. As soon as the sun starts shining again... more ozone! :)

      It's too bad that it's so hard to find realistic information about what goes on.

      BTW, CFC's are extremely stable (unreactive) compounds (and extremely heavy molecules). What's more, CFC's by themselves don't destroy ozone. The theory goes something like this: Even though CFC's are quite dense, they are carried high into the upper atmosphere, where the intense radiation breaks them down to release atomic chlorine. (I'm not aware of this theoretical breakdown ever being reproduced in a lab, even though it would be a simple feat if the theory is valid). It's the atomic chlorine that repeatedly reacts with the ozone to produce diatomic oxygen and oxygen compounds. I'm still not sure why the vast natural sources of atmospheric chlorine (far in excess of CFCs) aren't a greater concern. They should make it into the upper atmosphere far easier than the high density CFC. If anyone reading has insight into this, please let me know. I can always use more info! :)

  17. Hole-y Atmosphere, Batman! by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1


    Pretty soon we'll start calling it the ozone hole layer instead of the ozone layer.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  18. To be pedantic: by Observer · · Score: 4, Informative
    <>slashdot>It's not yet been determined whether this is a result of unusual weather patterns or whether the ozone layer is recovering.</slashdot>
    Actually, the CNN article quotes Long at MOAA as saying that the change is the result of unusual weather patterns but that it is too soon to say whether the ozone layer is recovering. Slight difference in meaning there.
  19. Next one of the holes goes wandering. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's a flow instability bifurcation. One of the holes could now wander away somewhat, and "orbit" the original hole - potentially sweeping over large areas of inhabited land...

  20. There's some kind of fusion going on by PD · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's obvious to me that lighter elements are fusing into heavy elements at the south pole. The evidence is that what was obviously an S orbital is now a P orbital. Just look at the picture.

    1. Re:There's some kind of fusion going on by PD · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Message to whoever moderated me as a troll: LEARN SOME CHEMISTRY YOU IGNORAMUS

    2. Re:There's some kind of fusion going on by j_w_d · · Score: 2

      Surely you are not suggesting "cold fusion," are you?

      --
      ------ The only greater hazard to your liberty than n politicians is n+1 politicians.
  21. Everybody knows == A failure of imagination by geoswan · · Score: 5, Informative
    Everybody knows that any ozone hole data means nothing. Including the data that termed it a hole in the first place.

    I believe my math geek friends would characterize this as, "proof by assertion" ?

    You aren't making this assertion from knowledge. Your assertion is coming from your intuition. Everybody doesn't know this. I don't know this. Neither do a lot of climate experts. Neither do you. You don't have knowledge. You have a belief about the ozone hole -- based on your intuition.

    Well intuition failed us when it came to the ozone hole.

    Here are some RISKS articles, from 1986, shortly after the ozone hole was first recognized, to back me up.
    Ozone hole undetected for years due to programming error
    Ozone references.

    Recently, it was disclosed that a large hole in the ozone layer appears once a year over the South Pole. The researchers had first detected this hole approximately 8 years ago by tests done at the South Pole itself.

    Why did they wait 8 years to disclose this disturbing fact? Because the satellite that normally gives ozone levels had not reported any such hole and the researchers could not believe that the satellite's figures could be incorrect. It took 8 years of testing before they felt confident enough to dispute the satellite's figures.

    And why did the satellite fail to report this hole? Because it had been programmed to reject values that fell outside the "normal" range!

    What happened here is that intuition failed. Intuition failed the physicists who specified the sanity filters. And, I would argue, that intuition failed you too.

  22. Waves and the Polar Vortex by jellisky · · Score: 3, Interesting

    'Twas a very interesting evolution of the "hole", I must admit. Looks like a good fluid dynamics experiment gone unstable to me.

    A quick summary of why the ozone hole exists:

    - During polar winters, the solar insolation (amount of light from the sun) goes to zero. Since the photochemical reaction by ozone on UV light is no longer there, the stratosphere begins to cool around the poles. This leads to no ozone being produced or destroyed. (Ozone, in the stratosphere, requires light to be created in the first place.)

    - This cooling leads to the formation of a very strong vortex by an atmospheric "law" called thermal wind. This vortex tends to be incredibly strong, usually on the order of 50 m/s (112 mph). This vortex usually covers the entire polar region.

    - Given the strength of this vortex, very little mixing occurs between contents inside the vortex and outside the vortex. So, as time progresses, the already present chlorine and flourine compounds in the vortex have time to react with the ozone and deplete it noticably (since the vortex doesn't allow the ozone from the lit-up areas of the globe to mix in and refresh the levels).

    - As the sun comes back up in polar spring, the photochemical reactions begin again, further reducing the levels of ozone. However, these reactions warm up the middle of the vortex. This warming tends to break down the vortex quite quickly and allows the ozone from the middle latitudes mix in and refresh the ozone levels.

    Now, all this happens in both hemispheres during the appropriate winter months. But the Antarctic hole tends to be stronger than the Arctic one for one very simple reason: land. Topography helps set up large-scale waves in the atmosphere's flow. These waves can influence the polar vortex by essentially perturbing it. These perturbations can then grow (depending on the properties of the vortex) and become unstable, leading to a total vortex breakdown. Those events are commonly seen in the Arctic vortex since there are three large mountain ranges in the Northern Hemisphere to excite planetary-scale waves. But around Antarctica, there aren't any significant mountain ranges to excite these waves, so the vortex tends not to be perturbed significantly.

    But, it appears this season, that something is causing a very strong wavenumber-2 perturbation (wavenumber-n perturbations have n crests and troughs around a latitude circle). That's pretty obvious from the elliptical early evolution and, then, the eventual breakdown into two lobes. What actually "caused" this amplification is an excellent question. Perhaps this year's vortex was inherrently unstable to wavenumber-2 perturbations? Perhaps this season's El Nino had some odd effect on it? (Doubt that, but it's an interesting idea.) Either way, this event will be studied quite heavily the next few years, I'm sure. (Perhaps even by myself at some point.)

    -Jellisky

  23. fa! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The ozone holes ought to be filled up with Slashdot posters!

  24. YES!!! by quantaman · · Score: 2

    To think those environmental nuts thought the ozone hole was a problem! Now that we have it divided well have it beat it no time!! It's great how that one big problem just because 2 slightly smaller ones, well I guess now that the ozone holes have become disorganized and should be falling apart and fighting among themselves it's safe to go out tanning again, I wonder what that strange rash on my arm is...

    --
    I stole this Sig
  25. Ice core samples tell us much. by ratzmilk · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, ice core samples reveal that prior to 1960, there was no hole in the ozone layer. The effects of UV on the ice layers is quite easy to detect in ice cores.

    --
    I wish I could think of a witty Sig. Sigh!
  26. Its all rubbish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  27. Re:Everybody knows == A failure of imagination by pwarf · · Score: 1

    I see your point, but I find it ironic that the author of your first link also makes a "proof by assertion" by not providing details and citing sources.
    While it is true that everyone certainly does NOT know that "any ozone hole data means nothing. Including the data that termed it a hole in the first place", it should be noted that there is some ozone in the ozone hole. Whether or not you see a hole depends upon what concentration you count as the transition between there being a hole and there not being a hole.
    Also, your links provide some support to the previous poster's assertion that ozone hole data is meaningless. Your links claim 8 years of fundamentally flawed data. Obviously, there is other, more sound evidence, but your case would be much stronger if you cited different evidence.
    You make a valid point. Arguments of this importance should be based upon the merits of the arguments and not demagoguery. But that takes much more work, and tends to be less fun.

  28. 2 moons, 2 ozone holes? Coincidence? by mustangdavis · · Score: 1

    Maybe the gravity of the earth's new moon(s) .. (there might be 3 now) had something to do with this?

    Then again, maybe the ozone creatures thought it would be funny to play games with the silly little humans below??? :)

  29. Re:Everybody knows == A failure of imagination by geoswan · · Score: 2
    You make a valid point. Arguments of this importance should be based upon the merits of the arguments and not demagoguery. But that takes much more work, and tends to be less fun.

    It does take a lot more work. I imagine sosedada spent less than 30 seconds on his proof by assertion. Hunting down those links, and writing my article, took me half an hour. But it is a worthwhile cause.

    Also, your links provide some support to the previous poster's assertion that ozone hole data is meaningless. Your links claim 8 years of fundamentally flawed data. Obviously, there is other, more sound evidence, but your case would be much stronger if you cited different evidence.

    After half an hour I decided showing that there was no certainty was enough.

    Dialogue is, I believe, the important thing. Dubya is the person I would most like to see have his views on Kyoto challenged. Dubya too, is asserting certainty, based not on knowledge, but on short term expediency and wishful thinking.

  30. I'd like to point something out by SetupWeasel · · Score: 2

    The very first time we looked at the ozone layer, we found a hole. I have yet to see conclusive proof that it has not always been there.

    SW

    1. Re:I'd like to point something out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ice Cores.

    2. Re:I'd like to point something out by SetupWeasel · · Score: 2

      Thank you. I will check that out.

      SW