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'Healing' Detected In Antarctic Ozone Hole, Says Study (bbc.com)

kheldan quotes a report from BBC: Researchers say they have found the first clear evidence that the thinning in the ozone layer above Antarctica is starting to heal. The scientists said that in September 2015 the hole was around 4 million sq km smaller than it was in the year 2000 -- an area roughly the size of India. The gains have been credited to the long term phasing out of ozone-destroying chemicals. [The study also sheds new light on the role of volcanoes in making the problem worse.] The ozone-destroying chemicals, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), have been shown to be declining in their influence, causing the ozone layer to grow once more. "Even though we phased out the production of CFCs in all countries including India and China around the year 2000, there's still a lot of chlorine left in the atmosphere," Prof Solomon told the BBC World Service Science in Action program. "It has a lifetime of about 50-100 years, so it is starting to slowly decay and the ozone will slowly recover." Scientists also believe that volcanic sulphur can form tiny particles that act as seeds to Polar Stratospheric Clouds, where chlorine chemistry occurs that destroys the ozone.

15 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Wasn't this already confirmed? by Eloking · · Score: 2

    Am I missing something or NASA already confirmed that ten years ago?

    --
    Elok
    1. Re:Wasn't this already confirmed? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      3 years ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, and 12 years ago:

      https://science.slashdot.org/story/13/02/10/1930214/over-the-antarctic-the-smallest-ozone-hole-in-a-decade
      https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/05/20/2038228/signs-of-ozone-layer-recovery-detected
      https://slashdot.org/story/06/10/21/0548245/nasa-announces-record-ozone-hole
      https://slashdot.org/story/06/05/27/0654216/ozone-layer-improving-faster-than-expected
      https://science.slashdot.org/story/04/10/02/1346252/ozone-hole-getting-smaller

    2. Re:Wasn't this already confirmed? by sjames · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, and the previous generation of deniers claimed it was just random fluctuation. It had to be because CFCs are harmless and the ozone hole was just a natural variation.

      So NASA points out that the trend is continuing nicely in the way random fluctuations seldom do.

    3. Re:Wasn't this already confirmed? by sjames · · Score: 2

      That sounds a lot like a fallacy

      It's a statement of fact. An observation. By definition, it cannot be a fallacy. It could be incorrect but since it is not a conclusion, it cannot be a fallacy.

      But feel free to look at the history of the Montreal protocol.

      I can't even imagine what you thought you read from me that inspired the rest of your rant.

  2. Re:Christian God stronger than atheists' god by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Funny

    So the ozone is Holeir-than-Thou

  3. Re:Christian God stronger than atheists' god by aepervius · · Score: 2

    off topic: You know what's funny, there is nothing more stupider than a theist or a troll, using the sentence Atheist's god. This demonstrate a complete lack of understanding on how atheist think. Or the utter inability to think out of the box and understand that others (be it atheist or ...) can think vastly differently in scope and conclusion. It is really similar to that "you atheist in reality believe in gods/God and you are just angry of them/him" meme which demonstrate an utter inability to really think outside of their religion. /off topic

    http://science.nasa.gov/scienc... we already knew the ozone hole was reducing in size. It seems to me the reduction is faster though... ?

    --
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  4. Actually this is new by dbIII · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually this is new and is about clearing up all of the doubts around the other times and explains the expansion last year.
    The other stuff was dumbed down headline.

  5. Re:8 year old fucking news. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

    Considering that the largest hole ever was apparently recorded in 2006, of course the 2007 one must have been smaller. But what was the development since then?

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  6. Re: Unfortunately one disaster is eclipsed by anot by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

    It's not a matter of whether it breaks down or not - even the "non-biodegradable" stuff will be destroyed by UV rays. It's a question of how fast this happens and how quickly we dump that crap into oceans.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  7. Re:8 year old fucking news. by jbengt · · Score: 2

    There were a lot of links in TFS, and at least two of them mentioned how the October 2015 ozone hole was unusually large, but that that could be correlated to volcanic activity increasing stratospheric clouds over Antarctica, and that it has been recently worked out how volcanoes could have had that effect.
    So, no, it isn't such old news.

  8. Re: This sort of story should be censored... by GLMDesigns · · Score: 2
    Unlike the Democrats? Please list all the anti-science ideas out there and show which is more prevalent among Republicans and which among democrats,

    I'll start

    Evolution v Intelligent Design - a small subset of Republicans, perhaps 20%. And many Evangelicals don't vote (and some still vote Dem)
    Fraking is evil - Dems
    Vaccination - leans Dem
    Stem cell research - Republican have problem only with embryonic research
    GMO - Democrat. GMO and Embryonic stem cell are opposed for much the same reason. It's morally wrong

    Interesting about the stem cell research - embryonic cells have not been very fruitful. (And don't say it's because it's illegal to research. US government funds are not going there. Private R&D is legal. And let's not forget the research being done in England, France, Germany, Russia, China, Japan, Korea and other places.

    --
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    Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
  9. Re:All hot air? by Talderas · · Score: 3, Informative

    Evidence about this is best found by looking at the fiasco that was inhaler medication for asthma patients. Albuterol inhalers had long been off patent and were produced by generics companies. With the ban the big pharma companies created a new medication with a different propellant which was granted a patent. That triggered the FDA to revoke the exception for CFC inhalers which forced every asthmatic and COPD sufferer to utilize the more expensive brand name medication rather than cheaper generics which we no longer able to be produced and sold due to the revocation of the exception.

    For those that are not aware of what it's like to be asthmatic or suffer from COPD. These medications primary purpose is to reduce the inflammation that occurs in the lungs. This inflammation reduces the airflow into and out of the lungs making it more difficult to breath. The inflammation can occur in degrees from minor discomfort where you're aware of the reduced airflow to severe states where you're barely getting enough airflow to remain conscious. Asthma can and will negatively impact an individual's ability to be active in environments where the irritants that cause inflammation are located. These inhalers are a tremendous boon for patients that allows them to have a more normal lifestyle.

    What elimination of the exception did was raise the cost, anywhere from a 25-100% increase, of patients in order to have a normal lifestyle or causes them to reduce their usage of inhalers limiting their ability to have a normal lifestyle. Were these costs worth it for a product that contributed no more than 0.1% of CFC usage?

    --
    "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
  10. Re:All hot air? by jbengt · · Score: 2

    It's my understanding that most of the cfc compounds that were banned were actually heavier than air. Just how the heck did they get up in the upper atmosphere?

    You ever hear of diffusion? Or wind? Gravity is not the only force involved.
    Anyway, those chemicals have been unequivocally detected in the upper atmosphere, so they definitely got there.
    See here
    And here

  11. Re:All hot air? by HBI · · Score: 2

    Low flow toilet bowls, anyone? Now you can flush 2 or 3 times to get the effect of one pre-Al Gore flush. That's how you save water.

    --
    HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
  12. Re:All hot air? by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

    Be fair, the new style pressurized tank low flow toilets flush OK.

    When they don't blow up that is.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'