Hole In The Ozone Layer Smallest In 29 Years (weather.com)

An anonymous reader quotes the Weather Channel: The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica is the smallest it's been since 1988, NASA said. According to a press release, the hole in the Earth's ozone layer is 1.3 million square miles smaller than last year and 3.3 million square miles smaller than 2015... This year, the hole grew to 7.6 million square miles. NASA and NOAA scientists said warmer temperatures and a stormier upper atmosphere helped keep damaging chemicals chlorine and bromine from eating ozone from the layer that protects the Earth's surface from harmful ultraviolet rays... The hole that hovers over Antarctica has been slowly recovering, scientists say, due to an international ban on harmful chemicals that were previously used in refrigerants and aerosols.

The hole was its largest in 2000 and measured 11.5 million square miles. Although recovery is underway, the size of the hole remains large compared to the 1980s, when the hole was first detected, NASA noted. And while there has been significant healing of the ozone layer in recent years, some scientists say full healing is a slow process and will not occur until sometime in the 22nd century, Yale Environment 360 reports. Others expect the Antarctic ozone hole to recover back to 1980 levels around 2070, NASA said.

Comments

This shows we can handle environmental problems

[JoshuaZ]

This is a really good demonstration that we can handle serious environmental problems if we put in the effort, and we can do so without substantial economic impact. Yes, global warming is a more large scale problem than ozone depletion but the basic point remains. We've now essentially solved both the ozone hole problem and acid rain, through a combination of market forces, better technology, and government incentives. We can do the same for global warming. Let's actually do that. Unfortunately, over the last few years, some aspects of the right in the US have become so against helping the environment that they are blocking any serious attempt to deal with these issues, and we'll all going to suffer as a result.

Re:This shows we can handle environmental problems

[Opportunist]

We've mostly "mastered" it because industries found inexpensive replacements for pollutants and they managed to use imposing pollution standards as a way to stem competition from poorer nations that cannot match environment standards and thus can't enter markets that require industries to heed standards.

It's not that easy this time. China is way ahead in its "green" industry efforts while your head honcho is trying to push coal. If you forced environmental standards onto industries, the US would not be among the winners this time.

Thanks to international government regulations

[interkin3tic]

It's a good thing this happened in the 70's and 80's when conservatives were still reasonable. The montreal protocol would have never passed today. Australians and those in the southern united states would be red and blistered and hollering about "hands off my fridge" and liberal conspiracies about invisible rays.

Re:Thank Bush 41

[whoever57]

Which shows how crazy the current crop of Republicans are.

Re:Note to Republicans

[Opportunist]

What's really crazy about this is that the older ones of us will remember Reagan well.

If I told you in 88 that Reagan will be considered in hindsight to be a level headed, sensible, intelligent and fairly moderate Republican, you'd probably have looked at me like I had three heads.