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

[Anonymous Coward]

your head honcho is trying to push coal

Correction: Clean Coal

Clean American coal is the future for America and America's energy supply

agw

[phantomfive]

That's why we have global warming. Shouldn't have covered it up so some of the steam can come out, keep things cooler. I don't know what NASA is doing, I think for three minutes and I come up with better ideas than all of NASA scientists. This is why Donald Trump got elected wake up.

Thank Bush 41

[known_coward_69]

he pushed through an amendment to the clean air act in 1989 to ban the use of ozone depleting chemicals

Re:Thank Bush 41

[whoever57]

The parties switched ideologies in the last 15 years or so.

A convenient but false narrative. Convenient because it allows people to rationalize their support of the party of racists and bigots.

What has happened is that the center of politics has shifted to the right, so that the Dems are now where the Republicans were a few years ago and the Republicans are far to the right.

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:Thanks to international government regulations

[Insanity Defense]

Nonsense, as usual from the far left wing. Maybe you should examine the facts instead of the rag you read that espouses those collectivist views you adore so much.

But who cares. We are in charge now. Maybe it's now time to shut down all left wing press, thought, websites, groups, since you're so completely off the rails and unreasonable.

Just a thought.

While throwing out the 1st Amendment or maybe the whole Constitution.

Note to Republicans

[Anonymous Coward]

The Montreal Protocol is an international agreement to reduce emissions of ozone-depleting gases. It was ratified in 1989 with leadership from the United States, and has been very successful at reducing the ozone hole. President Reagan and President Bush (41) both supported the Montreal Protocol. Reagan overruled members of the cabinet who opposed the agreement. The State Department under the Bush administration warned that we cannot wait on acting to prevent climate change. History should remember these Republicans favorably as accepting science and taking action to mitigate climate change. Modern Republicans should take note. The Republican Party was not always willing to deny science for the purpose of helping big business.

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.

Re:Note to Republicans

[gtall]

And, Reagan got snookered by Tip O'Neill. Reagan would get his tax cuts and O'Neill would cut the appropriations. O'Neill never followed through and knew that his caucus didn't give a flying rat's ass what O'Neill promised Reagan, it was an empty promise.

Reagan at least knew that cutting taxes would increase the deficit and hence wanted the appropriations cut. When that didn't happen, his administration discovered voodoo economics. The economy was fueled by deficit spending and the beginnings of the tech revolution. Also the business cycle recovered from Carter's years.

The current lot of Republicans never learned that lesson. They somehow believe that since Kennedy cut taxes and increased tax receipts as a result, they can do the same thing. When taxes are that high (over 70% in some cases), that works. When taxes are relatively low like now, it doesn't work. They figure if they give companies and rich people more money, they'll invest in more business. What they leave out is that demand hasn't changed. Businessmen and rich people aren't stupid, they won't invest to meet non-existent demand.

Republicans also feel nostalgia for Bill Clinton and the boom economy of the 1990s. That happened because of the tech boom and the race to fix Y2K. Once that was over, in approx. April-May of 2000, the economy started tanking.

Believing a lie is never a recipe for success.

Clear and present

[PopeRatzo]

Before we pat ourselves on the back, we should remember that the Trump administration just appointed a man to the EPA advisory board who believes that the air in America is, "a little too clean for optimum health".

No, I'm not joking. That's what he said. .

https://www.independent.co.uk/...

Ha - fix one, break another

[DCFusor]

Fixing the ozone hole (freon) by replacing freon with hydrofluorcarbons was a big mistake, they are far more potent greenhouse gases. Don't pat humans on the back yet, we're not that smart. Ref: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-... Citation provided.