2023-10-04 18:07:04
Ozone hole in the southern winter of 2023 – ESA
MADRID, 4 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Measurements from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite show that this year’s ozone hole over Antarctica is one of the largest on record, and the eruption of the Tonga volcano is suspected.
The hole, which is what scientists call an “ozone depletion zone,” reached a size of 26 million square kilometers on September 16, 2023. This is about three times the size of Brazil, reports the ESA.
The size of the ozone hole fluctuates periodically. From August to October, the ozone hole increases in size, reaching a maximum between mid-September and mid-October. When temperatures high in the stratosphere begin to rise in the Southern Hemisphere, ozone depletion slows, the polar vortex weakens and eventually breaks down, and towards the end of December ozone levels return to normal.
POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF THE TONGA VOLCANO
The variability in the size of the ozone hole is largely determined by the strength of a strong band of wind that flows around the Antarctic zone. This strong wind band is a direct consequence of the Earth’s rotation and the strong temperature differences between polar and moderate latitudes.
If the wind band is strong, it acts as a barrier: air masses between polar and temperate latitudes can no longer be exchanged. The air masses are then isolated in the polar latitudes and cool during the winter.
Although it may be too early to discuss the reasons behind current ozone concentrations, some researchers speculate that this year’s unusual ozone patterns could be associated with the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in January 2022, according to the ESA.
Antje Inness, Senior Scientist at Copernicus, explains: “The eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano in January 2022 injected a large amount of water vapor into the stratosphere, which only reached the south polar regions after the end of the ozone hole. 2022.
“Water vapor could have led to increased formation of polar stratospheric clouds, where chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can react and accelerate the depletion of the ozone layer. The presence of water vapor may also contribute to the cooling of the Antarctic stratosphere, “further enhancing the formation of these polar stratospheric clumps and resulting in a more robust polar vortex.”
However, it is important to note that the exact impact of the Hunga Tonga eruption on the Southern Hemisphere ozone hole is still a topic of ongoing research. This is due to the absence of previous cases of such substantial amounts of water vapor being injected into the stratosphere in modern observations.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the widespread use of harmful chlorofluorocarbons in products such as refrigerators and aerosol cans damaged the ozone high in our atmosphere, which caused a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica.
In response to this, the Montreal Protocol was created in 1987 to protect the ozone layer by progressively eliminating the production and consumption of these harmful substances, which has led to a recovery of the ozone layer.
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