OZone Layer Hole Closing

“This is the smallest hole for a decade”.

The ozone layer is on track to a full recovery, with the latest sets of satellite images showing the hole is shrinking.

“Apart from the (unusual) 2002 hole, this is the smallest hole for at least a decade,” CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric scientist, Dr Paul Fraser, said.

The hole in the ozone layer has been progressively shrinking since the phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halon gases in the 1990s.

“I think our long term prediction is still basically out to 2060 before we’ll get long-term recovery,” Dr Fraser said.

“We’ve got this large reservoir of CFCs and halons sitting in the atmosphere, slowly leaking into the stratosphere where it does the ozone destruction,” Dr Fraser said.“The slow leakage means it will around for a long time. We’re paying for the sins of the past.”

He added that increased levels of greenhouse gases are likely to push delay an ozone recovery by a few decades.  Simon Turner