The hole in the Antarctic ozone layer is shrinking

In recent months, many regions in Vietnam and the world are constantly experiencing prolonged heat and drought, making us think of the global warming of the greenhouse effect. If people do not have effective measures to protect this planet, namely cut greenhouse gas emissions (CO ₂ ), then the temperature will surely rise.

>>> New discovery of the ozone layer hole in Antarctica

The warming of the Earth will melt snow and ice in the two poles, causing sea levels to rise and consequently many places will be flooded. It is a scenario that will happen in the future, but recently the hole in the ozone layer in Antarctica has been shrinking, expected to disappear by 2060.

The blue area is the ozone hole

The hole in the Ozone layer was discovered and published in 1985 by Joe Farman, a physicist (he died in the middle of May 2013). As we know, the ozone layer helps protect the Earth from dangerous radiation rays from the Sun, which cause cataracts, sunburn and skin cancer. Ozone has an average thickness of 300 Dobson Units (DU) equivalent to 3mm, when it is below 220DU it is called "punctured" . In 1992, NASA recorded Ozone thickness in Antarctica with only 100DU, and in 2006 it was 93DU and by October 2012 it increased to 124DU.

The area of ​​punctures on the Ozone floor when discovered was very large, in 2010 it reached the largest size, up to 30 million square kilometers, which is three times larger than Australia, equal to North America (the area of ​​America and Canada combined. ). By the end of 2012, NASA said that the gap has been shrinking, now "only" about 21 million square kilometers, equal to two thirds of 2010.

Ozone hole through the years (blue is a punctured area)

It is expected that by 2060, the Ozone floor in Antarctica can be restored as before. Ozone floors are punctured as a result of the use of CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) invented in the 1920s and are widely used in refrigeration equipment in the 20th century. By now this gas is almost no longer used. Also, thanks to an unused international treaty, CFC signed in September 1987.