Near-Record Extent For Antarctic Ozone Hole - Just Short Of All-Time 27M KM2 High In 2006

[hatrack]

THE Antarctic ozone hole, yawning open longer than usual, is topping out this year as one of the larger holes ever recorded.

Instead of following the usual pattern of hitting a maximum, then declining, the hole has stayed near its peak for weeks, even rising again last week, according to measurements made by NASA.

The US space agency's OMI satellite captured a maximum of 26 million square kilometres on September 12, but showed it rising again in recent days as ozone-depleted air repeatedly brushed the far south of South America. Larger than in the previous two years, it was still short of the record 2006 hole measured by NASA at 27 million square kilometres - the size of North America.

It was persisting under the influence of particularly strong prevailing winds in the upper atmosphere, the CSIRO's Paul Fraser said yesterday. Dr Fraser confirmed trends still indicated recovery of Earth's ozone layer, while uneven, was continuing, with man-made ozone-depleting chemicals now about 15 per cent below their peak in the atmosphere.

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http://www.smh.com.au/environment/ozone-hole-grows-to-near-record-size-20111010-1lhmd.html