You’re probably familiar with the infamous ozone hole over Antarctica, caused by damaging and now-illegal chemicals.
But during March and April this year there was a notable zone of depleted ozone — which protects life from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation — over the Arctic, too. It closed last week, though it wasn’t nearly as robust as the annual Antarctic ozone hole, and it certainly wasn’t a big health threat to humanity. (Though it’s always wise to diligently use sun protection, regardless of the ozone layer’s condition.)
“It’s unusual but not unexpected,” Paul Newman, the chief scientist in the Earth Sciences Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said of the recent Arctic ozone hole. Read more…
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