NYT -- ozone hole / Antarctica / chlorine / etc.
[See my capitalist pig / I doubt environmentalists - stuff, after the article.]
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October 8, 2002
For the Ozone Layer, a New Look
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Is the ozone layer healing? Satellite observation of the
hole that developed over Antarctica in the mid-1980's shows
that it has split in two and has shrunk considerably since
last year, making it the smallest it has been since 1988.
But federal scientists say the condition is most likely
temporary and probably has nothing to do with the
international ban on chemicals that deplete the ozone
layer, which shields the planet from harmful solar
radiation.
The hole, actually a broad area of low ozone concentrations
caused by chlorofluorocarbons and other synthetic compounds
that destroy ozone, forms in September and October. At its
peak this year, it covered six million square miles, down
from an average of nine million over the last six years.
But this is probably because of an unusual confluence of
events, said scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Md., in particular, warm temperatures
around the edges of the vortex of high-altitude winds at
the pole. In late September, stratospheric turbulence split
the ozone gap into two lobes, a condition not seen since
satellite observations of the atmosphere began in the early
1970's.
Still, the outlook is favorable. With long-lived
ozone-destroying chemicals banned under the Montreal
Protocol of 1987, the hole should shrink and disappear by
2050 or so, scientists say.
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company.
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I once heard that there is a HUGE volcano located in Antarctica.
This particular volcano spews massive amounts of chlorine gas (so much so that scientists had to use robots to explore the volcano) ... straight up into the atmosphere where ... guess what (!) is located.
Anyone else know anything about this volcano ?
I wonder if it happened to stop erupting just before the ozone hole magically started healing itself (?)
Jon. |
