Scientists say there are promising signs for the ozone layer above Antarctica, but that trends will need to continue for several decades before this critical layer of the stratosphere is fully recovered.

According to NOAA’s annual ozone summarylayer depletion from September 7 to October 13 ranked seventh lowest since monitoring began in 1992.

While the ozone hole was still sizable – estimated to be three times the size of the neighboring United States – its size generally continued to shrink.

“The Antarctic hole of 2024 is smaller than those observed in the early 2000s,” Paul Newman, a member of NASA’s ozone research team, said in a statement. “This gradual improvement over the past two decades indicates that international efforts to reduce ozone-destroying chemicals are working.”

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Scientists attribute some of these improvements to a reduction in chlorofluorocarbons, or what are commonly called CFCs.

These chemical compounds were once used as refrigerants, propellants and solvents, but resulted in the destruction of ozone molecules in the stratosphere.

Countries signed agreements and committed to phasing out CFCs starting in the late 1980s, leading to an estimated decline of more than 90% from peak levels.

“For 2024, we can see that the severity of the ozone hole is lower than average compared to other years of the last three decades, but the ozone layer is still far from being completely healed,” he said. said Stephen Montzka, a scientist at NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory. .

In addition to satellites in orbit EarthNOAA scientists rely on weather balloons to make observations in measurements called Dobson units.

The lowest ozone value ever recorded at the South Pole was 92 Dobson units in October 2006.

The reported value for 2024 was 109 Dobson units, about half the value recorded in the 1970s.

“This is well below the 225 Dobson units that were typical of ozone coverage over Antarctica in 1979,” Bryan Johnson, a research chemist at NOAA, said in a statement. “There is therefore still a long way to go before atmospheric ozone returns to levels before the advent of widespread CFC pollution.”

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As scientists continue to monitor the ozone layer, many hope it will recover over the coming decades.

Based on NOAA analysis and NASAUS agencies estimate that if positive trends continue, the ozone layer over Antarctica could completely recover by 2066.

Ozone recovery would allow Earth to block more harmful ultraviolet rays from the planet. Sunleading to less damaging impacts on humans and ecosystems.

Original article source: Trends indicate the ozone layer above the South Pole could fully recover by 2066, says NOAA