Jakarta –
Condition ozone layer in Antarctica has attracted the attention of scientists because of its giant size. This is indicated by the ozone hole in Antarctica getting bigger, even including the largest on record. In the visual map released, the Earth also appears hollow.
This was revealed by Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service scientists who revealed that currently, the ozone hole in Antarctica is three times the size of Brazil, as reported detikINET from IFL Science.
“The Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite showed that the ozone hole in Antarctica had widened to 26 million square kilometers in September,” they said.
Scientists believe that the Ozone hole has started to widen since mid-August 2023. This was stated by Antje Inness who is a scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
“Our operational ozone monitoring shows that the ozone hole has existed since early 2023, then grew rapidly in mid-August,” he said.
The holes will continue to grow around mid-October as temperatures warm. This can disrupt the polar vortex. The polar vortex is a flow of cold, low-pressure air that rotates at the Earth’s north and south poles
But there’s no need to be overly afraid, this very large ozone hole is likely an uncommon phenomenon. ESA believes it is too early to speculate about the causes behind the current state of the ozone hole.
It is possible that the thinning of the ozone layer is due to the eruption of Mount Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’pai which is under the sea in 2022. This eruption sent large amounts of water into the earth’s atmosphere. “The eruption of Mount Hunga Tonga in January 2022 exploded a lot of water vapor into the stratosphere which eventually reached the polar regions,” added Inness.
Innes explains how water vapor can cause the formation of polar stratospheric clouds that increase in Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). This is what accelerates the depletion of the ozone layer.
“Water vapor can cause increased formation of polar stratospheric clouds, where chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can react and accelerate ozone depletion,” he explained.
*This article was written by Argya D. Maheswara, participant of the Merdeka Campus Certified Internship Program at detikcom
Watch the Video “Warning! Antarctic Sea Ice Levels Decreasing Drastically”
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2023-10-07 05:15:29
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