Good news! The latest (November 29) false-color view of total ozone* over the Antarctic pole doesn’t look so bad. The picture displays areas with the least amount of ozone in purple and blue colors, and displays areas with more ozone in yellow and red colors.
We jest, of course. The ozone hole is as big as ever, as detailed in 2014 Antarctic Ozone Hole Holds Steady:
The Antarctic ozone hole reached its annual peak size on Sept. 11, according to scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The size of this year’s hole was 24.1 million square kilometers (9.3 million square miles) — an area roughly the size of North America.
The single-day maximum area was similar to that in 2013, which reached 24.0 million square kilometers (9.3 million square miles). The largest single-day ozone hole ever recorded by satellite was 29.9 million square kilometers (11.5 million square miles) on Sept. 9, 2000. Overall, the 2014 ozone hole is smaller than the large holes of the 1998–2006 period, and is comparable to 2010, 2012, and 2013.
The Antarctic ozone hole forms and expands during the spring in the Southern Hemisphere—that’s August and September for you Northern Hemisphere folks. The largest ozone hole was recorded September 24, 2006, but compare that to the largest hole from 2014:
The ozone hole above Antarctica on 29 November 2014. Photo: NASA
Be sure to see the daily animation for the current year from NASA’s Ozone Watch site.
Via: Ozone Hole Watch: Southern ozone map for 29 November 2014.
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