University of Waterloo’s (Canada) Professor Qing-Bin Lu has discovered a large, all-season ozone hole in the lower stratosphere over the tropics (30 deg N – 30 deg S).
Key highlights
- This new ozone hole exists in the lower stratosphere over the tropics across the seasons since the 1980s.
- Its area is about seven times that of the springtime ozone hole over Antarctica.
- The worry is that the tropics constitute half the planet’s surface area and are home to about half the world’s population.
- Ozone hole existence over tropics could cause a serious global concern as it can lead to increases in ground-level UV radiation and affect 50% of Earth’s surface area, which is home to approximately 50% of the world’s population.
Effects
- The depletion of the ozone layer can lead to increased ground-level UV radiation, which can increase risk of skin cancer and cataracts in humans, as well as weaken human immune systems, decrease agricultural productivity, and negatively affect sensitive aquatic organisms and ecosystems.
- Since ozone loss is well-known to lead to stratospheric cooling, the presence of the all-season tropical ozone hole and the seasonal polar ozone holes is equivalent to the formation of three ‘temperature holes’ in the global lower stratosphere.
About ozone layer
- The ozone layer absorbs most of the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation.
- In the mid-1970s, atmospheric research suggested the ozone layer might be depleted because of industrial chemicals, primarily chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
- The 1985 discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole confirmed ozone depletion caused by chlorofluorocarbons.
- Although bans on such chemicals have helped slow ozone depletion, evidence suggests ozone depletion persisted.
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