We have always been concerned about the ozone layer. A hypothetical disappearance of ozone would put us at serious risk. That's why the unprecedented hole over the Arctic was so striking. It has been registered in the past few weeks. But now ozone-rich air was bursting due to the division of the polar vortex. And all thanks to a sustained large-scale cyclone located in the middle and upper troposphere and stratosphere. This closes the hole in the ozone layer.
“The unprecedented ozone hole in the northern hemisphere in 2020 has ended. The polar vortex has split so that ozone-rich air can enter the Arctic. “Say so on his Twitter account the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. He notes that the situation was in line with last week's forecasts.
Is not expected to open soon
Copernicus adds that the polar vortex is not yet over and will be reformed in the coming days. However, the ozone levels will not return to the very low levels seen in early April.
What happened back then? Special weather conditions caused unusual ozone depletion in the stratosphere above the Arctic this spring. The same has been true for decades in the Antarctic after the end of the southern winter. The loss of this gas reached 30 percent in the vertical of the North Pole at temperatures below -80 degrees Celsius. Usually the stratosphere over the Arctic is too warm and the polar vortex too unstable for these conditions to exist.
The hole in the ozone layer in Antarctica was reinforced by other factors decades ago. For example, industrial emissions of CFC gases that destroy ozone. It is a gas that protects life on earth from ultraviolet rays. The ban on these compounds in the Montreal Protocol of 1989 has led to a decrease in this phenomenon, which is unusual in the Arctic. So it is good news to learn that the hole in the ozone layer is at least closed for the time being.
