Ozone hole over Antarctica grows again
The ozone hole over Antarctica grew to the size of North America this year – the fifth largest on record – according to the latest satellite observations. US government scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say this year's ozone hole reached its maximum level on September 12, extending to 10.5m sq miles and four miles deep. That is bigger than 2007 but smaller than 2006, when the hole covered over 11.4m sq miles.Scientists blamed colder-than-average temperatures in the stratosphere for the ozone hole's unusually large size this year. "Weather is the most important factor in the fluctuation of the size of the ozone hole from year to year," said Bryan Johnson, a scientist at NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, which monitors ozone, ozone-depleting chemicals, and greenhouse gases around the globe. "How cold the stratosphere is and what the winds do determine how powerfully the chemicals...
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