Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

For Once, Some Good Environmental News Out of Antarctica

For Once, Some Good Environmental News Out of Antarctica

[DIGEST: BBC, CNN]

New research published in the journal Science suggests the thinning in the ozone layer above Antarctica is starting to heal. Researchers carried out detailed measurements of the amount of ozone in the stratosphere every September between 2000 and 2015. They used data collected from weather balloons, satellites and model simulations, to show the thinning of the layer declined by 1.5 million square miles, an area larger than India.


The researchers estimate the thinning in the ozone peaked in the 1990s, and credit the healing to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international agreement limiting the production of ozone-destroying chemicals, phasing out substances including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons, once present in refrigerators, hairsprays and air conditioners. Professor Susan Solomon of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who lead the research team, was optimistic. "We can now be confident that the things we've done have put the planet on a path to heal," she said in a statement. "We decided collectively, as a world, 'Let's get rid of these molecules'. We got rid of them, and now we're seeing the planet respond."

The ozone layer, a shield of gas surrounding the planet, blocks harmful ultraviolet radiation emitted from the sun. Depleting the layer endangers human and animal life, increasing the chances of skin cancers, cataract damage, and other diseases. The effects of depletion also extend to plant life, resulting in lower crop yields and the potential disruption of the ocean’s natural food chain. The ozone layer’s natural production and destruction in the stratosphere balances out over time, but the reason the thinning occurred primarily over Antarctica was due to the extremely cold climate and the presence of large amounts of light. These conditions helped produce polar stratospheric clouds, which in turn create the chlorine chemistry that destroys the ozone.

Credit: Source.

More than half the shrinkage, researchers found, is a result of the reduction in atmospheric chlorine. "Even though we phased out the production of CFCs in all countries including India and China around the year 2000, there's still a lot of chlorine left in the atmosphere," said Professor Solomon. "It has a lifetime of about 50-100 years, so it is starting to slowly decay and the ozone will slowly recover.” According to Professor Solomon, these chemicals have a lifespan of roughly 50 - 100 years, so researchers do not expect the hole to completely heal until at least 2050 or 2060.

Others in the scientific community are less optimistic and are not entirely convinced these findings can be attributed to the reduction of chlorine in the stratosphere. "The data clearly show significant year to year variations that are much greater than the inferred trends shown in the paper," said Dr Paul Newman from NASA. “If the paper included this past year, which had a much more significant ozone hole due to lower wave driven forcing, the overall trend would be less."

More from News

Katy Perry
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Katy Perry

Katy Perry Reacts After AI Image of Her At The Met Gala Fools The Internet Once Again

Katy Perry didn’t attend the 2025 Met Gala, but that didn’t stop a fake photo of her from going viral—again.

An AI-generated image showed the pop star in a dramatic gown, and a parody account on X claimed she was wearing a new kind of fabric called “Lustratex,” made by Mugler. They even posted a fake sketch of the dress and said Vogue had reported on it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Randy Rainbow and Pete Hegseth from "Incompetent" parody
@RandyRainbow/X

Randy Rainbow Hilariously Skewers Trump's 'Incompetent' Cabinet In 'Cinderella'-Inspired Parody Video

Political satirist and YouTube star Randy Rainbow is at it again, this time channeling the fairy godmother from Cinderella in a biting new musical parody video that mocks President Donald Trump's "incompetent" Cabinet officials.

Rainbow opens his latest video not with a mock interview of Trump, as is his usual style, but with Trump’s Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and immediately presses Hegseth about his reported use of multiple Signal group chats to discuss sensitive military matters:

Keep ReadingShow less
Elizabeth Warren; Linda McMahon
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Win McNamee/Getty Images

Elizabeth Warren Rips Education Secretary's Mind-Numbing Video For 'Teacher Appreciation Week'

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Education Secretary Linda McMahon for paying tribute to educators during "Teacher Appreciation Week," noting the hypocrisy of McMahon's actions as she honors teachers on one hand and works to dismantle the Department of Education on the other.

In March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order empowering McMahon “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hollywood sign
Venti Views on Unsplash

People Break Down The Nicest Celebrities They've Ever Met

A lot of attention is paid to fan interactions with celebrities that don't go well.

But there are plenty of times when everyone approached the situation with kindness and the experience was positive for both parties.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mike Lawler; Screenshot of Emily Feiner dragged out of town hall
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; @NYWFP/X

Town Hall Crowd Erupts In Jeering Chants After GOP Rep. Has Older Woman Dragged Out

New York Republican Representative Mike Lawler has angered his own constituents after he had a woman dragged out of his town hall for pressing him on his loyalty to President Donald Trump.

Emily Feiner, whose Bluesky profile describes her as a Jewish retired social worker and mother of two, later shared that she "was certainly no threat" and that she "asked my congressperson what his red line was to finally, vocally oppose the lawless administration and he didn’t answer the question, so I called out for him to answer it and he had me removed."

Keep ReadingShow less