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

Chris Pratt
@prattprattpratt/X

Chris Pratt Roasted For Pretending To Close His Eyes While Praying In Viral Video

Chris Pratt is being roasted once again for what many consider yet another bit of performative Christianity.

Pratt, like many religious types, has been seizing the ongoing social media discourse about Charlie Kirk's death as an opportunity to highlight his faith.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Ripped After Griping About 'Sissy' New NFL Kickoff Rule In Unhinged Rant

President Donald Trump was criticized after he complained about the NFL's new "Dynamic Kickoff" rule that is designed to make playing football safer, calling it "sissy" football in a Monday morning post on Truth Social.

Under the previous rules, kickoffs began at the kicking team’s 35-yard line, with the goal of sending the ball as far as possible to pin the opposing offense deep in its own territory. The receiving team would try to advance the ball, which would often lead to high-speed collisions as players sprinted directly at each other.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mehdi Hasan; JD Vance
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Crooked Media; Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images

Political Commentator Epically Fact-Checks Vance's Baseless Claims About Political Violence

In the wake of far-right activist Charlie Kirk's assassination, Vice President JD Vance has stepped up his attacks on leftists, this time by baselessly claiming that the far-left is more likely to commit political violence than the far-right.

Vance hosted a special episode of Kirk's podcast to attack what he referred to as “the lunatics in American politics" and said without any evidence that the suspect in Kirk's killing was motivated by far-left ideology.

Keep ReadingShow less
group of people using laptop computers in an office
Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People Open Up About The Biggest Morons They've Ever Worked With

Have you ever met someone who made you wonder how they survive day-to-day? Simple tasks seem beyond their ccapabilities.

Have you ever worked with someone whose skills are completely inadequate for sustainment of life—let alone the needs of the job?

Keep ReadingShow less
Rafael "Ted" Cruz; screenshot of video Cruz posted on X
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; @tedcruz/X

Ted Cruz Dragged Over Cringey Video Of Him Painting Over Charlie Kirk Graffiti In Houston

On Sunday, Texas MAGA Republican Senator Rafael "Ted" Cruz exploited graffiti—allegedly found on a busy roadway in Houston—that was unkind toward murdered Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, for a self-promoting photo-op and video.

He then posted both still images and the video on X.

Keep ReadingShow less