A composite satellite image of Antarctica ... the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica is larger than ever, due to the coldest stratospheric temperatures in the region since 1979.
Credit: NASA
GENEVA: The hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica has beaten the record size logged six years ago, according to the United Nations' weather agency.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said that data from the U.S. space agency NASA showed that the hole in the atmospheric layer that guards the world against dangerous ultraviolet light had grown to 29.5 million square kilometres.
"This is the most serious on record," said Mark Oliver, spokesman for the WMO. "It has been caused by a particularly cold stratospheric winter."
The hole was recorded by NASA on September 25, he said, and just beat the previous record of 29.4 million square kilometres which was set in September 2000.
There is a growing body of evidence that 2006 will be a bad year for the Antarctic ozone layer, with scientists agreeing that the hole has reached record proportions. This is largely due to temperatures above Antarctica reaching the lowest recorded levels since 1979.
The hole measured by NASA was slightly bigger than the 28 million square kilometres announced by the European Space Agency (ESA) earlier this week.
However, the ESA also discovered other records: a loss of 40 million tonnes of ozone in October, exceeding the previous high of 39 million tonnes set in 2000.
Ozone loss is calculated by measuring the area and depth of the ozone hole in the stratosphere, about 25 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
The depth of the hole rivalled a record set in 1990, the ESA said.
Ozone, a molecule of oxygen, filters out dangerous ultraviolet rays from the Sun that damage vegetation and can cause skin cancer and cataracts.
Scientists say the layer has been badly damaged by man-made chemicals, especially by chlorine and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are used as aerosol gases and refrigerants.
The chemical reaction that thins ozone reaches its peak with colder high altitude temperatures in the southern hemisphere winter, normally in late August to October.
CFCs and other ozone enemies were controlled by an international treaty signed 19 years ago. However large ozone holes are expected to persist for the next couple of decades because of the amount of pollutants already stored in the atmosphere.
According to officials from the WMO and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the ozone layer over the Antarctic now looks set to be replenished 15 years later than originally predicted, setting the date back to 2065.
While ozone in the stratosphere is protective, at ground level a chemical reaction with exhaust fumes and sunlight makes ozone a pollutant that can be dangerous for people with respiratory or heart problems.
Our Planet Your Ozone
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