Last week, the Antarctic ozone hole peaked at moderate size for the third year in a row, now larger than North America, but experts note that it is still declining in general.
According to NASA, the ozone hole reached its maximum size of 26.4 million km2 on 5 October, which is the maximum size since 2015, and scientists have stated that because of the lower temperatures above the southern polar regions, which range from 12 to 20 km, where the ozone hole is located, the conditions are ripe for ozone-absorbing chlorine chemicals.
"The overall trend is an improvement: this year's situation is a little worse, due to the colder weather," said the head of the Goddard Space Mission Centre, NASA Paul Newman, who is monitoring ozone depletion. "All the data show that ozone is on the line."
A simple view of the maximum size of the ozone hole, especially in October, can be misleading, as Susan Solomon, the leading ozone specialist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, believes.
The chemicals of chlorine and bromine are eating the Earth's protective ozone layer in the atmosphere. According to scientists, cold weather creates clouds that emit chemicals. The colder the clouds and the bigger the ozone hole.