The Arctic’s largest recorded ozone hole has suddenly closed
It was largely unprecedented
A record-breaking ozone hole found over the Arctic this year has suddenly healed and closed itself up.The Copernicus’ Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) announced that the ‘rather unusual‘ hole they’ve been tracking for months is closed due to unforeseen circumstances.
ICYDK, an ozone hole appears on Earth when there’s a significant thinning of the ozone layer. The phenomenon usually happens in Antarctica (south pole), with this aforementioned Arctic hole being the largest recorded instance in almost a decade.
ICYDK, an ozone hole appears on Earth when there’s a significant thinning of the ozone layer. The phenomenon usually happens in Antarctica (south pole), with this aforementioned Arctic hole being the largest recorded instance in almost a decade.
Despite the assumption that the ongoing Coronavirus lockdowns led to the disappearance of the ozone hole, researchers clarify that us staying inside isn’t the reason for this particular environmental occurrence. ‘Actually, COVID19 and the associated lockdowns probably had nothing to do with this,’ CAMS tweeted in response to the claims.
‘[The ozone hole closure] has been driven by an unusually strong and long-lived polar vortex and isn’t related to air quality changes.’
‘[The ozone hole closure] has been driven by an unusually strong and long-lived polar vortex and isn’t related to air quality changes.’
Basically, since the hole was caused by external reasons like ‘unusual atmospheric conditions’, researchers can’t say for sure that lockdowns were the solution – so let’s not misconstrue this as the #EarthIsHealing.
