Graph of the Day: Ozone Hole Area, 2000-2009
This graph from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which collects and collates data on the Antarctic ozone “hole”, makes clear that although the exact size of the hole varies from year to year, it’s stubbornly resistant to going away. This is despite the fact that within months, the Montreal Protocol’s list of banned chemicals will rise to 100 – all the variants of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrobromofluorocarbons (HBFCs) and so on whose stratospheric chemical offspring gnawed away the ozone layer as their usage soared in the determinedly white-coated years following World War II. Why the ozone hole has not started to recover, as scientists initially believed it would, is a complex and only partially understood issue. …
Sober exit from the ozone party
