The loss of ozone over Antarctica in the southern hemisphere is relatively well documented and popularly known, especially within Australia where for residents of southern states (like the island state of Tasmania) venturing out into the sun during summer is downright dangerous. Simply put, conditions in the Arctic — on the other side of the
Manmade pollutants, such as black carbon and tropospheric ozone, are most likely what’s causing the tropical belt expansion northward, a new study says. In the Southern Hemisphere, depletion of stratospheric ozone has previously been shown to be the cause of tropical expansion. But, in the Northern Hemisphere, the main cause appears to be black carbon
Each spring the ozone hole which hovers over Antarctica reaches its maximum, and on September 12 it stretched some 10.05 million square miles, the ninth largest stretch on record. More specifically, above the South Pole, levels of ozone dropped to the 10th lowest in its 26 year record.
Akin to the ozone loss which has been much publicized over Antarctica, the Arctic saw massive ozone losses in 2011 thanks to unusually low temperatures which lingered for a longer than normal time in the stratosphere.
With the previous decades increase in ozone-depleting gases and now the more recent results of an increase in carbon dioxide, new research suggests that southern South America is likely to see more and more wildfires as climate conditions are negatively affected by human intervention.
A new study has for the first time shown a direct link between the ozone hole which rests over Antarctica and climate change in the entire Southern Hemisphere.
The European Space Agency, the UN’S World Meteorological Organization, and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research are among the leading authorities reporting a record depletion of the ozone layer over the Arctic.
According to the WMO, “depletion of the ozone layer … has reached an unprecedented level over the Arctic this spring because of the continuing presence of ozone-depleting substances…”
Cooler temperatures in the ozone layer above the Arctic have recently caused a dramatic drop in ozone levels, suggesting that the region is in for a record loss of the trace gas that protects the planet’s surface from ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Methane (CH4) is the main constituent of natural gas, and is the result of natural decomposition processes. Although its lifetime in the atmosphere as a free gas is much shorter than CO2, it is 23 times more potent in terms of its heat trapping ability. This past month, there has been a flurry of news,
