Ozone hole has been keeping Antarctic cool

Remember the ozone hole in Antarctica?  Discovery that CFCs used for refrigerators, air conditioning and a variety of manufacturing processes were creating a hole in the earth's protective ozone layer led to a worldwide ban on these chemicals. Well the good news is that since the ban the ozone layer in Antarctica has been recovering. The bad news is that scientists think that re-establishing the ozone layer will contribute to warming in Antarctica.  "While Earth's average surface temperatures have been increasing, the interior of Antarctica has exhibited a unique cooling trend during the austral summer and fall caused by ozone depletion", said Judith Perlwitz of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint institute of CU-Boulder and NOAA. "If the successful control of ozone-depleting substances allows for a full recovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica, we may finally see the interior of Antarctica begin to warm with the rest of the world," Perlwitz said.  more... Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 255 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Comment smaller | bigger Write the displayed characters Add Comment

Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 May 2008 )

 

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