Ozone hole massive and still growing

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Ozone hole massive and still growing

WASHINGTON Saturday 9 September 2000

A United States satellite has detected an ozone "hole" over Antarctica that is three times larger than the entire land mass of the United States.

It is the largest such area ever observed, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced yesterday.

The "hole" expanded to a record size of approximately 28.3 million square kilometres on September 3. That exceeded the previous record set in 1998 by more than one million square kilometres, said NASA.

"These observations reinforce concerns about the frailty of the Earth's ozone layer," said Michael Kurylo, a NASA program manager.

"Although production of ozone-destroying gases has been curtailed under international agreements, concentration of the gases in the stratosphere are only now reaching its peak," Mr Kurylo said.

Ozone molecules make up a thin layer of the atmosphere that absorbs harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

NASA has been monitoring ozone levels over Antarctica since the early 1970s.

http://theage.com.au/news/20000909/A54724-2000Sep8.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 08, 2000


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