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Ozone Hole
2008
On September
12, 2008, the Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum size for the year.
Represented by blues and purples in this image from the Ozone Monitoring
Instrument (OMI) on NASA Aura satellite, the ozone hole covered about 27
million square kilometers, making it larger than North America, which is
about 25 million square kilometers. Though larger than it was in 2007, the
2008 ozone hole was still smaller than the record set in 2006.
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The 2008 ozone hole season is
past its peak and ozone levels over Antarctica are slowly rising, with the
ozone hole slowly shrinking. The polar vortex has been very stable
throughout the season, however the final spring warming is expected
towards the end of the month. During its initial stages, the ozone
hole was much smaller than has been usual for August, but it grew rapidly
as stratospheric clouds were exposed to sunlight. It covered over 25
million square kilometres in mid September, about the same as last year
and remained at around 24 million square kilometres until early October.
It is now around 14 million square kilometres, which is the largest
on record for this time of year. The temperature of the ozone layer
over Antarctica is rising as the spring warming takes hold, and is now
generally too warm for polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) to continue to
exist. The temperature within the polar vortex is generally a little
below the normal. Ozone values are above 350 DU in parts of the
circum-polar regions, which is a bit lower than at this time last year.
Lowest values, near 160 DU, are offset slightly from the pole towards the
Weddell Sea. The vortex briefly showed a more elliptical circulation
pattern, and the ozone hole extended over the tip of South America, the
Falkland Islands and South Georgia between October 28th and 30th.
PSCs were seen from Rothera on several occasions and also at Halley.
The 2008 ozone hole season is
past its peak and ozone levels over Antarctica are slowly rising, with the
ozone hole slowly shrinking. During the initial stages, the ozone
hole was much smaller than has been usual for August, but it grew rapidly
as stratospheric clouds were exposed to sunlight. It covered over 25
million square kilometres in mid September, about the same as last year
and remained at around 24 million square kilometres until early October.
It is now around 14 million square kilometres, which is larger than
it was at this time in 2007. The temperature of the ozone
layer over Antarctica is rising from the winter minimum as the spring
warming takes hold, but some areas are still cold enough for polar
stratospheric clouds (PSCs) to continue to exist. PSCs were seen
from Rothera on several occasions and also at Halley. Ozone values
are above 350 DU in parts of the circum-polar regions, which is a bit
lower than at this time last year. Lowest values, near 150 DU, are
over Dronning Maud Land. The temperature within the polar vortex is
generally a little below the normal. The vortex briefly showed a
more elliptical circulation pattern, and the ozone hole extended over the
tip of South America, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia between
October 28th and 30th.
The 2008 ozone hole season is
past its peak and ozone levels over Antarctica are rising. During
the initial stages, the ozone hole was much smaller than has been usual
for August, but it grew rapidly as stratospheric clouds were exposed to
sunlight. It covered over 25 million square kilometres in mid
September, about the same as last year and remained at around 24 million
square kilometres until early October. It is now around 16
million square kilometres, which is larger than it was at this time in
2007 . The temperature of the ozone layer over Antarctica is
beginning to rise from the winter minimum, but some areas are still cold
enough for polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) to continue to form.
PSCs were seen from Rothera on several occasions and also at Halley.
Ozone values are above 400 DU in parts of the circum-polar regions, which
is a bit lower than at this time last year. Lowest values, near 150
DU, are over Dronning Maud Land. The temperature within the polar
vortex is generally a little below the normal. The vortex has begun
to show a more elliptical circulation pattern, and the ozone hole is
expected to extend over the tip of South America, the Falkland Islands and
South Georgia between the 28th and 31st.
The 2008 ozone hole season is
past its peak and ozone levels over Antarctica are rising. During
the initial stages, the ozone hole was much smaller than has been usual
for August, but it grew rapidly as stratospheric clouds were exposed to
sunlight. It covered over 25 million square kilometres in mid
September, about the same as last year and remained at around 24 million
square kilometres until early October. It is now around 20
million square kilometres, which is larger than it was at this time in
both 2006 and 2007 . The temperature of the ozone layer over
Antarctica is beginning to rise from the winter minimum, but is still cold
enough for polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) to continue to exist.
PSCs were seen from Rothera on several occasions and also at Halley.
Ozone values are above 400 DU in parts of the circum-polar regions, which
is a bit lower than at this time last year. Lowest values, near 130
DU, are over the Weddell Sea. The temperature within the polar
vortex is generally a little below the normal and it is showing a
relatively simple circulation pattern, with few excursions over
extra-polar regions.
The 2008 ozone hole season
is past its peak and ozone levels over Antarctica are rising.
During the initial stages, the ozone hole was much smaller than has been
usual for August, but it grew rapidly as stratospheric clouds were
exposed to sunlight. It covered over 25 million square kilometres
in mid September, about the same as last year and remained at around 24
million square kilometres until early October. It is now around 18
million square kilometres, which is larger than it was at this time in
2007 . The temperature of the ozone layer over Antarctica is
beginning to rise from the winter minimum, but is still cold enough for
polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) to continue to exist. They were seen
from Rothera on several occasions and also at Halley. Ozone values
are above 400 DU in parts of the circum-polar regions, which is a bit
lower than at this time last year. Lowest values, near 120 DU, are
over Dronning Maud Land. The temperature within the polar vortex
is generally a little below the normal and it is showing a relatively
simple circulation pattern, with few excursions over extra-polar
regions.
The 2008 ozone hole season
is near its peak. Ozone levels over Antarctica continue to drop as
stratospheric clouds are exposed to sunlight. During the initial
stages, the ozone hole was much smaller than has been usual for August,
but it grew rapidly and covered over 25 million square kilometres in mid
September, about the same as last year. It remains at around
25 million square kilometres, and is larger than it was in 2006 or 2007
in late September. The temperature of the ozone layer over
Antarctica is beginning to rise from the winter minimum. Polar
stratospheric clouds (PSCs) continue to form and they have been seen
from Rothera on several occasions and also at Halley. Ozone values
are above 400 DU in parts of the circum-polar regions, which is a bit
lower than at this time last year. Lowest values, below 120 DU,
are over central Antarctica. The temperature within the polar
vortex is generally a little below the normal and it is showing a
relatively simple circulation pattern, with few excursions over
extra-polar regions.
Situation at 2008
September 24British
Antarctic Survey Ozone Bulletin
The 2008 ozone hole season
has begun, and as sunlight returns to Antarctica ozone levels are dropping
as more stratospheric clouds are exposed to sunlight. During the
initial stages, the ozone hole was much smaller than has been usual for
August, but it has grown rapidly and covered over 25 million square
kilometres in mid September, about the same as last year. It
is now probably shrinking. The temperature of the ozone layer over
Antarctica is near its lowest of the winter. Polar stratospheric
clouds (PSCs) continue to form and they have been seen from Rothera on
several occasions and also at Halley. Ozone values are above 350 DU
in parts of the circum-polar regions, which is a bit lower than at this
time last year. Lowest values, below 130 DU, are over the Weddell
Sea, perhaps triggered by extensive PSC formation as stratospheric air
passes over the Antarctic Peninsula. The temperature within the
polar vortex is generally a little below the normal and it is showing a
relatively simple circulation pattern, with few excursions over
extra-polar regions.
Ozone
Hole August 2008 images
Ozone
Hole September 2008 images
Ozone
Hole October 2008 images
Ozone
Hole November 2008
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