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NASA/Goddard
Maps of ozone concentrations over the Arctic on March 19, 2010 (left) and the same day in 2011 (right), measured by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura satellite.
By Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience
Cold temperatures, chlorine and a stagnant atmosphere caused a thinning in the ozone layer over the Arctic in 2011, a new NASA study finds.
This ozone loss is not the more famous ozone hole, found seasonally over Antarctica, which has been shrinking since the phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, that interact with ozone molecules in the atmosphere. These ozone molecules are made of three oxygen atoms bound together. Their high concentration in the stratosphere about 12 miles to 19 miles above the Earth's surface blocks harmful ultraviolet light from the sun.
Arctic ozone depletion is typically not as severe as that in the Antarctic. Over the South Pole, the sun barely or never sets around Christmas, creating a confluence of sunlight and cold in the atmosphere. Under these conditions, chlorine from CFCs eats away at ozone molecules. [See Ozone Animation]
Arctic ozone
Up north, however, the sun reappears in the sky in the spring as temperatures start to warm, so the conditions aren't as favorable for ozone depletion. But in 2011, the ozone concentration in the late winter Arctic was about 20 percent lower than average. [North vs. South Pole: 10 Wild Differences]
"You can safely say that 2011 was very atypical: In over 30 years of satellite records, we hadn't seen any time where it was this cold for this long," study researcher Susan Strahan, an atmospheric scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement.
Using atmospheric simulations, Strahan and her colleagues found that a mix of cold temperatures, chlorine and an unusually strong Arctic vortex caused the odd thinning. The Arctic vortex is a region of fast-blowing circular winds that get stronger each fall, creating an eddy of chilled air around the pole.
In 2011, the atmosphere was unusually quiet, allowing the Arctic vortex to remain strong well into the spring, after it usually breaks up. The reappearance of the sun in March while it was still especially cold created the conditions that led to the ozone thinning, the researchers report in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres.
"Arctic ozone levels were possibly the lowest ever recorded, but they were still significantly higher than the Antarctic's," Strahan said. "There was about half as much ozone loss as in the Antarctic," and the levels remained above the threshold for calling the ozone loss an actual "hole," Strahan added.
Future outlook
Strahan and her team calculate that two-thirds of the thinning was caused by a combination of chlorine pollution and extreme cold. The remaining third was caused by the oddly quiet atmosphere, which prevented ozone molecules from elsewhere from moving in to fill the gap.
The ozone layer over the Arctic returned to normal in April 2011. It's unlikely that such thinning will become a reoccurring problem, because the meteorological conditions were so odd, Strahan said. Not only that, but CFC levels in the atmosphere are still declining.
"If 30 years from now we had the same meteorological conditions again, there would actually be less chlorine in the atmosphere, so the ozone depletion probably wouldn't be as severe," she said.
Follow Stephanie Pappas @sipappas. Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience, Facebook or Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.
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Leave a Comment:
For the latest news concerning the Arctic Ozone hole...
see - //ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/NH.html
BTY - CFC's have a half-life of almost 100+years. The MAJORITY of the industrial World never stopped producing these CFCs. Expecting to see a decrease in 30+years is LUDICROUS...
The half-life of 100 years should not lead you to believe that there will not be a steady decrease of CFCs during that entire period, and beyond ..... we have every reason to expect a decrease in 30+ years and in fact there has already been a decrease which has caused a partial regeneration of the ozone layer and a reduction in the size of the "hole."
While the Western World stopped producing R-12, Halons and other CFCs. This will not become fully effective until 2030. Plus many systems still use these and there are NO effective replacements, especially in the Halons...
The Worlds Producers/Manufacturers, China, India and South Korea account for around 70% of global CFC production and they are still pumping it out...
BTY - 2012 Antarctic Ozone Hole was the second smallest in 20 Years, according to NASA... see - .nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/ozone-hole-2012.html
half life of 100 years doesn't mean they wait for 100 years to disappear. It means that half of it is gone in 100 years so in 30 years roughly 1/3 (or so) of it is gone and that can produce beneficial effects.
So what's your point AC, that this is a fraud? Can I offer you a cup of tea?
Ferrosynthesis-3490482,
You could be correct - If the World had STOPPED any additional CFC production and prevented the release of ALL the CFCs in use. But NEITHER of these happened and the World keeps ADDING more CFCs...
BTY - CFC degradation is not straight line and 1/3 of 50% is 1/6th of the original total, if it was straight line. Unlike in an exponential decay, the CFC half-life depends on the initial quantity, and the prospective half-life will change over time as the quantity decays...
Half life implies a Poisson distribution. Yes it is not linear, in fact early on it is steeper than linear. The 1/3 is a conservative estimate. Where do you get 1/6?
Just swing your brain and your eyeballs around the obvious people. Nothing here to see... Dumbasses. Look UP!!
weathermodification.com This is one of their official sites. The company itself, who DOES it!! This isn't a conspiracy website I'm linking you to. It's an actual company site which spells out exactly what they do.
They're not hiding it anymore because too many people are seeing through the lies. Look UP! We DO control the weather. We DO control our atmosphere. And yes, there ARE boneheads at the top who are doing all of this.
Remember those stories a few weeks ago about Pakistan bitching about the UN and America doing weather warfare and creating droughts? There ya go. The only reason these news stories are allowed to be published for us to see by MSN, YAhoo, and all the rest are because the powers-that-be are trying acclimate us to the idea that it's possible.
Why not blame it on chlorine in swimming pools, that are all over the world,
Why not try to understand a little about the science before you make a lame comment? Pools are not chlorinated with freon.
No, but the skies are being polluted with aluminum and barium particles to reflect the sunlight.
On purpose.
weathermodification.com This is one of their official sites. The company itself, who DOES it!! This isn't a conspiracy website I'm linking you to. It's an actual company site which spells out exactly what they do.
They're not hiding it anymore because too many people are seeing through the lies. Look UP! We DO control the weather. We DO control our atmosphere. And yes, there ARE boneheads at the top who are doing all of this.
Remember those stories a few weeks ago about Pakistan bitching about the UN and America doing weather warfare and creating droughts? There ya go. The only reason these news stories are allowed to be published for us to see by MSN, YAhoo, and all the rest are because the powers-that-be are trying acclimate us to the idea that it's possible.
"You can safely say that 2011 was very atypical: In over 30 years of satellite records, we hadn't seen any time where it was this cold for this long," study researcher Susan Strahan, an atmospheric scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement.
Interesting....
It's not what you think at all. It's all socially engineered ignorance on the part of some truly nefarious people. And all these 'scientists' know exactly what's going on but they're gagged. There have been some news channel meteorologists who've been canned for saying the word 'chemtrail' on national tv. We had one locally here less than six months ago.
weathermodification.com This is one of their official sites. The company itself, who DOES it!! This isn't a conspiracy website I'm linking you to. It's an actual company site which spells out exactly what they do.
They're not hiding it anymore because too many people are seeing through the lies. Look UP! We DO control the weather. We DO control our atmosphere. And yes, there ARE boneheads at the top who are doing all of this.
Remember those stories a few weeks ago about Pakistan bitching about the UN and America doing weather warfare and creating droughts? There ya go. The only reason these news stories are allowed to be published for us to see by MSN, YAhoo, and all the rest are because the powers-that-be are trying acclimate us to the idea that it's possible.
@AC Robertson-2414093
Thanks for the link!
@StunnedByTheAge
Interesting... and a little disquieting?
2nd L of TD + isolated system - entropy = wtf it's >9(10 3)!
"winter Arctic was about 20 percent lower than average" Is it possible that no one knows anymore what the word "Average" means? Average does NOT mean what the amount of ozone SHOULD be, it means if you add all the times studied and divide by the number of times studied, you get a number you can play with.. A number that really has no meaning what so ever... Yet I see "science" articles all the time that try and make the average is not being hit, so the sky is falling....
All scientific BS explanations.... Who is to say that this event is not cyclical with or without CFC's.
nut69
I guess we could start with the atmospheric scientists who have spent a lifetime studying the issue, bonehead. Do you label everything that you lack either the interest or intelligence to understand as "BS"?
And who, besides lower-quartile middle school students, thinks screen names with "69" in them are cute. I'm not a prude and it's not shocking ..... I just don't understand the arrested development. Stories about "boogers" are funny for children too.
I agree with the arrested development comments, don97524, but the rest.... I gotta correct you. It's not what you think at all. It's all socially engineered ignorance on the part of some truly nefarious people.
weathermodification.com This is one of their official sites. The company itself, who DOES it!! This isn't a conspiracy website I'm linking you to. It's an actual company site which spells out exactly what they do.
They're not hiding it anymore because too many people are seeing through the lies. Look UP! We DO control the weather. We DO control our atmosphere. And yes, there ARE boneheads at the top who are doing all of this.
Remember those stories a few weeks ago about Pakistan bitching about the UN and America doing weather warfare and creating droughts? There ya go. The only reason these news stories are allowed to be published for us to see by MSN, YAhoo, and all the rest are because the powers-that-be are trying acclimate us to the idea that it's possible.
BS.
Check out the official website to see what really caused all this!
weathermodification.com
They're not hiding this stuff anymore! They plainly tell you that they're controlling weather. Have a drought? Look up! It's all right there in front of your faces and it has been for decades, only increasing in frequency the past ten years.
This chemical spraying combined with HAARP is a loaded gun and guess who's holding it, people?
H A A R P
HEY SHEEPLE!!!! I worked as a refrigeration tec most of my life. We are the guys that keep your food frozen. I just have to say ONE THING. Chlorine is chlorine and has the same effect no matter what the source. Youall think the chlorine in refrigerants is different from the one in the bleach you use or the one used to purify city water. WELL IT ISN'T. Think about the rail cars full of chlorine sitting on the tracks at your municipal water treatment facility. The CFC ban at the Montreal Protocol was instigated a chemical company whose patent was to expire on R-12 and had compounded R134a for the Army but the Army didn't want it, SO HERE WE ARE TODAY still believing that ozone crap.
jim
I'm a chemist and not a sheep. CFC stand for chlorofluorocarbon and CFCs are definitely different from bleach and elemental chlorine. The CFC issue was largely solved in spite of boneheads like you who are ignorant about the science but yet so willing to call others childish names like 'SHEEPLE". You will continue to be a bonehead as long as you continue to get your science information from Rush, Glenn, the Fox News Clown Posse and other conservative media.
Childish names? Boneheads?
Childish names? Sheeple?
I've worked in the Refrigeration Industry for almost 40 years now. I'd like for you as a chemist to explain to me how Pool Chlorine is not the same as Refrigerant Chlorine. BTW I still remember my 6th grade science courses and know Chlorine is a basic element # 17 on the element chart. Also Carbon is #6 and Fluorine is #9 on the basic element chart. R-12, has the honor of being the most tested man-made compound on earth, and in all cases has been found to be extremely safe. You can't say that for the modern refrigerants. Whenever a Volcano goes off, it discharges tons of Carbon, Fluorine and Chlorine into the upper most levels of atmosphere, and has no effect on the Ozone. This is more than mankind has ever be able to manufacture in the form refrigerants. There was never a problem with holes in the Ozone until Trans-Polar flights became a regular occurance. Do you think do to the Worldwide Economy tanking, there are fewer Trans-Polar Flights, and that is why we are seeing smaller Ozone holes above the Poles?
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
These are refrigerants that contain Chlorine, Fluorine and Carbon. They were developed in the 1930's and were used in a variety of industrial, commercial, household and automotive applications. They were ideal for commercial, household, and automotive use due to the fact that they are non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-reactive with other chemical compounds. In 1973 however, it was discovered that the Chlorine atom in the CFC's unfortunately is a catalyst for ozone depletion. Basically the Cl atom rips away the extra oxygen atom in the ozone compound. Since 1987 their use has been prohibited by the Montreal_Protocol.
Pool chlorine
Chlorine is the chemical most often used to keep swimming pools and Jacuzzis free of bacteria that can be hazardous to humans. CFCs are not used for swimming pools.
Chlorine kills bacteria though a fairly simple chemical reaction. The chlorine solution you pour into the water breaks down into many different chemicals, including hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypochlorite ion(OCl-). Both kill microorganisms and bacteria by attacking the lipids in the cell walls and destroying the enzymes and structures inside the cell, rendering them oxidized and harmless. The difference between HOCl and OCl- is the speed at which they oxidize. Hypochlorous acid is able to oxidize the organisms in several seconds, while the hypochlorite ion may take up to 30 minutes.
Some large municipal pools use Cl2, elemental chlorine, and that is the chlorine form typically used to purify municipal water supplies.