Ozone Layer Hole Over Arctic Closes!

A rare hole in the ozone layer, covering over 1 million square kilometre in area and was found by scientists initially this month. The hole was considered to be a result of low temperatures at the north pole. But recently scientists have confirmed that, the largest hole in the earth's ozone layer over the Arctic has closed.
The ozone hole in the atmosphere generally covers an area around three times the size of Greenland and exposes to the people living at far northern latitudes to high levels of ultraviolet radiation if it grows much larger. The Ozone layer is a region in the Earth’s stratosphere that absorbs the sun’s ultraviolet rays, shielding the planet from the harmful radiation which can cause skin cancer. In the 1970s, scientists discovered that the ozone layer was being depleted due to man-made activities, thereby leading to a threat to life on Earth.
This year the polar vortex has been extremely powerful and temperatures inside it is found to be very cold. By this stratospheric clouds destroy the ozone layer by reacting with CFC gases, banned by the 1987 Montreal Protocol.
The largest hole in the Ozone layer above the Arctic caused due to the unusual atmospheric conditions has closed, as per reports. The information has been confirmed by Copernicus ECMWF -- A European satellite system. They added that the closing of the hole was not due to the reduced levels of pollution during the coronavirus lockdown. It is believed that the polar vortex, the high-altitude currents that are responsible for bringing cold air to the polar regions, is responsible for the healing of the layer.

By: Saksham Gupta