Ozone hole above Antarctica is now three times the size of Brazil

A map of the ozone hole. (Image credit: NASA Ozone Watch)

The hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica has grown to become one of the biggest ever seen, reaching almost three times the size of Brazil, researchers said after analysing satellite data. The observations were made after images taken by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite were released recently.

Experts believe that the massive gap could have been caused by the eruption of Tonga's underwater volcano in early 2022  which introduced massive quantities of water vapor into the air.

“The water vapor could have led to the heightened formation of polar stratospheric clouds, where chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can react and accelerate ozone depletion," Antje Inness, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service senior scientist, stated.

Currently, the ozone hole spans 26 million square kilometres, Space.com reported. The last recorded instance of the biggest ozone hole was in 2000 when the gap reached nearly 28.4 million square kilometers in area.

The size of the ozone-depleting area fluctuates throughout the year. It peaks between August and October and during mid-September and mid-October, the hole is at its largest. This is primarily caused by the notable rise in temperatures in the southern hemisphere, resulting in ozone depletion.

Ozone is a naturally occurring gas, and a layer of it in the atmosphere protects us from the sun's ultraviolet which causes skin cancer, among other conditions. In 1985, a hole in the ozone layer was discovered above Antarctica and later it was discovered that the use of substances such as CFCs resulted in the depletion of the ozone layer. Since then, there has been a ban on ozone-depleting substances and the hole in the ozone layer is monitored closely.