Antarctic ozone hole sets record

CNN ^ | September 12, 2003 | Reuters

[Abcdefg]

Satellite image of the ozone hole as it split last year.

LONDON (Reuters) -- The gaping, man-made hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has hit record proportions for this time of year and could get bigger still within the next few days, a leading scientist said on Friday.

[Abcdefg]

"Man-made"?? CNN fraudulent reportage.

[Jim Robinson]

Alright that does it. Which one of you guys poked a hole in the ozone layer? Knock it off!

[finnman69]

Oooppps I farted.

[FreePaul]

If we had only outlawed Freon 12 when we had the chance back in .... Wait, didn't we outlaw it? Maybe we need to get Freon 12 back to plug to ozone hole. It could happen.

[wizardoz]

It was my little sister, back in '88. She had big hair, the biggest of the big, and stiffer than a dead cat. It was the hairspray. She completely lacquered the inside of the bathroom and we found out she was smoking on the side when the fumes exploded and the toilet seat ended up in the neighbor's yard.

[GSWarrior]

I'd like to see some attribution. Oh wait, it's CNN. Never mind.

[Procyon]

The size of the hole peaks towards the end of September because the hole has been in darkness now for six-month long Southern winter. The sun rises at the South Pole on September 23rd. As spring comes to the southern hemisphere the hole will shrink as the sun energizes the ozone layer.

We in the northern hemisphere go through this same media/government hysteria towards the end of March every year as the hole above the north pole.

Doesn't this suggest the hole is by the absence of local solar activity? --- and who cares what comes through the hole -- certainly not sunlight.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

What'd I tell ya? There won't be anymore skiing in America!

Can I borrow your sunscreen?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

And the last I heard, there is a smoking volcano in Antarctica that contributes to the hole. I can't confirm that, but maybe somebody here can.

[BlazingArizona]

Arianna Huffington, please stop spraying your hair.

[Procyon]

Correcto! Mt Erebus. And we have smoking volcanos in the northern hemispere, too. In Alaska and Kamchatka.

[Ed_in_NJ]

Al Gore was right!

If only HE were POTUS, this wouldn't have happened!

[Maurkov]

Read and learn. The stuff sticks around. That we outlawed it doesn't mean that China and the third world aren't still producing it.

[GSWarrior]

If only Kyoto had passed.....

[nuconvert]

"In 2002 the hole suddenly shrank, raising hopes it had turned the corner and was starting to close. But Shanklin said scientists now believed this was an abnormality due to atmospheric conditions, and that the 2003 expansion was back to more normal activity."

lol. What a bunch of bs.

[Migraine]

There is only a headline when the hole reaches a record large size -- never when it hits record small sizes. These kinda alternate, but the news stories don't.
Also, saying that the hole is a record size is a lot like saying Mexico is the third largest country in North America. Sounds impressive until you compare it to the field of possibilities. Third in so small a field is not impressive at all.
So it is with the ozone hole nonsense. How long have we been measuring it? About 20 years? Maybe 1000 years ago it was ten times bigger than it is now. But no one knew how to measure it. So, big compared to what? It sure as hell isn't worth our spending trillions on.

[nuconvert]

If the hole gets as big as this guy would like to think it will be, you'll be buying sun screen by the pallet.

[Moonman62]

Read and learn. The stuff sticks around. That we outlawed it doesn't mean that China and the third world aren't still producing it.

Where can we find a chart or table of measured atmospheric concentrations of CFC's from year to year?

[RightWhale]

It might be noticed that while there is an area or two of low concentration, there is also an area or two of high concentration right next to the hole. Thus, it may be seen that the hole is not due to chemicals eating up the ozone, but to atmospheric conditions causing nonuniform distribution of the ozone. This phenomenon has been misrepresented since the beginning for political purposes intended to lead to reduction of free travel and electrical power use in the industrialized societies especially America.

[supercat]

Read and learn. The stuff sticks around.

From what I understand, ozone is created when UV radiation hits O2 molecules, and ozone absorbs O2. That would seem to suggest that, in the presence of solar UV radiation, a reduction in the amount of ozone present would result in an increase in the amount produced.

The behavior of a mass of ozone in the absense of UV radiation does seem to be a reliable indicator of the behavior of ozone in areas of the atmosphere which receive large quantities of UV radiation. To be sure, a sufficient increase in the self-decomposition rate could result in a significant increase in the amount of UV penetrating the atmosphere, but from what I understand the change would have to be pretty huge. Otherwise, any reduction in 'density' of the ozone layer would be offset by an increase in its thickness [top to bottom].