Hole in Ozone Layer Shrinks to Lowest Since Its Discovery

The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has shrunken to its smallest size since being discovered decades ago, announced the European Space Agency.

Ozone is a molecule made of three oxygen atoms. It's relatively highly concentrated in a particular layer of the stratosphere about 12 miles to 19 miles above Earth's surface. This ozone layer prevents ultraviolet light from reaching Earth's surface -- a good thing, given that UV light causes sunburn and skin cancer.

This shrinking attests to the power of our commitment to clean our environmental act, and how policy can turn around the negative impact of rising greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, a 1987 international ban on man-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a chemical that used to be found in aerosols, is the direct cause of the ozone repairing itself. Although the ban has been ridiculed from time-to-time, experts are convinced that the strategy is working.

This announcement comes few months after NASA released images showing that the hole over Antarctica was smaller than it’s been since 1990, blaming the progress in part on last year's unusually warm weather. Nonetheless, at this rate, the hole in the ozone will close completely before the end of the decade.

Does that mean, we are done, the war is won, it’s over? Well, don't get too excited. If you think this serves as evidence that global warming either doesn't exist or isn't such a bad thing, it's not. The ozone news actually goes to show that nation's working together to address climate change can have a real and noticeable impact in a relatively short amount of time.

And we're hardly out of the woods when it comes to saving the ozone, which protects us from ultraviolet rays that cause sunburns. In 2011, scientists discovered a hole above the Arctic Circle for the first time. Researchers have since detailed how holes like these affect not only how quickly you get sunburned but also weather patterns and ocean currents.