Ozone hole above Antarctica one of the largest on record: Scientists

LONDON

The European Space Agency (ESA) warned Wednesday about a growing ozone hole above Antarctica and said it is one of the “biggest on record.”

It noted measurements from “the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite” show that the "ozone depleting area" has reached 26 million square kilometers as of Sept. 16 -- roughly "three times the size of Brazil."

"Our operational ozone monitoring and forecasting service shows that the 2023 ozone hole got off to an early start and has grown rapidly since mid-August," said Antje Inness, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.

The ESA said this year’s unusual ozone patterns could be associated with the eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano in the South Pacific in January 2022.

"The eruption … injected a lot of water vapour into the stratosphere which only reached the south polar regions after the end of the 2022 ozone hole," said Inness.